What does Bomboclaat mean?

The internet is packed full of funny memes, hilarious gifs, and expressions that form part of its own unique language. Here we'll explain the origin of the expression and how to use it on the world wide web.

What is Bomboclaat?

According to the Urban Dictionary portal, the largest source of slang and more modern expressions in English, bomboclaat has its roots in Jamaica. According to one of the entries about the term, this word is used on the Caribbean island as an expression of surprise and irritation after it was initially a defamatory term to refer to both menstrual products and toilet paper.

In another definition published on the site, there’s no exact meaning or translation for the word, but rather just that it’s a curse word used daily, to express strong feelings both positive and negative.

How to use the expression?

There is not much of a general consensus on what bomboclaat means other than the fact that it’s an expletive used regularly. The only common definition is that the word is of Jamaican origin.

In the instance of bomboclaat publications, the meaning is slightly more straightforward than the definition of the word and as you may already expect, none of the dictionary definitions apply. On the internet, a bomboclaat post is always accompanied by an image or video and the term serves to invite other users to suggest subtitles for the scene portrayed.

Where did the expression come from?

It's always very hard to tell who originally coined an expression on the Internet as it spreads so fast. On some sites, the expression boom was initiated among user circles in Nigeria and from there, spread to other countries. In other places, the original publication is claimed to have been made in September 2019 on Twitter:

Users have also pointed out that the expression could be the substitute for sco pa tu manaa, another meaningless expression that enjoyed enormous success on the Internet in the first half of 2019 and that also provoked intrigue about the meaning of an image.