Is anyone here upset by "Booyakasha"?

[Mr.Turtle]

but never play off.

[Cowabunga Carl]

You know, yup going on ignore list.

Anyway on topic. It doesn't bother me. I don't know how many of you watch Red Dwarf but it's the same thing that happened to them. They chose a word they didn't realize meant something gross and disgusting. They made it have a new meaning for their show. When it was pointed out to them they just said, that isn't what it means here so no we wont change it. We are giving it a new meaning and power.

I assume that is what happened here. Words only mean what you will let them mean.

[Jester]

Can I ask what that word was?

[Mr.Turtle]

^of course Booyakasha, ur playing dumb again, pally...


but could it be some other meanings? good ones?

[Cowabunga Carl]

Originally Posted by Jester

Can I ask what that word was?

It was Smeg. Apparently it has something to do with not cleaning parts of the body properly and a filth that forms.

[Mr.Turtle]

or...not...

[Jester]

Never would have known....

As for Booyakasha, it has so many assumed meanings, I'm not sure if it's a huge deal....

[Cowabunga Carl]

Things only become big deals when people get offended. If people would just realize the context and the intent behind things we could avoid some of these kind of things. But because people can't we end up with things like this.

[Newton Gimmick]

Originally Posted by ScratchTheHotSpot

The slur is not offensive TO Jamaicans, it is a slur USED BY Jamaicans, towards white people.

To reiterate my whole point... The usage of this word in pop culture these days most likely comes from Ali G, and what this character THOUGHT the word meant. I say it again, the key word with the character, was IGNORANCE. He said things like this, without knowing what it really meant.

The very sad thing, is that people use the word like Ali G used it, not knowing that they are appearing to others, that DO know what it means, as ignorant and naive people.

I had no idea that this word was still popular in main stream culture until I heard it on the new TMNT trailer. Quite frankly, I'm pretty shocked.

I clipped your quote, just to let you know I was responding to you. I've read all your posts. I appreciate what you're trying to say, but there's a few things you need to know.

Boo-yah, has been around as an expression for decades. It was not attached to anything. If people in Jamaica have used it in the past for some sort of slang, so be it, but it clearly predates that and is not nefarious in origin.

You seem pretty certain that Booyakasha was used by Ali G as some sort of super subverse joke that he didn't "understand" it's meaning. Yes this is true. He didn't understand it's meaning, because it has no meaning. It's jibberish.

It would work as subverse humor if he was saying a slang that was derogatory to himself. However there is no evidence to suggest this other than the occasional mention that someone heard somewhere that it meant "death to the white man". But if this were true, it would be well documented and unfortunately it's not. I get that Ali G was stupid and that would be part of his character, but there's nothing anywhere that seems to indicate that booyakasha was used in this way.

The expression BOOYAKA, was an expression used for a gun shot and while this may have been adopted by Jamaicans at some point, it predates them by hundreds of years. It was a phrase used in Africa for gun shot, but actually even predates guns where it used to describe a loud bang. Early European explorers documented it. It is not racist in any manner.

Ultimately, the whole "it's a Jamaican slang phrase" is an urban myth. Ali G used the word because it was a popular expression of black UK youth in the late 90's meant as celebratory cry. No different than Booyah before it. It was just added to and expanded.

It has since been added to the urban lexicon as popularized by Ali G as an expression of celebration, which traces right back to it's origin.

[Mr.Turtle]

i still think when the turtles say Booyakasha, they sound like they r frm a totally different universe...

[Jephael]

Originally Posted by Mr.Turtle

i still think when the turtles say Booyakasha, they sound like they r frm a totally different universe...

Must... resist... urge... to make... Michael Bay joke!!!

[Jester]

Jester Likes This.

[Hero]

Whatever the past uses or possible meanings, its an example of Bricolage.

In cultural studies bricolage is used to mean the processes by which people acquire objects from across social divisions to create new cultural identities. In particular, it is a feature of subcultures such as, for example, the punk movement. Here, objects that possess one meaning (or no meaning) in the dominant culture are acquired and given a new, often subversive meaning. For example, the safety pin became a form of decoration in punk cultle

I've heard the word 'sick' to describe something cool, yet its been otherwise used to describe something grotesque or someone evil.

IIRC. Damien Trotter used the phrase 'Booyakasha' on one of the Only Fools & Horses Christmas Specials. Anyone seen that show? I believes there's a US version in the works starring Christopher Lloyd.

[Vincent]

Originally Posted by ScratchTheHotSpot

I'm shocked, appalled, and deeply upset to hear this phrase, "Booyakasha".

The word means, in rough translation from Jamaican, "Death to the white man"

Jamaican's hold two fingers up in the air, to signify a gun, and shout "BOOYAH", to simulate the sound of a gun shot. This phrase is just a carry-on from that.

It's just onomatopoeia. It does not mean "death to the white man", it literally means "boom" or "bang bang".

[ScratchTheHotSpot]

Originally Posted by Newton Gimmick

Boo-yah, has been around as an expression for decades. It was not attached to anything. If people in Jamaica have used it in the past for some sort of slang, so be it, but it clearly predates that and is not nefarious in origin.

Would you mind please expanding on this point? You say that it predates usage in Jamaica? This was something I was not aware of, and have found no evidence of so far.

Originally Posted by Newton Gimmick

You seem pretty certain that Booyakasha was used by Ali G as some sort of super subverse joke that he didn't "understand" it's meaning. Yes this is true. He didn't understand it's meaning, because it has no meaning. It's jibberish.

It would work as subverse humor if he was saying a slang that was derogatory to himself. However there is no evidence to suggest this other than the occasional mention that someone heard somewhere that it meant "death to the white man". But if this were true, it would be well documented and unfortunately it's not. I get that Ali G was stupid and that would be part of his character, but there's nothing anywhere that seems to indicate that booyakasha was used in this way.

Unfortunately, it is not well documented because of the fact that most people in the world, think that its meaningless. There are plenty of other places on the net I have found, that support the explaination given to me first hand. Obviously, hear-say is difficult for you guys to believe, and that's totally understandable. Anything written on the net, you must approach with caution.

Due to the internet being as young as it is, something like this, I feel, would not be well documented. Ali G first became popular in the UK, in the year 2000, but also appeared on screens afew years before this. That's 12 years of ill-informed people passing around this word, thinking it to mean "nothing". Truth is not a democracy. So for me, the most popular understanding of the word, as claimed by the internet, holds very little truth in my mind, as most of these explanations have been written since the popularization of Ali G.

Originally Posted by Newton Gimmick

The expression BOOYAKA, was an expression used for a gun shot and while this may have been adopted by Jamaicans at some point, it predates them by hundreds of years. It was a phrase used in Africa for gun shot, but actually even predates guns where it used to describe a loud bang. Early European explorers documented it. It is not racist in any manner.

This, I have never heard of, would you be able to please show some evidence to support this history?

Originally Posted by Newton Gimmick

Ultimately, the whole "it's a Jamaican slang phrase" is an urban myth. Ali G used the word because it was a popular expression of black UK youth in the late 90's meant as celebratory cry. No different than Booyah before it. It was just added to and expanded.

It has since been added to the urban lexicon as popularized by Ali G as an expression of celebration, which traces right back to it's origin.

I fear that it has reached "urban myth" status, and for me, this is very sad. I feel that my source, for the meaning, was very reliable.

You say this was a celebratory cry for black youth in the UK before Ali G, but the meaning 'death to the white man' could be very appropriate for this demographic, as a celebratory cry. It would also support even more, the usage by Ali G, in the context of ignorance...


Old Hob:
I appreciate that words take on new meanings over time, but the Red Dwarf, Smeg analogy, seems slightly different to this... The meaning in Red Dwarf was one of a derogatory nature, which if they used it, meaning what it originally meant, it would still apply. Personally, I feel that the producers of the show, were perhaps seeing what they could get away with on the BBC. Something that many comedians and artists are always pushing to do, to get away with something that society deems inappropriate.

Which leads me back to Sacha Baron Cohen, who probably laughed his ass off, at the ignorant white youth of the UK, going around shouting "booyakasha".

I'd like to remind everybody once again, that Ali G was a character which used racial terms used in black society, which was clearly stupid for him to use, as he wasn't black. That was the whole joke, and the meaning behind this character. To show that people use words in ignorance or naivety, and not really understanding what they actually meant. But ironically this is what has ended up happening with the phrase "booyakasha".

To use words that this character used in the same way that he did, and believing that they hold no significance, or to rely on the definition that Ali G thought they meant, seems crazy to me.

[Vincent]

Originally Posted by ScratchTheHotSpot

but the meaning 'death to the white man' could be very appropriate for this demographic, as a celebratory cry.

The idea that "booyakasha" means "death to the white man" is just a rumor cooked up by racists, just like the idea that "Wu Tang" means "death to the white man". It's a myth. Not true. It may have been used by some people in a similar context, but that doesn't change the fact that it doesn't mean what you think it means. It means "boom". That's it. It's onomatopoeia, and it is not inherently aimed toward any group of people. "Booyakasha" means "death to the white man" as much as "boom" means "death to the gay man". The fact that there's a terrible song that goes "Boom bye bye Inna batty bwoy head" doesn't mean that the word "boom" is by itself homophobic. Similarly, there is nothing in the word "booyakasha" to suggest any racist message.

[Mr.Turtle]

yea its not a big deal, lots word has an opposite meaning in slang too. like "sick".

[ScratchTheHotSpot]

So an onomatopoeia that relates to shooting off guns in celebration, is appropriate for TMNT? The culture that this word originates from is way-off what TMNT is all about.

Regardless of it's meaning, the fact there have been numerous debates about this word on internet forums since the popularization of Ali G, should surely indicate that this is a bad choice, for a catch phrase, on a childrens TV show.

I understand that such a shocking suggestion, as the one I made, can warrant some form of denial, but I don't think this issue should be swept under the rug as some of you wish it to.

The suggestion that it now means the same as what Ali G meant it, is pretty naive in my opinion.

A catch phrase used by a character that was based on ignorance to black culture, suggests to me, that this is the type of ignorance and personality that the writers wish Michelangelo, and the other TMNT to have.

[Vincent]

Originally Posted by ScratchTheHotSpot

So an onomatopoeia that relates to shooting off guns in celebration, is appropriate for TMNT? The culture that this word originates from is way-off what TMNT is all about.

Regardless of it's meaning, the fact there have been numerous debates about this word on internet forums since the popularization of Ali G, should surely indicate that this is a bad choice, for a catch phrase, on a childrens TV show.

I understand that such a shocking suggestion, as the one I made, can warrant some form of denial, but I don't think this issue should be swept under the rug as some of you wish it to.

The suggestion that it now means the same as what Ali G meant it, is pretty naive in my opinion.

A catch phrase used by a character that was based on ignorance to black culture, suggests to me, that this is the type of ignorance and personality that the writers wish Michelangelo, and the other TMNT to have.

Would you be offended if Mikey yelled out "boom"?

[ScratchTheHotSpot]

Originally Posted by Vincent

Would you be offended if Mikey yelled out "boom"?

If the word "Boom" was as ambiguous as this, then yes, I think that would be a problem. But as it is NOT, I fail to see how that is a fair comparison.