limbo
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlɪmbəʊ/
ipa: /ˈlɪmboʊ/
ipa: /ˈlɪmboː/
rhymes: -ɪmbəʊ
Forms: form: limbos
form: limboing
form: limboed
form: limboed
Etymology: Origin uncertain; possibly an alteration of limber (“bendable, flexible, pliant”) with the ending of the word respelled to represent a Caribbean English pronunciation.
It is unclear whether the verb is derived from the noun, or the noun is derived from the verb; the noun is attested slightly earlier.
Senses: examples: text: Steve Becker was rolling around with the other skaters at the Pismo Beach, Calif. roller rink one day when it was announced that there would be a limbo contest. […] Steve had his friends set the bar lower and lower while he got flatter and flatter, until finally, at just over a foot and almost spread-eagled, he reached his limboing limit.
ref: 1967 November 24, “Miscellany: Stoop to Conquer”, in George P. Hunt, editor, Life, volume 63, number 21, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 124:
text: The race begins at Alyeska Resort with an alpine skiing leg. It then proceeds through a downhill sprint, an in-line skate, a mountain bike ride, a 5K run, a wheelchair obstacle course and, if all that wasn't enough, a three-legged race in which participants chug a beer or soda before limboing under the tape.
ref: 1993 May–June, Kathleen Ring, “Coming Attractions”, in Snow Country: The Year-round Magazine of Skiing, Mountain Sports & Living, volume 6, number 3, Trumbull, Conn.: NYT Sports/Leisure Magazines, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68, column 3:
text: After each player goes under once, the bar is lowered about an inch. Players keep limboing under the limbo stick as it gets lower and lower. If you touch the stick with any part of your body, you're out. The last person left is the winner.
ref: 2016, Linda Parker Hamilton, “Games in the Outdoors”, in Camping Activity Book for Families; The Kid-tested Guide to Fun in the Outdoors, Guilford, Conn.; Helena, Mont.: FalconGuides, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 122:
text: Anyway, one year we had a party in our unfinished basement. All I remember about it is that we limboed on bare concrete. Good times!
ref: 2020 January 28, Giselle Renarde, “Limbo Rock (Chubby Checker)”, in Play It on My Radio: A Diary in Music, [Los Gatos, Calif.]: [Smashwords], published 2021, →ISBN, page 171:
topics: dance
dancing
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To dance the limbo (etymology 2, noun sense 1).
examples: text: How low can you go? Technology stocks limboed lower and lower last week as investors danced to the profit-taking beat.
ref: 1990 March 26, “Low Motion: Technology Firms Dip, Pivot as Investors Drum Up Profits”, in Bill Laberis, editor, Computerworld: The Newsweekly of Information Systems Management, volume XXIV, number 13, Framingham, Mass.: CW Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7, column 3:
text: Ahn slept over on Friday night, and as soon as the parents were asleep, Dana and Ahn limboed under the criss-cross barriers into the secret chamber.
ref: 1994, Lois Ruby, “No Nancy Drews”, in Steal Away Home (Aladdin Historical Fiction), New York, N.Y.: Aladdin Paperbacks, published January 1999, →ISBN, page 41:
text: [T]he Private […] limboed to his seat [in a mini-submarine], thrusting his chest up and twisting to the right, one arm behind him, steadying himself on the chair as he slid in.
ref: 1995 November, Jeff Rovin with created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik, “Tuesday, 12:26 A.M., Helsinki”, in Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image (Tom Clancy’s Op-Center), New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN:
text: [W]e find that the NRC does a very good job at setting the safety bar at the right height. […] They don't do a very good job of enforcing those regulations. Too many plant owners are limboing beneath the safety bar for too long, putting Americans at higher risk, and additionally driving the costs of nuclear power upwards inexplicably.
ref: 2011 May 13, David Lochbaum (witness), “Statement of Mr. David Lochbaum, Director, Nuclear Safety Project, Union of Concerned Scientists”, in Nuclear Energy Risk Management: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Joint with the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session […] (Serial No. 122-18), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 199:
text: Daisy-Mae [a dog] also distinguishes herself by limboing under the picnic ground fence. I have to go back in order to use the gate into this spot, where I can retrieve the little madam.
ref: 2012 September 24, Anthony Linick, “June 2007”, in A Doggy Day in London Town: Life among the Dog People of Paddington Rec, volume IV, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 27:
glosses: Often followed by under: to pass under something, especially while bending backwards.