From bogey + -man.
bogeyman (plural bogeymen)
- A menacing, ghost-like monster in children's stories.
2003, “Pet”, performed by A Perfect Circle:Lay your head down child
I won't let the boogeyman come
Counting bodies like sheep
To the rhythm of the war drums
Pay no mind to the rabble
Pay no mind to the rabble
Head down, go to sleep
To the rhythm of the war drums
- (by extension) Any make-believe threat, especially one used to intimidate or distract.
2013, Frances Booth, The Distraction Trap:Before the Internet it was television. And, if not that, it was radio, films, or games. All have taken their turn as the popular bogeyman, blighting the minds of the young.
menacing, ghost-like monster in children's stories
- Arabic: بُعْبُع m (buʕbuʕ)
- Moroccan Arabic: بوعو m (būʕʕu), بو خنشة m (bū ḵanša)
- Basque: hamalau-zaku
- Catalan: home del sac m, papu (ca) m
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 怪物 (zh) (guàiwù), 魔鬼 (zh) (móguǐ)
- Czech: bubák (cs) m, strašák (cs) m, strašidlo (cs) n
- Danish: bussemand (da) c, bøhmand c
- Dutch: boeman (nl) m, bietebauw (nl) m
- Esperanto: infantimigulo
- Estonian: koll
- Finnish: mörkö (fi)
- French: croque-mitaine (fr) m
- Galician: sacaúntos m, coco (gl) m, sacamanteigas m, papón (gl) m
- German: Butzemann (de) m
- Greek: μπαμπούλας (el) m (bampoúlas)
- Ancient: μορμολυκεῖον n (mormolukeîon)
- Hungarian: krampusz (hu), mumus (hu)
- Italian: uomo nero, babau (it)
- Japanese: ブギーマン (bugīman), 小鬼 (ja) (こおに, ko-oni)
- Korean: 꼬마 도깨비 (kkoma dokkaebi), 부기맨 (bugimaen)
- Ladino: bambaruto
- Latgalian: buba
- Latin: larva f
- Latvian: bubulis
- Lithuanian: baubas, bubulis
- Norman: croque-mitaine m, barbou m
- Norwegian: busemann m
- Persian: لولو (fa) sg (lūlū)
- Polish: czarny lud m
- Portuguese: bicho-papão m, homem do saco m, papa-figos (pt) m
- Romanian: baubau (ro) m, omul negru m, gogoriță (ro)
- Russian: бу́ка (ru) f (búka), баба́й (ru) m (babáj), страши́лище (ru) n (strašílišče), домово́й (ru) m (domovój) (in Slavic mythology), бу́гимен m (búgimɛn)
- Serbo-Croatian: babaroga (sh) f, бабарога f
- Spanish: coco (es), cuco (es) m, cucuy m, sacamantecas m, hombre del saco (es) m (Latin America)
- Tagalog: mumò, mumu (childish)
- Tajik: буҷӣ (buji)
- Turkish: gulyabani (tr), hortlak (tr), öcü (tr), karakoncolos (tr), umacı (tr)
- Vietnamese: ngoáo ộp (vi)
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