bogeyman

thumb|Goya|Goya's Que viene el Coco (Here Comes the Boogeyman/The Boogeyman Is Coming), c. 1797 The bogeyman (; also spelled or known as bogyman, bogy, or bogey, and boogeyman in the United States and Canada) is a mythical creature typically used to frighten children into good behaviour. Bogeymen have no specific appearances, and conceptions vary drastically by household and culture, but they are most commonly depicted as masculine, androgynous or even feminine monsters that punish children for misbehaviour. The bogeyman, and conceptually similar monsters, can be found in many cultures around the world. Bogeymen may target a specific act or general misbehaviour, depending on the purpose of invoking the figure, often on the basis of a warning from an authority figure to a child. The term is sometimes used as a non-specific personification of, or metonym for, terror – and sometimes the Devil.

==Etymology== The word bogeyman, used to describe a monster in English, may have derived from Middle English bugge or bogge, which means 'frightening specter', 'terror', or 'scarecrow'. It relates to boggart, bugbear (from bug, meaning 'goblin' or 'scarecrow', and bear) an imaginary demon in the form of a bear that ate small children. It was also used to mean a general object of dread. The word bugaboo, with a similar pair of meanings, may have arisen as an alteration of bugbear. Bogeyman itself is known from the 15th century, though bogeyman stories are likely to be much older.