Boob/boobs

The first known meaning of ‘boob’ is American from c. 1907 where a ‘boob’ is an awkward, stupid person or a simpleton. In this sense it is an abbreviation of ‘booby’, which meant the same thing and dates from the late 17th century. It is thought to derive from the Spanish word bobo, which has very much the same meaning. ‘Boob’ meaning a stupid mistake derives from the same source but dates from much later c. 1934. When it comes to ‘boobs’ meaning female breasts, this is American slang from c. 1931, but was soon adopted in other English-speaking countries. There is strong evidence to suggest that the words ‘boob’ and ‘boobs’ for female breasts are abbreviations for ‘booby’ and ‘boobies’ but there is only one citation for the latter from Merriam-Webster and this dates from 1916. Thus, the exact etymology of ‘boobs’ meaning female breasts remains uncertain. The OED does cite the word ‘bubby’, pronounced ‘booby’, as British dialectical for a woman’s breast dating from 1686, deriving from the German bübbi for teat. Perhaps immigrants to America were in some way responsible for the 20th century development to ‘boobs’, but the 200-year gap remains etymologically puzzling.