Talk:Blowing a raspberry

Why is it called a Bronx cheer?

• Beats me - I'm actually from New York, and I've only heard this term once or twice. I've also never seen it written on a whoopee cushion. This has some history of the term, however, which is apparently genuine: http://www.barrypopik.com/article/37/bronx-cheer Bronx Cheer].

• I'm from Florida, and travled quite a bit around the US. ... Never heard of blowing a rasberry being called Bronx Cheer, until now. Not that it comes up that often... Can someone provide a cite that 'Bronx Cheer' is the more popular word?Gmaxwell 21:36, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Isn't it also known as a bilabial fricative? Or is that reasonable sounding nonsense made up by George Carlin? Cigarette 15:25, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

• A voiceless bilabial fricative is a real linguistic phoneme; I am not a linguist, but I don't think that they're the same sound. – ClockworkSoul 16:42, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Right, voiceless bilabial fricative is more of a 'soft Fff'

It's a little dated. Maybe I've heard it in old cartoons?

• 1929 Collier's: Maxim give him a Bronx cheer.
• 1932 WODEHOUSE Hot Water: She told me..that she was through... No explanations. Just gave me the Bronx Cheer and beat it.
• 1955 E. HYAMS Slaughterhouse Informer: That rasping sound variously known as the raspberry or the Bronx cheer.

kwami 00:38, 2005 August 22 (UTC)

By the description given below, it might be described as a bilabial trill. Of course, without the tounge it would probably just make you sound like a horse.

Peter ^Isotalo 18:33, 18 September 2005 (UTC)Reply

previous musings on this & Donald Duck voice: Talk:Phonetics#Unusual sounds – ishwar  (speak) 16:36, 25 January 2006 (UTC)Reply

Daniel Everett claims that the Pirahã natives of the Amazon use that phoneme in their language. However it is one of several incredible properties of that language reported by Everett, who is apparently its only non-native speaker. Caveat lector. --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 21:19, 21 September 2015 (UTC)Reply

I am positive that a Bronx cheer refers to a boo, especially at sporting events; I don't know if it refers to both. Can someone clear this up? zellin 05:30, Jun 25, 2005 (UTC)

I have never heard the expression refering to "boo", and heard it refering to the flautulent sound for decades. Source or example of this alternative use? -- Infrogmation 13:55, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

From the OED: Bronx cheer: a sound of contempt or derision made by blowing through closed lips, usually with the tongue between; = RASPBERRY

kwami 00:38, 2005 August 22 (UTC)

"Bronx cheer" seems to be both older and better documented than "blowing a raspberry". Shouldn't the article be kept under the former title?

Peter ^Isotalo 18:33, 18 September 2005 (UTC)Reply

Raspberry as rhyming slang is somewhat older, dating in published records to 1890. [1] Hiding talk 19:11, 19 September 2005 (UTC)Reply

I had always heard that a "Bronx Cheer" was the razzing reception that New Yorkers gave the visiting team at Yankee Stadium (in the Bronx). I have seen it on whoopie cushions, and on a toy that I had as a kid in NY during the 60's (a small, flat rubber tube that had a piece of plastic that you could blow through, making the titular sound).

I've never heard it mentioned as a rasberry on any baseball telecast. It's always been uttered after a sarcastic applause, cheer, or sometimes booing for a player that's either disliked or one who's made several errors and finally gets a play right.Docbengal 01:20, 5 April 2006 (UTC)Reply

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1602&bih=835&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=W6zhWuCPBIzagAa0yIGgCg&q=whoopee+cushion+emits+a+real+bronx+cheer&oq=whoopee+cushion+emits+a+real+bronx+cheer&gs_l=psy-ab.3...4856.9493.0.9627.28.27.1.0.0.0.92.1288.27.27.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.3.144...0j0i67k1j0i8i30k1j0i24k1.0.e86kPLqNtxk

A lingo dictionary on Major League Baseball's Official Website defines the Bronx cheer as "when the crowd boos". John5008 | talk to me 12:31, 23 May 2006 (UTC)Reply

Well, the MLB web site is wrong. Merriam-Webster agrees with OED [2]. --Nelson Ricardo 09:32, 30 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

Listen, it can't be wrong if it outlines a common usage of the term, i.e. in baseball circles. It would not be on Major League Baseball's site if the term wasn't used in that meaning by a significant number of people for it to be notable. This, of course, doesn't mean the other uses are wrong, as you mention that M-W agrees with the OED, but phrases can have more than one meaning. Neither meaning is wrong. John5008 | talk to me 19:42, 30 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

Does a raspberry have to involve the tongue? Can't an ejective unvoiced bilabial trill be described as a "raspberry"? 66.92.237.111 02:32, 20 January 2006 (UTC)Reply

Thhpptpt.--Father Goose (talk) 03:58, 1 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

In my experience, people have called it "blowing a raspberry" both in instances with the tongue and with the lips only. The article already describes both.

I am not a linguist, but from the description, a bilabial trill sounds like a raspberry to me. So I added a sentence about it to the article. We could use some sort of official source for this if anyone can find one. And more details about the use of "raspberries" in various cultures. Tea and crumpets (talk) 06:30, 8 May 2020 (UTC)Reply

I have seen it spelled out in a once popular comic strip, "Bloom County", later renamed "Outland". The character that was popular for doing this was "Bill the Cat." It was spelled out "Thhpptpt!"

I had this problem when asking a few friends how they would spell a rasberry sound....all to no avail so i decided on "Ppwwp!". 217.44.64.63 (talk) 01:43, 6 February 2008 (UTC)P@xReply

Everyone I have asked and seen thus far "blows a raspberry" against their bottom lip, except for my wife, her sister and her father. They blow raspberries using their top lip. Does anyone else use their top lip? Skyler 06:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

I didn't think that was even possible! kwami (talk) 02:26, 23 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

A zerbert is a subset of raspberries. They are directed against someone else's skin, usually their stomach. I think they deserve their own section in this article. 75.73.179.186 (talk) 02:07, 20 October 2008 (UTC)Reply

I don't even think they are a subset of raspberries. They are fundamentally different, both in their nature and their purpose: Raspberries require only one person. Zerberts usually involve two. Raspberries involve no surface, zerberts do. Raspberries are usually used to show derision. Zerberts are usuallly used to show affection. I could go on. Jason Quinn (talk) 02:04, 4 September 2014 (UTC)Reply

Best. Video. Ever. BlinkerBoy (talk) 03:28, 2 June 2010 (UTC)Reply

I greatly appreciate the video example as well Bert303 (talk) 21:38, 8 March 2023 (UTC)Reply

Totally harmless, mind you. Although I don't have to put everything I know into an article, this very sound is also used by kids to imitate the noise of a car, airplane propeller or ship's engine. Just thought I'd mention it as well. -andy 217.50.49.129 (talk) 23:21, 25 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

The Motion Picture Production Code of the Hays era explicitly banned the "Bronx cheer" sound from American motion pictures. This fact might be worth mentioning in the article. 84.226.153.54 (talk) 13:41, 17 March 2013 (UTC)Reply

For a source, check the section on profanity in this copy of the code. 84.226.153.54 (talk) 13:43, 17 March 2013 (UTC)Reply

At its current version, the article contains the sentence "It is also called this because raspberries make this noise". I would very much like to remove this piece of nonsense, but maybe I'm missing something and they really do make this noise? Can anyone provide a source? 188.169.229.30 (talk) 22:12, 18 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

Although any squished barrel of fruit has the potential for making a variety of sounds (with the help of some sort of plunger), I rather doubt the relevance under even the most liberal assumption of good faith, so I reverted it.68.183.238.121 (talk) 00:50, 23 April 2013 (UTC)Reply

The explanation regarding rhyming slang is highly questionable. The origin is clearly from the word "rasp". There are a lot of more obvious words associated with "tart" (strawberry, custard, etc). It looks like original research to me. Awernham (talk) 11:54, 18 February 2015 (UTC)Reply

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The band Knorkator makes extensive use of the sound in their track "Buchstabe" (a.k.a. "The Letter), where the lyric narrative is a proposal to add a new letter to the (German) alphabet (or, according to some, repurpose the es-tset) specifically for this sound. The resultant video is replete with demonstrations.

There certainly is a version of the "razz" that's more naturalistically fart-like (higher pitched, too) & doesn't necessarily employ the tongue. I remember this in a W.C. Fields routine where he's (literally) peddling raspberry tarts, being followed around by a little kid making the (in)appropriate noise every time Fields calls out his ware.
Weeb Dingle (talk) 05:44, 9 January 2018 (UTC)Reply

 

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Flatulence Sound. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Hog Farm (talk) 04:08, 1 April 2020 (UTC)Reply

The first sentence right after the definition says “It is also used in childhood phonemic play.” But what is “childhood phonemic play”? The sentence contains a link, but that only goes to our very general article Phoneme, which doesn't even contain the words “child” or “play”. I presume all that was meant was that that's a sound children sometimes make for fun, and that whoever added that wanted to make it sound more learned. But that goes without saying, almost following from the definition. Therefore I will remove that sentence. ◅ Sebastian 04:25, 31 December 2022 (UTC)Reply

Briefly semi-protected to stop the disruption over the lead sentence and links. To the relevant IP: there's no problem with making changes to an article, but if others disagree with those changes they need to be discussed on this talkpage rather than edit-warred directly into the article.

Apologies to any other IP editors who had other changes to make to the article - while the article is semi-protected please consider using the edit-request function instead. -- Euryalus (talk) 08:50, 18 February 2023 (UTC)Reply

I have been under the impression that a consensus was forming regarding "pbbth" as how to spell the noise, to the point of it being used in spelling bees. Cannot find any dictionary entries for pbbth today though. At least dictionary entries by apparently sober persons. 2605:A601:AC0C:EA00:6D47:2B8B:9355:88E3 (talk) 21:50, 18 July 2024 (UTC)Reply