BOGEYMAN

The 'bogeyman', 'boogyman', 'bogyman', or 'boogeyman', is a legendary ghostlike monster often believed in by children. The bogeyman has no specific appearance, and ''bogeyman'' can be used metaphorically to denote a person or thing of which someone has an irrational fear. The bogeyman legend may originate from Scotland, where such creatures are sometimes called bogles, boggarts, or bogies.^[1]
The most common childhood conception of the bogeyman is that of someone (usually a monster) lurking in bedrooms (e.g., behind the door, in the closet, or under the bed), where he lies in wait before attacking the sleeper.
Bogeyman tales vary by region. In some places the bogeyman is male, in others, female. In some Midwestern states of the USA the bogeyman does not enter bedrooms but instead scratches on the windows. It is said that a wart can be transmitted to someone by the bogeyman.¹ Bogeymen may be said to target a specific mischief – for instance, a bogeyman that persecutes children who suck their thumbs – or just general misbehavior.
Popular portrayals of bogeymen include Raymond Briggs' ''Fungus the Bogeyman'', as well as Victor Herbert's 1903 operetta ''Babes in Toyland'', where they lived (unsurprisingly) in Bogeyland. The former relies on the children's slang word "bogey" meaning dried nasal mucus, a substance of which these particular bogeymen are particularly fond. "The Bogeyman" was a recurring villain in the successful 1980s children's cartoon series ''The Real Ghostbusters'', whose episodes are regarded as the series' most popular. In 1999 Disney's TV Movie Don't Look Under the Bed, the main character Francis Bacon is being framed for a series of practical jokes by the Bogeyman, She gets help from an imaginary friend named Larry. Pixar's animated film Monsters, Inc., (2001) depicts an entire economy that dictates the operations of the various monsters that scare children at night. In ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'', the bogeyman is called Oogie Boogie, an animated sack of bugs who enjoys gambling. In Terry Pratchett's Discworld, bogeymen are depicted as tall, rangy, hairy beings who are vaguely apish. They hide under beds, behind doors, and in closets, for no reason anyone can understand, or at least no reason they are willing to disclose; in Ankh-Morpork bogeys sometimes pop off to Beirs for a quiet drink. Recommended methods of dealing with bogeys are to put your head under the covers, which will entice him to leave, or alternately put ''his'' head under the covers, which will cause him existential uncertainty-he will be unsure whether or not he exists, a state that will subside once the blanket is removed. Another cartoon has a fearful boy calmed by finding out the bogyman is actually a large muscular black man carrying a BoomBox.
Also Originating in Ireland and is a derivative of the word bog seeing as they were a type of faerie that lived in the bog and kidnapped children so they could play with them. They made them stay a year and a day.
Another possible source for the word is the Russian word бог (God), pronounced "boge", rhyming with "rogue". Demonizing things, notions, even the name of God, from Eastern Europe and beyond is not without precedent in Western Europe and North America.

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See also

References

External links

See also

★ Nanny Rutt - a folk legend from Northorpe, Lincolnshire.

★ Oogie Boogie - a character from the Tim Burton film ''The Nightmare Before Christmas''

★ Michael Myers - a character from the ''Halloween'' film series who is analogous to the Boogeyman (referenced especially in the first film)

★ Marty Wright - professional wrestler under the name "The Boogeyman"

★ Freddy Krueger - monster in Nightmare on Elm Street films. Directed by Wes Craven

★ The boggart in the Harry Potter series is considered a boogeyman.

★ Boogeyman - a film about a man who has to face the boogeyman, who had supposedly taken his father right in front of him as a child.

★ The Powerpuff Girls-a villain name the boogieman.

★ Derek Boogaard- NHL player who's nickname is The Boogieman

★ The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy - A villain of the series and old arch-enemy of Grim's since junior high school.

★ Krampus - a bogeyman-like companion of Saint Nicholas.

References

1. McNab, Chris. ''Mythological Monsters.'' New York : Scholastic, Inc., 2007. (ISBN 0-439-85479-2)

External links

★ The Bogeyman of Earthquake Prediction (an example of the metaphorical use of "bogeyman")

★ Napoleon.org - fun stuff (describing the origins of the term 'bogeyman' - an English reference to the infamous diminutive Corsican conqueror)

★ Online Etymology Dictionary - entry for "bogey".

★ The Word Detective

★ Encyclopedia Mythica - cites "Bugis" origin for "bogeyman".