Boogaloo

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbuːɡəˌluː/

Definitions

1. A style of Latin rhythm music and accompanying dance popularized in the 1960s ; a slang expression referring to a potential or hypothetical second civil conflict in the United States
2. A Latin musical genre combining soul, jazz, and salsa with a distinctive dance style ; a colloquial phrase used to describe an anticipated internal armed uprising in America
3. A fusion style of Latin music known for its energetic beats and dance moves ; an informal term used to signify a future large-scale domestic war within the U.S

Etymology: Boogaloo is one of the few dance-music names that began as a deliberate joke on a sound. The dance was attested by January 1966, and that year songs with the word in their titles were common. The source suggests it may come from "boogie," with the ending borrowed from words like "crackaloo" and "hullabaloo," which were playful sound-patterns rather than real roots. Spanish speakers had a parallel name, "bugalú," for the same style, so the English word likely reflects that Latin dance music in New York. A separate, earlier use is a stage name: the performer Kent Harris called himself "Boogaloo" in the 1950s. That sense has nothing to do with the dance, which shows how loosely the word was being used around the same period. The word later took on a completely different meaning through a film. The 1984 sequel "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo" was so poorly regarded that it became a cult classic, and its title turned "boogaloo" into a way of saying "sequel" or "repetition." Its later use as a far-right slang term for civil war, reported by NPR in 2020, is a further shift.

Synonyms: dance, jive