Boom!
Victor Steinbok
aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM
Thu Nov 10 09:06:28 UTC 2011
Since JL started that long thread on recent catch phrases, I thought I'd
add another one.
From Politico (as quoted by Kevin Drum):
> “And then,” Norquist said, “he went down on the floor, and he gave a
> colloquy about how we’re against any tax increases of any sort. Boom!”
This "Boom!" has seen increased frequency in the last couple of years.
It's the rhetorical equivalent of "THAT'S what I am talking about!" or
"There you have it!".
I suppose, I could be falling for a recency illusion, but I don't think
so--the common use of "Boom!" is quite different--usually "something
happens", with a reference to an high-impact event.
What's odd about it here is the source--I did not expect this kind of
street talk from Grover Norquist. Perhaps he's trying to be hip. Or
maybe I'm totally unhip.
BTW, "Boom!" was one of my sons' first articulable word. He would drop
on his butt from standing position, then look at me and say, "Boom!"
There might have been semantic content in his earlier chortling, but
this one was clear, deliberate and repeatable. That was almost 9 years ago.
VS-)
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
More information about the Ads-l
mailing list