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Bogeyman (also spelled bogieman, boogeyman, or boogie man, and pronounced or ; see spelling differences) is a common allusion to a mythical creature in many cultures used by adults or older children to frighten children into good behavior. This monster has no specific appearance, and conceptions about it can vary drastically from household to household within the same community; in many cases, he has no set appearance in the mind of an adult or child, but is simply a non-specific embodiment of terror. Parents may tell their children that if they misbehave, the bogeyman will get them. Bogeymen may target a specific mischief—for instance, a bogeyman that punishes children who suck their thumbs—or general misbehaviour, depending on what purpose needs serving. In some cases, the bogeyman is a nickname for the devil. Bogeyman tales vary by region. The bogeyman is usually a masculine entity but can be any gender or simply androgynous. ==Etymology== The word ''bogey'' is derived from the Middle English ''bogge''/''bugge'' (also the origin of the word ''bug''), and so is generally thought to be a cognate of the German ''bögge'', ''böggel-mann'' (English "Bogeyman"). The word could also be linked to many similar words in other European languages: ''bogle'' (Scots), ''boeman'' (Dutch), ''Butzemann'' (German), ''busemann'' (Norwegian), ''bøhmand'' / ''bussemand'' (Danish), ''bòcan'', ''púca'', ''pooka'' or ''pookha'' (Irish), ''pwca'', ''bwga'' or ''bwgan'' (Welsh), ''puki'' (Old Norse), ''pixie'' or ''piskie'' (Cornish), ''puck'' (English), ''mumus'' (Hungarian), ''bogu'' (Slavonic), ''buka'' (Russian, бука), ''bauk'' (Serbian), ''bubulis'' (Latvian), ''baubas'' (Lithuanian), ''bobo'' (Polish), ''bebok'' (Silesian), ''papão'' (Portuguese), ''torbalan'' (Bulgarian), Μπαμπούλας (Greek), ''babau'' (Italian), ''papu'' (Catalan).〔Cooper, Brian. "Lexical reflections inspired by Slavonic *bogǔ: English bogey from a Slavonic root?" ''Transactions of the Philological Society'', Volume 103, Number 1, April 2005, pp. 73–97(25)〕 The word ''bugbear'', from ''bug'' + ''bear'', suggests that the bogey eating small children takes on the appearance of a bear. The word ''bugaboo'' probably arose as an alteration of ''bugbear''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「bogeyman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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