Dictionary

flying purple people eater en · NOUN

Etymology

From The Purple People Eater, a song by Sheb Wooley, which describes the titular creature as a "flying purple people eater".

Meanings

1. (US) A fanciful monster.
   • "Something ate the middle." / "I don't suppose that something was the flying purple people eater?" Chylak said. / He knew this scenario well: next Elliott would demand that his Happy Days night-light be left on all night 2005, Eugena Pilek, Cooperstown, page 74:
   • He exits quickly, looking like he's just seen the one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater. "Some gooks are in there!" 2001, James D. Johnson, Combat chaplain: a thirty-year Vietnam battle, page 181:
   • I used to be afraid to go to bed at night — the name was "one-eyed, one-eared flying purple people-eater." 2003, Darcy O'Brien, The Hillside Stranglers, page 249:
   • Being rushed by a hungry, one-eyed, one-armed flying purple people eater and its pet Zygot, however, will cause very high levels of SNS action 2007, Cody Lundin with Russell Miller and Christopher Marchetti, When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes, page 47:

Forms

Synonyms

boogeyman