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Dec 9, 2009
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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—B

Booby

A spiritless fool, who suffers himself to be imposed upon. In England the Solan goose is called a booby or noddy. (Spanish, bobo; German, bube.)

A booby will never make a hawk.
The bird called the booby, that allows itself to be fleeced by other birds, will never become a bird of prey itself.

Booby

(Lady). A caricature on Richardson's Pamela. A vulgar upstart, who tries to seduce Joseph Andrews. (Fielding: Joseph Andrews.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Booby-trap
Bonzes
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