Entry · catalog no. 4374

boo

/ /buː/ /BOO

noun · South / nationwide · 1990s

✓ Verified

A sweetheart; the person you are with, or almost with. Soft, casual, and intimate.

“That's my boo — we been together since junior year.”

Origin & Attribution

Black American term of endearment, widely traced to French beau by way of Afro-Caribbean speech. Ghost Town DJ's "My Boo" (1996) fixed it on record out of Atlanta; Usher and Alicia Keys' "My Boo" (2004) carried it worldwide.

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

Nationwide

South / nationwide · 1990s

Spoken by

Black couples and families; general Black speech nationwide

$BOOThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Steady

36 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

58/100

peak cultural energy

Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

1990

in the culture

Recorded here

2026

point of first record

Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.

Hear it spoken

By region — how it actually sounds

@auntiereg

Atlanta, GA

@deltasoul

Memphis, TN

Contribute your pronunciation

Citations & Sources

■

My Boo, Ghost Town DJ's — recording · 1996

submitted

■

My Boo, Usher and Alicia Keys — recording · 2004

submitted

+ Cite a source