Does anybody know where the term "woowoo" comes from? I hear it a lot here, and although it's pretty easy to guess the meaning, I'm not clear on where the term comes from. I was thinking that maybe it comes from the Twilight Zone theme, but then that would be woo woo woo woo, so maybe there's some other origin. Can anyone enlighten me on this not-quite-astronomy-related question?

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As above, so below

You can do a search on it. I believe it has already been discussed.
By the way, your idea of why we use the term is original

man, I don't know how to Toseek.

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"jiu-jitsu is perfect it's people who makes mistakes"

In a debunking mood? Check this site: http://www.sherdog.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=54

You will always find conspiracies there. Open an account and expose them. But careful, they may call you a 'government sheep".

I actually heard it here first. To me it means someone that believes/peddles in hokum (bunk) without giving the subject critical thought. Example: I saw something in the sky I can't explain. If I said it was a UFO I'd be correct. If I implied it was an alien craft just because it was a UFO, I'd be a woo woo.

Edited twice - once to remove a redundant word (I originally posted "said or implied") and then again to explain it since someone posted before I was through.

Thanks. Yes, I found an old thread on it, and probably it's best just to go there. There were some interesting theories -- actually somebody else brought up the Twilight Zone idea. There were two that seemed pretty convincing -- ambulance sirens and something called a theramin or something like that...

this thread

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As above, so below

Actually, I am pretty sure the Twilight ZOne theme is "do do do do" rather than "woo woo woo woo." So check your research.

My theory is that the word is an onomatopoeia for the sound that ghosts supposedly make ("wooooo wooooooo...") Someone must have identified "against the mainstream" thinkers with people who like to tell spooky stories.

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"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.

Remember that there is a difference between ATM and Woo^2. That's why the BA has both an ATM and Planet-X forum.

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Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.

I couldn't think of a better paraphrase of "woo-woo"...

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"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.

It's the noise one makes while performing finger circling motion around one's ear.

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Feynman
>~~~~<
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.

Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt.

I think the planet X forum is for planet X stuff as he has a pretty long debunking of it in his site- as well as moon "hoax"(lunar consipicies) hogland (mars- sorta) planet x (planet x) media (dougnuts) other woo stuff atm


I think the BA just want to keep the name arbitary as some people think woo woo is offencive etc...

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If this writing is blue you're going too fast!

I think it dates to the 60's, whenever someone went bonkers, they would send for the insane asylum ecanlubma, and it would come with men dressed in white, straight jackets, and a strapdown stretcher. The sirens wailing a woo woo Doppler wobble.

...at least that's what happens in the movies.

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jwj

It's a big universe out there...is it really unwinding, really burning out?

Mix 3 tablespoons of dark matter with 2 of dark energy, and then shake them in a jar.

When you open it, listen carefully, and you might hear 'woo-woo, woo-woo...'

Honest!

There are a few of us who view time dilation with similar disdain...time dilation that lead to the creation of Dark Energy and a half dozen other parameters needed plumb the universe into a BB box.

It doesn't fit.

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jwj

It's a big universe out there...is it really unwinding, really burning out?

Wrong thread, guys.

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"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."
Mark Twain

Avatar courtesy of Bunny.

Always a favorite: The Woo Woo Credo

I think it's an onomatopoeia for the sound that credulous people make when they hear a story that most of us would be skeptical about:
woo-woo A: "I was abducted by aliens last night"
woo-woo B: "wooooooo"
woo-woo A: "And they probed my body with strange instruments"
woo-woo B: "wooooooooooo"

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It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.
--Arthur C. Clarke

...either all that, or this is the secret meeting place for the Ric Flair fan club...

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"If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?"
Charlie in Dayton, A.AsC.