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What does "honey boo boo" actually mean? Is a rather a good thing when someone calls you that? Is he making fun of you?

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Welcome to elu. Googling the phrase suggests it's probably a reference to this TV show. Perhaps reading this will answer your questions; I couldn't bring myself to linger long enough to find out. – StoneyB Oct 13 '12 at 19:32
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@StoneyB I doubt it is to do with any specific show. "Honey boo boo" is a common term of endearment, albeit excessively schmoopy IMHO. However, it could be affectionate or mocking, depending on the context. – KitFox♦ Oct 13 '12 at 19:39
@StoneyB I appear to have stumbled down the same hole. – coleopterist Oct 13 '12 at 19:41
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@KitFox 'schmoopy'? That's so autologous. – Mitch Oct 13 '12 at 19:43
How about treacly instead? – user21497 Oct 14 '12 at 3:52
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3 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Both honey and boo are terms of endearment and are, at least in the movies, sometimes coupled together as "Honey Boo!".

"Honey Boo Boo", on the other hand, appears to come from a reality TV show called "Here comes Honey Boo Boo" where one of the characters answers to that pet name. I expect that the connotations of that name depend entirely on the parties involved. Urbandictionary has a few ^friendly pointers^.

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I don't think you can easily determine what someone means if they call you "Honey Boo Boo". They might be subtlely insulting you or they might be using it as a term of endearment. It rather depends on the other person's opinion of that TV show.

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I would take being called Honey Boo Boo as a negative connotation. I just recently read somewhere (take these facts with a grain of salt) that TLC was at one time subsidized by the government but once the government funding stopped rolling in, the site turned into a mockery. TLC is now the home to reality shows and toddlers in beauty pageants.

I think the show Honey Boo Boo is a catchy name of one of the shows that really shows the quality of either all reality television as a whole, or that of TLC alone. A no-longer federally-funded network. Most likely in the news because presidential candidate, Romney wants to cut federal funding to PBS, which could, in the eyes of some, lead to more Honey Boo Boo shows. Who knows, ya gotta start somewhere.

UPDATE: This answers the question by saying, I believe Honey Boo Boo is something that you don't want to be called. This relates to my answer by the idea that you're like a crappy reality show in the sea of quality television. That's my interpretation, take it as you please.

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Regardless of whether it's a federally or privately funded name, not only wouldn't I want to be called Honey Boo Boo by anyone, but I wouldn't want to admit knowing anyone who'd even use the term outside a discussion like this one. Baby talk is for babies. I feel bad enough when my sister-in-law calls me Honey. It's just a little joke with her (she used to refer to herself as my "second wife" before she got hooked up with her current boyfriend -- concubinage is common enough in Taiwan -- and she never was my concubine or wife number 2), but it irks me nonetheless. – user21497 Oct 14 '12 at 4:03
I don't this answer warrants a downvote, so I'm upvoting to even the score. – user21497 Oct 14 '12 at 4:05

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