Isn’t it odd that the breasts, the amazingly life-sustaining part of the human body, are referred to as “boobs”, the definitions of which are 1. “a foolish or stupid person”, and 2. “an embarrassing mistake.”
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More than one boob
Boobs is only used when you’re talking about more than one boob.
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary http://www.etymonline.com/
Boobs refer to:
“breasts,” 1929, U.S. slang, probably from much older term boobies (late 17c.), related to 17c. bubby; perhaps ultimately from Latin puppa, literally “little girl,” hence, in child-talk, “breast.” Or else it is a natural formation in English (cf. French poupe “teat,” German dialectal Bubbi, etc.).
Boob in the singular is referring to:
boob tube (n.) “television set,” U.S. slang, by 1965, from boob “stupid person” + slang tube (n.) “television, television programming,” because the sets really did have vacuum tubes in them once upon a time.
boob (n.) “stupid person,” 1909, American English slang, perhaps from booby.
boo-boo (n.) “mistake,” 1954, apparently a reduplication of boob, which had acquired a secondary sense of “foolish mistake” (1934).
(I have a feeling most men do not confuse boobs with boob…, unless they are a boob 🙂
'Boob' in the singular is
‘Boob’ in the singular is certainly used to describe a woman’s breast. You only have to look at any article about people trying to ban breastfeeding children in public to see the phrase ” I just don’t think a woman should whip her boob out to feed their kid in public” Or something equally poetic.
Singular or plural the term ‘boob’ or ‘boobs’ is used frequently and stupidly.
Breast. Breasts. Those are easy words to pronounce.
C’mon people…you can do it. Say it with me – “BREASTS” There you go.
Don’t take the fun out of it
I still think there are fewer stigmas behind boob than what is given here, but since I don’t have them perhaps I’m less sensitive to it. Of course, anytime boobs, hooters and other non-elegant terms are used we should all be sensitive to our audience.
The word breasts is not quite as clinical as mammary glands, but safe to use, I guess.
At least, it’s not like being called a dick.
This is a fun song called “99 Words for Boobs”: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=99%20words%20for%20boobs
Also
And vice versa… why call a fool or mistake a breast?
Reading a dictionary, boob came into parlance in the 50’s, and that was based on bubby from the 30’s. And that traces back to a word “perhaps related to German dialect: Bübbi ‘teat.’”
What a bunch of boobs
I’m always kind of disappointed that people think of breasts when I use the term “boob” even when the meaning is made perfectly clear in context. I’ve had people look at me like I have six heads for suggesting that so-and-so is a real boob. It seems most people think I’m calling so-and-so a breast.
The origin of the two slang terms is entirely separate, and interesting to discover. I knew that boob, a foolish person, is from the Spanish word “bobo” that has the same meaning.
I didn’t know the origin of boobs as in breasts: http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com/2010/03/origins-boobs.html
At any rate, I propose a revival of the term “boob” to describe foolish people.
How could I forget BOOBS?
I forgot to mention that there are boobs, boobs, and BOOBS. Many of us boobs are BOOBS.
https://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php?story=20080508165634696&query=BOOBS