baboon

plural baboons · alternative babian · alternative babion

1. An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.

   He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.

   2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2017, page 162

   1 more example

   Mix swallowed the comment he wanted to make, that the council hall stank like a congress of baboons. But he was in no position to insult his host, nor should he. The man was only expressing the attitude of his time.

   1971, Philip José Farmer, Down in the Black Gang: and others; a story collection, Nelson Doubleday, page 79

2. colloquialderogatoryA foolish, stupid or incompetent person.
   1. colloquialderogatoryethnicoffensiveslurhighly derogatoryA black person.

      The 50-year-old steel worker said he had meant to type Sawyers should win the "buffoon d'Or". He claimed a misspelling, of "bafoon", had autocorrected on his device to "baboon".

      2021 November, “Romaine Sawyers: Albion fan jailed for racist post loses appeal”, in BBC

      1 more example

      Animalistic dehumanisation, 'simianisation' and the animalising of black bodies through metaphorically likening these individuals to 'baboons,' 'monkeys' or 'apes' reveals racialised animality discourse in South Africa.

      2022 October, René Cornish, Kieran Tranter, “Dismissals for Social Media Hate Speech in South Africa: Animalistic Dehumanisation and the Circulation of Racist Words and Images”, in Springer Nature Link