A booby prize is a joke

prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

usually given in recognition of a terrible performance or a last-place finish. Booby prizes are typically worthless, but are sometimes jokingly coveted as an object of pride. Notable examples of booby prizes include the

wooden spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

, which originated at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

as an award for the lowest grade in a mathematics exam before becoming popular in sports, and the title of , given to the last-place finisher of the Tour de France. The word ''booby'' stems from the Spanish meaning silly, which in turn came from the Latin meaning stammering; the word booby to mean dunce appeared in 1599. Booby prize literally means "idiot's prize". The OED dates this usage to 1893. '' Booby trap'' and ''booby hatch'' are related terms.

References

{{phaleristics Ironic and humorous awards

See also

References