THE HISTORY AND MEAN OF BBOY
The B in Bboy: What does it stand for? What is bboying???
I wouldn’t be surprised if you already have your answer or guess.
But did you know there are a few answers to what bboy means? Or what we’re called?
History is never linear or one-sided. You could even say b-boying has histories.
To see what I mean, let’s see how many of these terms you already know:
Break boy.
Bronx boy.
Boogie boy.
Beat boy.
Boyoing.
Burning.
Breakdancer.
At least one of these terms above will be familiar to you. At the same time, you might wonder how the other names came about!
Regarding the question, “What does the b in bboy stand for?”
“Break boy” is probably the most straightforward answer you’ll see.
It is the closest to an “official” answer too. And by “official” I mean it has been the tale shared most widely in our community.
Why 10,000 names for b-boying exist
So there are a few more terms that have been floating around. They are not as frequently mentioned either.
All we have are semi-reliable eyewitness testaments. And they date back to nearly half a century ago (damn, we’re getting old). People are going to give different answers based on what they saw and remember.
Some answers will complement each other.
Some answers are going to clash.
And that is the nature of a culture that grows spontaneously, without a concrete idea of what it will look like 50 years from now.
It doesn’t mean there’s less value in these older or less popular terms. How do I mean?
Just think back to high school where your friends gave you a nickname. It wasn’t your name in the birth certificate. Yet you responded to it! So these “side-names” still form a part of who you are.
It’s the same for this dance.
The “side-names” or nicknames may not go down in history textbooks. They may also not be part of most people’s “official answer” when questioned.
But staying true to the idea of cultural preservation… All given names form the different patches to the quilt that is our bboy story.
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