Meanings
electric boogaloo1
- uncountableA type of freestyle, improvised street dance emphasising fluid movements of the joints and limbs combined with popping.
Electric Boogaloo2
- humorousUsed as the subtitle of an imagined sequel of a film, television show, etc.
Now the disco revival is on […] What next? Maybe Olivia Newton-John will do Xanadu II: Electric Boogaloo.
1996 November, Suzan Colón, “Dance Fever; Turn the Beat Around—Again”, in Bob Guccione, Jr., editor, Spin, volume 12, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Camouflage Associates, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 33, column 25 more examples
Finally, we all followed the turbulent antics of Hollywood's favorite couple, Tom and Roseanne. First, they talked about inviting a third party into their marriage and bedroom. Then (auurgh!) Mariel Hemingway kissed Roseanne Arnold! Then again (auurgh!) Tom kissed Roseanne Arnold! And the climax, DIVORCE: oops! Tom just went out for a pizza. DIVORCE II (ELECTRIC BOOGALOO): I guess Tom ate the last piece.
1994 May 27, Jorge Garcia, “Signing off: not your typical year-in-review”, in Josh Romonek, editor, Daily Bruin, volume 82, number 132, Los Angeles: ASUCLA, →ISSN, page 9, column 4Epilogue: Hooters 2: Electric Boogaloo [chapter title] A few weeks before this book went to press, I met my best friend Darin for lunch in Old Town. […] We met at the usual place [Hooters], ahead of the lunchtime rush, so we could sit wherever we liked.
2004 June, Wil Wheaton, “Epilogue: Hooters 2: Electric Boogaloo”, in Brett McLaughlin, editor, Just a Geek, Sebastopol, Calif.: O’Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 223But I just wanted to feel like I was stepping outside of my box. It's a different time in history. I can't go, "And I'm from Mars!" without it being Bowie II: Electric Boogaloo, except fat.
2007 April, Kory Grow, quoting James Murphy, “The Art of Discomfort: LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy Explains How to Appreciate the Sound of Silver”, in Kenny Herzog, editor, CMJ New Music Monthly, number 146, New York, N.Y.: CMJ Network, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 25, column 1Given that we're essentially looking at The Battle of Jutland 2: Electric Boogaloo, let's start out by looking at what had changed on both sides since that confrontation in 1916.
2018 October 17, Drachinifel [pseudonym], 00:24 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet – Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2022The term boogaloo was first used on 4chan in 2012, where the meme was often associated with references to "Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo", "race war", and "dotr" (day of the rope) […] A variety of ideologies organized under the Boogaloo umbrella, including libertarian anarchists, pro-gun, anti-government groups, as well as white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
2021, George Michael, “Lockdowns, Riots, and a Contested Election—Could the 2020 Crises Reinvigorate the US Far Right?”, in Alan Waring, editor, The New Authoritarianism, volume 3 (A Risk Analysis of the Corporate/Radical-right Axis), Stuttgart, Baden-Wüttemberg: ibidem-Verlag, →ISBN, part 2 (Perspectives on the Corporate/Radical-right Axis), page 355
Origin
From the title of the film Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984), a sequel to Breakin’ (1984), from electric boogaloo (“type of freestyle, improvised street dance emphasizing fluid movements of the joints and limbs combined with popping”): see more at boogaloo (“genre of music that blends rhythm and blues and soul music with Cuban-style rhythms; style of dance to this music; type of freestyle, improvisational street dance incorporating soulful steps and robotic movements; etc.”). An early instance was in 1993, when Toronto band Dig Circus released an edition of their 1992 album Shekkie with bonus tracks, as Shekkie II: Electric Boogaloo.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Portuguese O Inimigo Agora É Outro
- O Inimigo Agora É Outrosubtitle for an imagined series entry
Cite this entry
electric boogaloo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/electric%20boogaloo
“electric boogaloo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/electric%20boogaloo. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “electric boogaloo,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/electric%20boogaloo.
Source: electric boogaloo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.