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Bubba

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This article is about the southern United States term. For the Kaytranada album, see Bubba (album).

In American usage, "Bubba" is a term of endearment mainly given to boys. Being formed from the word "brother", it often indicates that someone is a "little brother".[1]

Etymology and history

The linguist Ian Hancock has described similarities between the African Krio language and Gullah, the creole language of blacks in the isolated Sea Islands of South Carolina, and points out that the Krio expression bohboh ('boy') appears in Gullah as buhbuh, which may account for the "Bubba" of the American South.[2]

Robert Ferguson notes in his book English Surnames that "Bubba" corresponds with the German Bube, "boy". This matches Saxon and Hibernian tradition.[3]

Because of its association with the southern part of the United States, "Bubba" is also often used outside the South as a pejorative to mean a person of low economic status and limited education. "Bubba" may also be taken to mean one who is a "good ol' boy". At times, it may be used as a term of endearment (or in an insulting sense) for a person, especially to a man, who is either overweight or has a seemingly powerful large body frame.[4][5]

Other uses

In the US Army and Marines, "Bubba" can mean a lay soldier, similar to "grunt", but with connotations of endearment instead of derision (e.g., "Can you make that device easier to work with, because every Bubba is going to have to use it?").

The word exists in other languages and carries similar meanings. "Bubba" is common in Australia and New Zealand as a noun to refer affectionately to a baby. For example, in Australia, the Queensland State Government has a baby immunisation programme called "BubbaJabs" for Aboriginal babies within the Queensland (https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/immunisation/bubba-jabs)

In gun culture, "Bubba" is a term used for a person who permanently alters or modifies historic firearms, with no regard for its historical value, or as a verb or adjective to describe the act of or an already modified historical firearm.[6]

In Yiddish, the word Bobe [with a vowel similar to a shortened version of the vowel of caught + beh] means "grandmother" and as a form of address, is often rendered by English speakers as "Bubba" or "Bubbie".

People

Nickname

  • Bubba Brooks (1922-2002), American jazz tenor saxophonist
  • Charles "Bubba" Chaney (born 1946), Louisiana politician
  • Bubba Church (1924–2001), former Major League Baseball player
  • Bill Clinton (born 1946), 42nd President of the United States
  • Bubba Crosby (born 1976), Major League Baseball outfielder
  • Bubba Dickerson (born 1981), PGA Tour golfer
  • Tommy Facenda (born 1939), rockabilly singer and dancer
  • Bubba Franks (born 1978), National Football League player
  • Bubba Green (1957–2019), American football player
  • Merald "Bubba" Knight (born 1942), soul singer, member of Gladys Knight & the Pips
  • Bubba Marriott (born 1938), American football player
  • Bubba Paris (born 1960), former National Football League player
  • Bubba Phillips (1928–1993), Major League Baseball player
  • Bubba Shobert (born 1961), former motorcycle racer
  • Bubba Smith (1945–2011), National Football League player and actor
  • Clinton "Bubba" Smith (born 19??), star on A&E's reality television show Storage Wars: Texas
  • James Stewart Jr. (born 1985), professional motocross rider
  • Darrell Wallace, Jr. (born 1993), racing driver
  • Bubba Watson (born 1978), PGA Tour golfer
  • Bubba Wells (born 1974), former basketball player
  • Madilyn "Bubba" Nickles (born 1997), American softball player

Middle name

Stage name

  • Bubba Ray Dudley, an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment
  • Bubba Sparxxx (born 1977), Southern rapper
  • Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, radio talk show host

Fictional characters

Films and television

Games

Literature

Other uses

  • Bubba (fish) (d. 2006), the first fish known to have undergone chemotherapy

See also

  • Bubber
  • Redneck (stereotype)
  • Sissy, a similar nickname for girls, from "sister"

References

  1. ^ Attaway, Roy (1985). Boating. 57. p. 10. ISSN 0006-5374.
  2. ^ "Welcome | The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition". Yale.edu. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  3. ^ Robert Ferguson (1858). English Surnames: And Their Place in the Teutonic Family. G. Routledge & Company. p. 272. Retrieved March 2, 2016. bubba.
  4. ^ "Interview with a link spammer". The Register. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
  5. ^ "Mr. Spammer, meet Bubba your new cell mate". ZDNet Blog: Between the Lines. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
  6. ^ Tyler (September 3, 2016). "The Top 10 Worst Modified Bubba Guns". The Good Gun. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
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