pooh

pooh
pooh 1590s, "a 'vocal gesture' expressing the action of puffing anything away" [OED], first attested in Hamlet Act I, Scene III, where Polonius addresses Ophelia with, "Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl, / Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. / Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?" But the "vocal gesture" is perhaps ancient. Among the many 19th century theories of the origin of language was the Pooh-pooh theory (1860), which held that language grew from natural expressions of surprise, joy, pain, or grief. The slang reduplicated verb pooh-pooh "to dismiss lightly and contemptuously" is attested from 1827. Pooh as baby-talk for "excrement" is from 1950s (Cf. POOP (Cf. poop) (n.2)).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • pooh — [pu:] interjection [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: Natural sound] 1.) BrE used when there is a very unpleasant smell American Equivalent: pew 2.) old fashioned used when you think an idea, suggestion, effort etc is stupid or not very good ▪ Pooh! You… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • pooh — (also poo) informal ► EXCLAMATION 1) expressing disgust at an unpleasant smell. 2) expressing impatience or contempt. ► NOUN 1) excrement. 2) an act of defecating. ► VERB ▪ defec …   English terms dictionary

  • pooh — pooh1 [po͞o] interj. [echoic of blowing away] used to express disdain, disbelief, or impatience pooh2 [po͞o] vt. Slang POOP2 …   English World dictionary

  • Pooh{™} — (also Winnie the Pooh, Pooh Bear) the main character in A A Milne’s children’s stories, Winnie the Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Pooh is a bear who is not very intelligent but very friendly. He enjoys eating, singing songs, and …   Universalium

  • pooh — pooh1 /pooh, poo/, interj. 1. (used as an exclamation of disdain or contempt.) n. 2. an exclamation of pooh. [1595 1605] pooh2 /pooh/, v.t. poop2. * * * …   Universalium

  • pooh — interj. nonsense, bosh, fiddlesticks, poppycock, balderdash, rubbish, humbug, applesauce, fiddle faddle, fiddle de dee, oh fudge; anyways haha, so what?, so?, who cares?, pshaw, pah, pooh pooh, tut, tut tut, tisk tisk, pish, pish tish, bah, phoo …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

  • Pooh Bear — ➡ Pooh * * * …   Universalium

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