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The bogeyman (/ˈboʊɡimæn/; also spelled or known as bogyman,[1] bogy,[1] bogey,[1] and, in North American English, also boogeyman)[1] is a mythical creature typically used to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearances, and conceptions vary drastically by household and culture, but they are most commonly depicted as masculine or androgynous monsters that punish children for misbehavior.[2] The bogeyman, and conceptually similar monsters can be found in many cultures around the world. Bogeymen may target a specific act or general misbehaviour, depending on the purpose of invoking the figure, often on the basis of a warning from an authority figure to a child. The term is sometimes used as a non-specific personification of, or metonym for, terror – and sometimes the Devil.[3]
The word bogeyman, used to describe a monster in English, may have derived from Middle English bugge or bogge, which means 'frightening specter', 'terror', or 'scarecrow'. It relates to boggart, bugbear (from bug, meaning 'goblin' or 'scarecrow' and bear) an imaginary demon in the form of a bear that ate small children. It was also used to mean a general object of dread. The word bugaboo, with a similar pair of meanings, may have arisen as an alteration of bugbear.[4] Bogeyman itself is known from the 15th century, though bogeyman stories are likely to be much older.[5]
The word has equivalents in many European languages as bogle (Scots), púca, pooka or pookha (Irish), pwca, bwga or bwgan (Welsh), bucca (Cornish), buse or busemann (Norwegian), puki (Old Norse), bøhmand or bussemand (Danish), bûzeman (Western Frisian), boeman (Dutch), boeboelaas (Surinamese Dutch), Butzemann (German), bòcan, *bogu (Slavonic)[citation needed], buka, Babay/Babayka, búka (Russian), bauk (Serbian), bubulis (Latvian), baubas (Lithuanian), bobo (babok,bebok) (Polish), buba/gogol (Albanian), bubák (Czech), bubák (Slovak), bebok (Silesian),[6] papão (Portuguese), bampoúlas (Greek), bua (Georgian),[citation needed] babau (also "uomo nero", meaning black man)(Italian), babáj (Ukrainian),[citation needed] baubau (Romanian), papu (Catalan), and mumus (Hungarian).
Descriptions of the bogeyman vary across cultures, yet there are often commonalities between them including claws/talons, or sharp teeth. The nature of the creature also varies from culture to culture, although most examples are said to be a kind of spirit, with demons, witches, and other legendary creatures being less common variants. Some are described as having animal features such as horns, hooves, or a bug-like appearances.[7][unreliable source?]
Because of the myth’s global prevalence, it is difficult to find the original source of the legends. The Bogeyman was first referenced for the hobgoblins described in the 16th century England. Many believed that they were made to torment humans, and while some only played simple pranks, others were more foul in nature.[7][unreliable source?]
Bogeymen, or bogeyman-like beings, are common to the folklore of many cultures, with numerous variations and equivalents.
The Sack Man is a variant of the Bogeyman folklore which, as its name suggests, stuffs children in a sack. It predominantly exists in Latin American cultures, such as Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil; as well as Latin Europe, in both Portugal and Spain. It is sometimes referred to as el Hombre del costal, el hombre de la bolsa, el hombre del saco, or in Portuguese, o homem do saco (all of these names either meaning "the sack man" or "the bag man"). Another Spanish language variation is el roba-chicos, meaning "child-stealer". Similar legends are present in Eastern Europe (e.g. Bulgarian Torbalan, "sack man"), as well as in Haiti and some countries in Asia.[8][failed verification]
El Coco (also El Cuco and Cucuy, sometimes called El Bolo) is another version of the Bogeyman, common to many Spanish-speaking countries. The Cuca Fera (or Cucafera) monster is the equivalent in certain parts of Catalonia.
In Spain, parents will sing lullabies and tell rhymes to children, warning them that if they do not sleep, El Coco will come to get them. The rhyme originated in the 17th century and while it has evolved over the years, it has still retained its original meaning to this day. Coconuts (Spanish: coco) received their name because the hairy, brown "face" created by the coconut shell's three indentations, which reminded the Portuguese sailors of "Coco".
Latin America also has El Coco, although its folklore is different, commonly mixed with native beliefs and, because of cultural contacts, sometimes more closely related to the North American version of the Boogeyman. However, the term El Coco is also used in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, such as Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela, although there it is more usually called El Cuco, as in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Uruguay, Panama and Argentina.
Among Mexican-Americans, El Cucuy is portrayed as an evil monster that hides under children's beds at night and kidnaps or eats those who do not obey his/her parents by going to sleep when it is time to do so. However, the Spanish American bogeyman does not resemble the shapeless or hairy monster of Spain: social sciences professor Manuel Medrano says popular legend describes el cucuy as a small humanoid with glowing red eyes that hides in closets or under the bed. "Some lore has him as a kid who was the victim of violence... and now he's alive, but he's not," Medrano said, citing Xavier Garza's 2004 book Creepy Creatures and other Cucuys."[9]
In Brazilian folklore, a similar character called Cuca is depicted as a female humanoid alligator, or an old lady with a sack. There is a lullaby sung by many parents to their children that says that the Cuca will come to get them and make a soup, or soap out of them if they do not sleep, just as in Spain. The Cuca is also a character of Monteiro Lobato's Sítio do Picapau Amarelo ("Yellow Woodpecker's Farm"), a series of short novels written for children which contain a large number of characters from Brazilian folklore.[10]
In the countries of central and Eastern Mediterranean, children who misbehave are threatened with a creature known as "babau" (or "baubau", "baobao", "bavbav", or بعبع "Bu'Bu'" or similar). In Italy, the Babau is also called l'uomo nero or "black man". In Italy, he is portrayed as a tall man wearing a heavy black coat, with a black hood or hat which hides his face. Sometimes, parents will knock loudly under the table, pretending that someone is knocking at the door, and say something like: "Here comes l'uomo nero! He must know that there's a child here who doesn't want to drink his soup!". It is also featured in a widespread nursery rhyme in Italy: "Ninna nanna, ninna oh, questo bimbo a chi lo do? Lo darò all' uomo nero, che lo tiene un anno intero." (English: "Lullaby Lulla Oh, who do I give this child to? I will give him to the Boogeyman, who's going to keep him for a whole year") L'uomo nero is not supposed to eat or harm children, but instead takes them away to a mysterious and frightening place.[11][unreliable source?]
German folklore has dozens of different figures that correspond to the Bogeyman. These have various appearances (such as of a gnome, man, animal, monster, ghost or devil). They are sometimes said to appear at very specific places (such as in forests, at bodies of water, cliffs, cornfields or vineyards). These figures are called by many different names, which are often only regionally known. One of these, possibly etymologically related to the Bogeyman, is the Butzemann, which can be of gnome-like and other demonic or ghostly appearance.[12][unreliable source?] Other examples include the Buhmann (who is mostly proverbial) and der schwarze Mann ("The Black Man"),[13][verification needed] an inhuman creature which hides in the dark corners under the bed or in the closet and carries children away. The figure is part of the children's game Wer hat Angst vorm schwarzen Mann? ("Who is afraid of the bogeyman?").