Woo
The end result of too much Woo
Woo (or "woo-woo") is a term used mainly by skeptics to denigrate phenomena, or people who are open to the possibility of phenomena, that the skeptic takes to be unfounded or unsubstantiated. The term is meant to imply a high degree of unlikeliness or credulity in the things or people so described. In this respect "woo" is similar to terms such as "nutjob," "wacko, or "crank," when applied to people, and to "quackery", "bunkum" or "flim-flam" when applied to purported medical treatments or other phenomena. The term is regularly applied to things such as complementary medicine, cryptozoology, anything involving the paranormal, pseudoscience, or anyone who is not, in the skeptic's view, sufficiently critical of those things.
The origins of the term are unclear: some say it comes from the phrase uttered by the gullible at, say, a seance or magic show when the entertainer produces unexpected or "magical" results: "wooooooo!", while others maintain that it is a shortened version of the verbalization "woo-woo-woo-woo..." of the distinctive theme music from the series The Twilight Zone, the brief singing of which has entered popular culture as response to any strange happening.{{#if:||{{#if:Category:Articles with unsourced statements|[[Category:Articles with unsourced statements {{#if:|from }}]]{{#if:|{{#ifexist:Category:Articles with unsourced statements from ||}}}}}}}}{{#if:citation needed|[{{#if:|{{{pre-text}}} }}citation needed{{#if:| {{{post-text}}}}}]|}}
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Applications of woo
Ideas referred to as "woo" run the full gamut from channeled Venusians or the Hollow Earth theory which lie on the far edge of the outer-fringe, to well established phenomena such as ball-lightning or hypnosis, the legitimacy of which some skeptics still refuse to accept. The term is also applied to people who believe in, or who the skeptic takes to be insufficiently critical of, any idea which might be considered to be woo ("He's a woo" "They're all woos" "That damn woo wiki").
"Woo" as name-calling
The term "woo" is primarily used in a peremptory, derogatory manner and for its emotive content rather than as a neutral descriptor.[1] In this respect referring to someone or something as "woo" is little more than name-calling.
See also
References
- ↑ The Skeptic's Dictionary [1]
- ↑ James Randi's Swift - June 9, 2006
