Talk:Blowing a raspberry

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Why is it called a 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)

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

Contents

[edit] Bronx cheer

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

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

[edit] Ejective unvoiced bilabial trill

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)

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

[edit] A suggestion of how 'blowing a rasberry' might be spelled

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@x

[edit] Lip usage hereditary?

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)

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