English Explanatory Dictionary

na-na na-na boo-boo

English dictionary entry

Meanings

phrase
  1. A taunt or putdown, typically used to indicate that the speaker believes he or she has beaten the listener in a competition or is better in some other way or in a general sense; or an expression of satisfaction that the listener has received some supposedly deserved minor punishment or misfortune (that is to say, schadenfreude).

Pronunciation

/ˈnæːnəˌnæːnə ˈbuːˌbuː/ en-us-na_na_na_na_boo_boo.ogg

Word forms

na-na na-na boo-boo na na na na boo boo nanny nanny boo boo na-na na-na na-na na na na na na na nanny nanny moo moo neener

Etymology

Apparently from the longer childish playground taunt sung to a tune particular to the taunt: : I'm better than you, : na-na, na-na, boo-boo, : stick your head in doo-doo. Na-na and boo-boo may be imitations of sounds a baby or young toddler might make. Boo-boo may also indicate boo-boo, a minor injury which leaves a mark on a child such as a scraped knee.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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