What is A Bubba
Mickey McGuire
I have heard the name 'Bubba' used, admittedly on television, on many
occasions, and it appears to be used in a semi derogatory manner.
Does anyone have any information regarding this name and its normal usage?
Thank You;
Mickey McGuire
Pat Durkin
"Mickey McGuire" <mmcg...@mts.net> wrote in message
news:r4d38.15529$qN3.1...@news1.mts.net...
> Good Morning;
>
> I have heard the name 'Bubba' used, admittedly on television, on
many
> occasions, and it appears to be used in a semi derogatory manner.
>
> Does anyone have any information regarding this name and its normal
usage?
Google search on "meaning of Bubba" brought up "bubba bomb"
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/05/wordwatch.htm , in which the
"Background" section describes
"...the meaning of bubba. Originally an affectionate form of address
akin to brother,traceable to Gullah and used chiefly by
African-Americans, it became a greeting reserved for young boys, and
then came to mean an uneducated, highly conservative, often racist
southern white male. A related compound, the bubba factor, refers to
the often considerable influence of southern white conservative men on
a political issue or an election."
Strange, isn't it, how the meaning appears to be diametrically opposed
to the assumed origin? Bill Clinton is frequently referred to as
Bubba, and that is generally considered pejorative when applied to
him, without any racial or conservative overtones at all. I think
"country boy or hick", meaning "big, fat, simple, jolly, stupid" is
another understanding I have of "bubba", without the meanness implied
in "redneck", but carrying an additional meaning of "one of the guys".
Some men revel in owning the nickname " Bubba".
Harvey V
> "Mickey McGuire" <mmcg...@mts.net> wrote
>> I have heard the name 'Bubba' used, admittedly on television, on
>> many occasions, and it appears to be used in a semi derogatory
>> manner.
>> Does anyone have any information regarding this name and its
>> normal usage?
-snip-
>
> I think "country boy or hick", meaning "big, fat, simple, jolly,
> stupid" is another understanding I have of "bubba", without the
> meanness implied in "redneck", but carrying an additional meaning
> of "one of the guys". Some men revel in owning the nickname "
> Bubba".
I've always understood it to be this meaning: a particularly thick
good ole boy....
My favourite usage of the name was in a stand-up comedy routine just
after the current Pope was chosen. The comic, playing a southern
redneck, figured if the church could have a Pope John Paul the south
should have their own equivalent -- Pope John Billy-Bob. He then
muttered something about appointing "Cardinal Bubba".
The concept still makes me smile...
--
Cheers,
Harvey
masakim
Mickey McGuire wrote:
> I have heard the name 'Bubba' used, admittedly on television, on
> many occasions, and it appears to be used in a semi derogatory
> manner.
>
> Does anyone have any information regarding this name and its
> normal usage?
>
From _Dictionary of American Slang, Third Edition_, (1995) by Robert
L. Chapman:
bubba
1 n (Sothern by 1860s) Brother. Not uncommon as a nickname: "Here
comes big Bubba Jones"
2 (also often Bubba 1980s) A person of simple Southern rural culture;
=CRACKER, GOOD OLD BOY. Occerence increased enormously during the
early years of Clinton Administration: "People watching 'Jeopardy!'
aren't just bubbas out there" --Milwaukee Journal / "He doesn't have
your typical 'Bubba' approach to state government" --San Antonio
Express-News
[Imitation of baby-talk]
Of the 163,000 entries in the book [Webster's New World College
Dictionary's special 50th Anniversary Revision], [Editor Michael]
Anges has a favorite: "Bubba."
"It's a slippery word to get hold of," he said. "Its range of meanings
is wide. It's an attitude."
The dictionary identifies "bubba" as a slang term chiefly from the
South, "a man of the Southern U.S. variously identified as easy-going,
companionable, assertively masculine, uneducated, bigoted, violent,
etc."
"There's so much in that entry," Agnes said.
--Dru Sefton, "Meet the Folks Who Read the Dictionary -- Out of
Love," c.2001 Newhouse News Service
Regards,
masakim
meirman
<du...@nothome.com> posted:
>
>"Mickey McGuire" <mmcg...@mts.net> wrote in message
>news:r4d38.15529$qN3.1...@news1.mts.net...
>> Good Morning;
>>
>> I have heard the name 'Bubba' used, admittedly on television, on
>many
>> occasions, and it appears to be used in a semi derogatory manner.
>>
>> Does anyone have any information regarding this name and its normal
>usage?
>
>Google search on "meaning of Bubba" brought up "bubba bomb"
>http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/05/wordwatch.htm , in which the
>"Background" section describes
>"...the meaning of bubba. Originally an affectionate form of address
>akin to brother,traceable to Gullah and used chiefly by
>African-Americans, it became a greeting reserved for young boys, and
>then came to mean an uneducated, highly conservative, often racist
>southern white male. A related compound, the bubba factor, refers to
>the often considerable influence of southern white conservative men on
>a political issue or an election."
>
>Strange, isn't it, how the meaning appears to be diametrically opposed
>to the assumed origin? Bill Clinton is frequently referred to as
>Bubba, and that is generally considered pejorative when applied to
I think the people who liked him thought it was complimentary and
those who didn't thought it was perjorative. I think Bill Clinton
didn't mind the term at all, and the message was that one could have
all the good attributes of a bubbah, the good ole boy, hangin' out at
the general store, huntin', fishin' (probably add dirt bikin' now) guy
who is working class or at least was or at the very least gets along
with them, and that one could throw off all the worst attributes of a
bubbah (if indeed they were a necessary part of the original
definition), which was the (traditional) racism and the excess
conservativism. By traditional racism I mean that passed down from
the previous generation, and all the terrible things that went with it
and not a much lower level of self-developed racism, which I might
limit to the desire to date or marry someone like oneself.
>him, without any racial or conservative overtones at all. I think
>"country boy or hick", meaning "big, fat, simple, jolly, stupid" is
>another understanding I have of "bubba", without the meanness implied
>in "redneck", but carrying an additional meaning of "one of the guys".
Yes.
>Some men revel in owning the nickname " Bubba".
Yes.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 17 years