Horrible Body Odour (HBO nickname)

HBO (Home Box Office) is is an American premium cable and satellite television network. “B.O.” is old 1930s slang for “body odor.”
 
“Horrible Body Odor” (or “Horrible Body Odour,” using a British spelling) is an HBO nickname that has been cited in print since at least 2003 (for “Horrible Body Odor”) and 2004 (for “Horrible Body Odour”).
         
     
Wikipedia: HBO
HBO (Home Box Office) is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of WarnerMedia Entertainment. The programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television shows, along with made-for-cable movies, documentaries and occasional comedy and concert specials.
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
B.O. n. body odour.
1933   Sat. Evening Post 14 Jan. 91/3   Those ‘B.O.’ ads. I laughed at—is the joke on me?
1936   W. H. Auden & C. Isherwood Ascent of F6 ii. iii. 96   And some I know have got B.O.: But these are not for me.
       
Google Groups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling
Hey Test, HBO = Home Box Office
CptainDan
4/7/03
Horrible Body Odor.
 
Urban Dictionary
HBO
Horrible body odor.
Dude 1: Man that dude has HBO!
Dude 2: Horrible body odor!
by qwerewq March 10, 2004
 
Google Groups: rec.humor
Re: geroge bush is an ass
Pollywolly
10/27/04
(...)
>> *You* watch HBO?
>
> What is HBO?
 
Horrible Body Odour.  Other than that it’s a television network in the States - watching it has the same effect as in encountering horrible body odour.
       
Twitter
Pat Lewis
@patlewis
When I was a kid we used to ask people if they had HBO and if they said yes we told them it stood for “Horrible Body Odor.”
1:16 PM · Feb 21, 2008·Twitter Web Client
   
Twitter
jeffrey_abbott
@jeffrey_abbott
My wife told a joke last night “Do you have HBO?” “Um no”, “So you don’t have horrible body odor”. D’oh!
8:29 AM · Dec 3, 2009·Twitter Web Client
   
Twitter
UnkDaBoss PayDayEnt
@UnkAlmighty
If U Don’t Have HBO (Horrible Body Odor) You’ll Be at K-LOUNGE 2Night!
12:42 PM · Apr 16, 2010·Twitter Web Client
   
Twitter
Thomas Pluck🦊
@thomaspluck
I remember when I was 8, we used to ask other kids “Do you have HBO?” and then say “you have Horrible Body Odor?!” and laugh.
4:32 PM · Nov 18, 2010·TweetDeck
   
Twitter
Martin Dimech
@martin_dimech
HBO - Horrible Body Odour #BadChannels
6:00 PM · Nov 15, 2013·Twitter for Android
 
Urban Dictionary
H.b.o.
Slang. Horrible body odor.
Bro! That guy has H.b.o.! Wtf is that?! It’s horrible body odor!
by B-rizzle February 14, 2019
 
Twitter
mᎥᏦᎬ ᏞᎥᏆᎬᏒᎪᏞᏞᎽ✪
@SkippyMcGizzard
The H in HBO stands for horrible.
The BO stands for B.O.
2:05 AM · Aug 6, 2019·Twitter for Android