woo woo
3
9.9
- noun
- /ˈwuː ˈwuː/
- Slang
:
pseudociencia
- And not just say it in spiritual woo woo ways that sound great, but aren't really grounded and in a way that can make sense logically.
- woo-woo shit
You don't know now because no one's been near me, but then we just use woo woo and it goes away.
- You don't know now because no one's been near me, but then we just use woo woo and it goes away.
Examples
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I admit this might sound a little too "woo woo" to some (I have skeptical friends who describe it that way), but all I know is it worked for me.
Blog text (30) -
Until recently, intuition, like consciousness, was the sort of thing that self-respecting scientists stayed clear of, on penalty of being accused of engaging in New Age woo-woo rather than serious science.
Blog text (4) -
Yeah, I believe in all that woo-woo stuff.
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We should not think that these are light woo woo interventions.
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I actually believe that breathing exercises, some of this woo woo stuff really does help me.
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So this might feel a little woo woo to you and that's OK.
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Research the teacher and see if she has anything published online or in print that may elaborate on her woo-woo beliefs.
Blog text (2) -
So, uh, you're into a lot of that... that woo-woo stuff, right?
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At first, this so-called therapy sounded too woo woo for my analytical brain.
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Many people dismiss his ideas as woo woo nonsense without considering the evidence.
Synonyms
3
9.3
Ideas or methods that look like real science but have no proof
How Unscientific
Surface Forms
Morphology
woo + woo
The meaning 'pseudoscientific or mystical beliefs' is slangy and idiomatic and does not follow from the literal verb 'woo' (to court) or simple repetition; reduplication here creates a colloquial label whose sense is not compositionally predictable. Because this is an informal, culture-specific usage rather than a transparent combination of constituent meanings, a B1 learner who knows the parts would not reliably infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Woo woo may come from the silly sound people make to copy ghostly or spiritual noises, so people began using it for strange or magical ideas. That's why today woo woo often means beliefs called 'not scientific' or 'nonsense'.