Boom!
Wilson Gray
hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Fri Nov 11 01:21:42 UTC 2011
On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 4:06 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender: Â Â Â American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â Â Â Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Â Â Â Boom!
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Since JL started that long thread on recent catch phrases, I thought I'd
> add another one.
>
> Â From Politico (as quoted by Kevin Drum):
>
>> âAnd then,â Norquist said, âhe went down on the floor, and he gave a
>> colloquy about how weâre against any tax increases of any sort. Boom!â
>
> 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-)
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
Have you seen that TV commercial in which the spokesmodel says something like.
"BOOM! What's that noise?! That's me dropping some knowledge on you"
or something similar.
--
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain
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