Poodoos are people, too!

As kids in Kaplan, one of the worst things you could have been was “a big poodoo.” I thought that poodoo was universally known and continued using it when I moved here to California. To my surprise, nobody knew what I was talking about so I told them this…

Many fights have broken out because someone called someone else a Poodoo. I dont know if its spelled Pudu, but kids have always spelled it poodoo.

It basically started out as meaning “extremely poor” or “an extremely poor person”. Then it started evolving over the years. It could also mean “no class”, “cheesy”, “dumb”, “hated it” ..just all around bunk. Anything with a negative connotation can be poodoo. A few examples:

“Why is she dating him? He’s so poodoo.”
“Does this shirt look poodoo?”
“Our new library has poodoo orange carpets”
“My hair looks poodoo”
“Leaving your Christmas lights up till July is pretty poodoo.”

Poodoo seems to be quite catchy. My friends here in Los Angeles now use it.

The story behind it is that a really poor family with the name “Poodoo” or “Pudu” lived in Kaplan and they were so poodoo that their name just stuck. “If you touch the floor, you are a Poodoo.”

The road that the family lived on is still called Poodoo Road by local residents. Its official name, however, is Merchant Road —  named after a not-so-poodoo family, the Merchant’s.

click the picture to see Poodoo Road