Booing is an act of showing displeasure for someone or something, generally an entertainer, by loudly yelling boo (and holding the "oo" sound) or making other noises of disparagement, such as hissing. People may make hand signs at the entertainer, such as the thumbs down sign. If spectators particularly dislike the performance they may also accompany booing by throwing objects onstage, though the objects may not be meant to physically hurt the performer.

[edit] History

Saying 'boo' makes people scared normally. Booing performers have a very long history, possibly to the days of ancient Greece, where audiences would boo bad performances and applaud good performances. This practice has in recent times come under criticism^{[citation needed]}: the opinion is often expressed that to boo a bad performance is unkind and demonstrates a lack of sophistication^{[citation needed]}. However, the counterargument goes that the combination of booing and applause help keep the quality of public performance high, by emotionally rewarding the good and punishing the bad.

This debate is especially relevant to the opera world where passionate applause and rowdy booing have long been a part of the tradition. Recently in the United States, however, this practice has come under attack. As opera attendance has become viewed as an indulgence of the rich, the act of booing has fallen out of favor. Proponents of booing blame this trend for what they view as a general decline in the quality of modern American opera^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Examples

• In sports, booing by fans is quite common. They may boo players on the team they support after poor play, particularly-hated players on the opposing team, or any opposing player when there is an intense rivalry between the teams. Unsportsmanlike behavior is also booed, such as intentionally hitting home team batters in baseball or diving in football or basketball (where it is a technical foul). Booing of referees or umpires after an unpopular ruling is also common.
• In professional wrestling, audience tends to boo heel wrestlers and their in-ring tactics. However some wrestlers who have become over with the crowd are likely to be cheered. Also some face wrestlers get booed.
• A villainous character may also be booed to show a dislike of said character, rather than the acting skills of the thespian portraying him or her. Melodrama performances such as the traditional British Pantomime may encourage it, along with cheering at the hero/heroine.
• On the game show The Price Is Right, booing is quite common from the audience when a player or a substitute (most often the host) fails to make one full revolution of the Showcase Showdown wheel during a spin. By rule, the wheel must make one full revolution in order for a spin to count. Booing can sometimes be heard during pricing games, the One Bid, or the Showcase when the audience disagrees with a decision made by a player that could cause him/her to lose his/her pricing game, or the player has bid one dollar higher than an opponent (especially a senior citizen), or if a player makes a high wager that can cause him/her to overbid, as an overbid cannot win in the Showcase.
• On reality shows in both America and the United Kingdom where Simon Cowell appears as a judge, he is normally booed by the audiences for giving negative remarks to contestants whom the audience and other judges praise.
• In the UK version of Big Brother, housemates are often booed on their exit or entrance into the house, host Davina McCall often sugar coats it by saying "it's all panto".
• In the process of booing, members of the audience sometimes will throw fruit, vegetables or garbage for particularly bad or contemptable performances. In contrast, they might throw flowers for good performances.

[edit] See also

• Audience participation
• Heckling

[edit] External links

• Where Do Hecklers Come From? The origins of booing on Slate.