Boojums

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fictional creature that is elusive and enigmatic, often associated with whimsical or fantastical narratives
2. Portrayed as a type of phantom or elusive being in literature and folklore
3. Symbolizes the idea of something sought after but never fully understood or captured

Etymology: "Boojum" was coined by Lewis Carroll, who needed a word for something terrible and vanishing, and he invented it outright. It first appears in "The Hunting of the Snark" (1876), a nonsense poem about a crew of strange characters searching for a creature called the Snark. The Boojum is the danger hinted at in the poem's most famous warning: the Bellman tells the crew that if they meet a Boojum, they will softly and suddenly vanish away. "Boojums" is simply the plural of "boojum." Carroll gave the word no fixed sense beyond its role in the poem, so readers have filled it in ever since, usually imagining an elusive, dreadful creature that disappears without a trace.