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Glite Dictionary
ooga booga

ooga booga

9.9
A playful shout people use to pretend to scare someone
  • idiom
  • /ˈuːɡə ˈbuːɡə/
  • Informal
translation icon : ooga booga
  • He jumped out from behind the sofa and shouted ooga booga to startle his sister.

Examples

  • With a mischievous grin, she whispered ooga booga in a spooky voice.

  • He shouted, "Ooga booga!" to scare his little sister.

  • During the costume party, everyone started dancing and yelling ooga booga for fun.

  • When I jumped out from behind the door, I yelled, "Ooga booga!"

  • During the costume party, everyone started dancing and yelling ooga booga for fun.

  • He jumped out from behind the sofa and shouted ooga booga to startle his sister.

  • When I jumped out from behind the door, I yelled, "ooga booga!"

Synonyms

boo
vsooga booga
108 6.3

A short cry used to surprise or scare someone playfully

is more of a silly or nonsensical fright used for playful effect
oooo
vsooga booga
  • Informal
1 9.9

A spooky moan people make to scare or tease someone

is a playful shout that also acts as a silly nonsensical expression
ooga
vsooga booga
  • Informal
9.9

A playful nonsense word people shout like a caveman to make others laugh

is used to frighten playfully as well as being a silly exclamation

How Playful

to roar
17 2.4
ooga booga
  • Informal
9.9
ooga
  • Informal
9.9
boo
108 6.3

Surface Forms

ooga booga main

Morphology

ooga + booga

The constituents are non-lexical or imitative sounds (one defined as humorous imitation, the other absent from dictionaries), so their combination does not yield a predictable propositional meaning; it functions as a playful, nonsensical interjection. A B1 learner who 'knows' the parts would not be able to derive the pragmatic use (to mock-frighten or be silly) from the constituent meanings, making the expression idiomatic/nonsensical and unpredictable.

Etymology

Ooga booga may come from people pretending to be a silly monster or a caveman, using simple nonsense sounds to surprise someone. That playful shout is why it is used today 'to frighten' as a joke or as 'a silly, nonsensical expression'.