What seems like a random thing for a spook to say actually started over 275 years ago.
In 1738, a polemic entitled “Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence Display’d” was published, which featured the following verse: “said the Bairn, I will not believe in God, for God is a Boo; but I will believe in Christ, for he is sweet, Daddy, and he is good. Now you may by this see Sirs, that God without Christ is a Boo. Boo is a Word that’s used in the North of Scotland to frighten crying Children.”
No explanation exists as to why the Scots decided “boo” was the perfect scary word, or why they chose to use it on crying kids.
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Just a reminder:
America’s been losing it for a while now…
John Cray, the head warden of Auburn Prison in Cayuga County, New York, devised the striped uniforms in the 1820s as a way to ensure that escape would be near-impossible. Any prisoner who attempted a getaway would be dressed so distinctly that civilians would immediately notice him and aid in his recapture.
The uniforms were discontinued in 1904, as the state considered them a “badge of shame.”
