Cimbom
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Cimbom, or Cim Bom (pronounced "JIM-bom") is the nickname of the Turkish football team Galatasaray SK.
[edit] Origin
Nobody exactly knows the origin of this word. But there are some urban legends:
- In the past, there was an American (or English) boxer, whose name was Jim and who played for Galatasaray sports club. To support him and to give him motivation, the fans were singing something like "Jim Bom Bom". This became CimBom in time.
- A Galatasaray player moved to Switzerland for a few years and later came back, bringing with him what Swiss fans chanted: something like "Cimbom, Cimbom". In time it, Galatasaray started using it.
- In front of the Galatasaray High School, French girls were selling sweets. They couldn't speak Turkish very well, so they were mixing Turkish and French. When talking about sweets, they might have prefer a word inspired by French: jelibom. The word would have been modified and became Cimbom. (Though Turkish later adopted jelibom, as jelibon). Or alternately, the girls were saying "j'aime bonbon" or "I like candy".
- On an early school trip of the Galatasaray High School to Switzerland, the students learned a Swiss football chant with the lyrics "Jim, Bom, Bom" and took it back with them to Istanbul. The song stayed with the team to this day and earned them their famous nickname, Cim Bom.
There may be more legends, and still nobody exactly knows the story of Cimbom.
