pooh

Etymology

It is an imitative or natural exclamation,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} which the OED describes as a vocal gesture of puffing something away;^[7] Weekley likewise took it as an imitation of blowing away.^[8] The OED compares the earlier interjection poh and the later pew and poof,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford compares puff.^[4] Skeat compared Middle French pouac (“faugh”), recorded by Cotgrave.^[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged calls its origin unknown,^[10] and Etymonline suggests that the gesture itself may be ancient.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An utterance of "pooh": 1593, in Gabriel Harvey's Pierces Supererogation.^[2][10] As an interjection of impatience or contempt the OED's first record is from Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour (1600);^[2] Etymonline gives Polonius's "Affection! pooh!" in Hamlet as the first.^[7] Hoad dates the word to the 17th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The interjection expressed scorn, dislike or impatience from the start.^[7][2] From 1859 it was also used for disgust at a bad smell.^[2] A verb, to exclaim "pooh", followed in 1614,^[2] and the reduplicated pooh-pooh, to dismiss something with contempt, is recorded from 1823;^[2][10] Etymonline dates it to 1827, and Weekley places it in the 19th century.^[7][8] The simple verb was used transitively in the same sense from 1858.^[2] The name of the "pooh-pooh theory" (1860), that language grew out of natural cries of surprise, pain or joy, comes from it.^[7] In the 20th century the noun took a new sense in nursery language and slang, excrement, first recorded in 1960 in Wentworth and Flexner's Dictionary of American Slang; in this sense the word is now usually spelled poo.^[2][4] The OED compares the earlier use of poop for excrement.^[2] A count noun, an act of defecation or a piece of excrement, chiefly British, followed in 1981,^[2] the verb "to defecate" in 1975,^[2] and an exclamation of general annoyance in 1986.^[2]

Timeline

• 1593 – noun, an utterance of "pooh".^[2][10]
• 1600 – interjection expressing impatience or contempt.^[2]
• 1614 – verb, to exclaim "pooh".^[2]
• 1823 – pooh-pooh, to dismiss with contempt.^[2][10]
• 1858 – transitive verb, to express contempt for.^[2]
• 1859 – interjection expressing disgust at a smell.^[2]
• 1960 – nursery and slang noun, excrement, now usually poo.^[2]
• 1975 – verb, to defecate.^[2]
• 1981 – chiefly British, an act of defecation; a lump of excrement.^[2]
• 1986 – exclamation of general annoyance, usually poo.^[2]

Meanings

Interjection

1. Used to express disdain, contempt, impatience or disbelief: “Pooh! Nobody believes that old story.”^[11][12][2]
2. Used to express disgust at a bad smell.^[2][11]

Noun

1. An utterance of "pooh"; an expression of contempt or impatience.^[10][2]
2. (nursery, slang) excrement, now usually spelled poo.^[11][2][4]

Verb

1. To say "pooh"; to express contempt for something, usually in the reduplicated form pooh-pooh.^[2][10]
2. (nursery, slang) To defecate.^[11][2]

Word family

• pooh-pooh

Related words

• poo
• poof
• puff
• pew

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin