subs. (common).—1. A stupid fellow; a clown. Whence BOOBYISM = stupidity, clownishness; and TO PLAY THE BOOBY (or TO BOOBY) = to act the fool.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. BOOBY, a dull heavy lob. Ibid., s.v. BOOBERKIN, the same.
1749. SMOLLETT, Gil Blas (1812), I., xvii. When I reflected that in so doing I should … be looked upon as a BOOBY, I relinquished that thought.
1809. MALKIN, Gil Blas [ROUTLEDGE], 84. It was that BOOBY just gone out … just such another scarecrow.
1807. IRVING, Salmagundi, III.
| But as to those brainless pert bloods of our town, | |
| Those sprigs of the ton who run decency down; | |
| Who lounge and who lout, and who BOOBY about, | |
| No knowledge within, and no manners without. |
1836. DICKENS, Sketches by Boz, ‘A private theatre.’ The donkeys who are prevailed upon to pay for permission to exhibit their lamentable ignorance and BOOBYISM on the stage of a private theatre.
2. (schools’).—A dunce; the last in a class.
TO BEAT THE BOOBY. See BEAT.
