Betty Boop

Betty Boop

1. A fictional female entertainer introduced in cartoons in the 1930s, characterized by a high-pitched singing and speaking voice, short and curly black hair, and sexually provocative clothing, mannerisms, and facial expressions.
   • 1997, David Howard Day, A Treasure Hard to Attain: Images of Archaeology in Popular Film, page 89:

     A feminist she is not, and we see her with many a Betty Boop look of horror as her two loutish pals make matchsticks out of every piece of barroom furniture in sight.

   • 2002, Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: ***, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, page 192:

     He sits astride a motorcycle and fingers the hem of a bright red dress worn by a pert, blonde, cherry-lipped model. Her mouth is open in a Betty Boop "ooh."

   • 2005, Stephanie Lehmann, Are You in the Mood?, page 188:

     She had straight black hair with a Betty Boop bob cut and ruby red sweetheart lips.

   • 2007, James Fitzgerald, The Joys of Smoking Cigarettes, page 22:

     Betty: Shall we? (Her voice has now assumed a Betty Boop pitch.)

   • 2010, Marisa Meltzer, Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music, page 75:

     Thirty years old when the song came out, Lauper was playacting at being a girl — and the ultimate girl, at that — with her Betty Boop voice and crazy dress-up outfits.

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Betty Boop.