What does doodoo mean?
Doodoo is an informal, chiefly childish English word for feces or excrement, formed by reduplicating "doo" into a playful nursery-style term. It is most often heard in speech with young children, as in potty-training talk about going doodoo, and it carries no clinical or scientific weight — parents, caregivers, and children use it precisely because it is gentler and sillier than formal terms like feces or cruder slang alternatives. Beyond its literal sense, doodoo has developed a figurative use meaning something messy, worthless, or botched, as well as the popular idiom "in deep doodoo," which describes being in serious trouble. This idiomatic sense is common in journalism and casual conversation as a humorous euphemism that avoids stronger language. While entirely out of place in formal writing, doodoo is a useful word to recognize because of its frequency in everyday family life and its role as a lighthearted way of discussing unpleasant subjects.
Informal, childish term for feces; excrement.
"The toddler announced she needed to go doodoo."
Nursery register; used almost exclusively with or by young children.
Informal, figuratively, something worthless, messy, or badly done; also trouble, especially in the phrase 'in deep doodoo.'
"The software update turned out to be complete doodoo, crashing half the office's computers."
Humorous euphemism; common in journalism and casual speech as a way to avoid stronger language.
The plural is rare, since the word is typically uncountable when referring to feces generally; it appears mostly when counting discrete instances.
"The dog left doodoos all over the yard."
"In deep doodoo" became a polite way for grown-ups — even politicians and journalists — to say they were in serious trouble without using a four-letter word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of doodoo
Doodoo is a twentieth-century American English formation created by reduplication — the doubling of the syllable "doo" — a process English uses to make affectionate or childish words, as in bye-bye and wee-wee. It is unrelated etymologically to the dodo, the extinct Mauritian bird, though the two are sometimes confused because of their similar spelling. The word spread from American nursery usage into general informal speech, where the phrase "in deep doodoo" gave it a second life as a humorous adult euphemism for trouble.
How doodoo is actually used
Doodoo belongs firmly to informal, childish, or jocular registers — it is the kind of word a parent uses with a toddler, not one found in formal writing. Its reduplicated form gives it a nursery-rhyme quality. The figurative sense, especially in 'in deep doodoo,' is a mild euphemism that lets adults acknowledge trouble or mess without profanity, giving it a slightly humorous tone.
Easily confused with doodoo
A dodo is an extinct flightless bird from Mauritius, whereas doodoo is a childish term for feces or a slang term for trouble.