[Ads-l] womp womp

[Laurence Horn]

> On Jun 23, 2018, at 4:22 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>> Isn’t this womp womp also pronounced “wahn wahn” with a nasalized “n”?
> 
> Yes. I'd have spelled it "wonk wonk." Is the supposed "p" ever pronounced?

Depends on whether “pronounced” just requires closure or release.  In the actual human rendering (as opposed to the Let’s Make a Deal version) there is at least sometimes closure, which would distinguish it from a simple nasalized vowel, i.e. wahn wahn (or ouan ouan in French orthography), but there’s no release.  The lips look closed to me at the end in at least some videos, which supports the womp rendition except for failing to represent the nasal vowel.  “Wonk wonk” seems too much like it should rhyme with “honk honk”, which it doesn’t.  Doesn’t really rhyme with “stomp stomp” either, though.  And then there’s the notionally negative tonal downstep, similar to those for “uh-oh”, “unh-unh” (and its closed mouth variant), and "[no you] di-int”, although all four of those also feature glottal stops. Come to think of it, “womp womp” may have a glottal stop between the womps too.

LH
> 
> 
>> My recollection was three for “Let’s Make a Deal", but
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5bFrmzoLOc <
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5bFrmzoLOc> has four, lol.
>> 
>> Looking at a contemporary upload (
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp14fApDMsA <
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp14fApDMsA>, 26:39, 27:11), there are
>> just two womps (repeated shortly after for confirmation).
>> 
>> Isn’t this womp womp also pronounced “wahn wahn” with a nasalized “n”?
>> 
>> Benjamin Barrett
>> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>> 
>>> On 23 Jun 2018, at 10:03, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Yes indeed. And possibly since it began - in the 1960s.
>>> 
>>> But people seem to have started making the sound only within the past ten
>>> years.
>>> JL
>>> 
>>> On Sat, Jun 23, 2018 at 11:09 AM Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Let's Make a Deal
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> From: Jonathan Lighter<mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>>> Sent: ‎6/‎23/‎2018 7:54
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Subject: Re: womp womp
>>>> 
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>> -----------------------
>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>>> Subject:      Re: womp womp
>>>> 
>>>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> 
>>>> I can't believe I wrote "Three is...."
>>>> 
>>>> Is there a specific game show that the trombone notes were/are
>> associated
>>>> with?  "Wheel of Fortune," perhaps?
>>>> 
>>>> JL
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Sat, Jun 23, 2018 at 10:38 AM Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net>
>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On 6/23/2018 10:21 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>>> Actually, I was surprised that CL emitted only two womps.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Three is also common.
>>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> 
>>>>> The "womp womp" i.e. "sad trombone" is found with *4* womps in several
>>>>> YouTube clips.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Is this definitely equivalent to the CL sound(s)?
>>>>> 
>>>>> -- Doug Wilson
>> 
>> 
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>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
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