WOOUUIIIIII: The sound that a radio makes while being tuned

November 21, 2005 9:37 AM

Ka-BOOM!:: A Dictionary of Comicbook Words on Historical Principles, Based on the Latest Conclusions of the Most Dubious Wordologists & Comprising Many Hundreds of New Words which Modern Literature, Science & Philosophy have Neglected to Acknowledge as True, Proper & Useful Terms & Which Have Never Before Been Published in Any Lexicon
posted by anastasiav (17 comments total)

Found randomly on the front page of del.icio.us, before I get swamped in via recommendations.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page, then click on the individual letters to enjoy.
posted by anastasiav at 9:38 AM on November 21, 2005

I involuntarily had to take a deep breath after I read that headline. Good stuff though:

KLONNK [Madballs vol.1 #7, 1987] The sound of a frozen body falling to the ground
posted by Mach5 at 9:49 AM on November 21, 2005

Thanks, anastasiav. This is actually a passion of mine.

No, really. People in non-comics writing seem to think that if something is a comic-book word or sound they can just spell it any way they want. Back in the Good Old Days, for instance, there was a clear distinction between AAAAAH and AHHHH, the former being a cry of terror, the latter of relaxation. Almost all of the real comics that I've seen still maintain this crucial distinction, but comic strips and columnists (and, Lord knows, Web site commenters) routinely use AHHHHHH as a cry of terror, which just looks idiotic.

That said, as you can imagine, I would've enjoyed a little more prescriptivist than descriptivist approach, but at least interested people can see where the weight of usage falls and make the inference themselves. And if nothing else, you gotta love the sheer amount of work put into this pointless crucial exercise.
posted by soyjoy at 10:00 AM on November 21, 2005

TCHUNK [Avengers West Coast Annual vol.2 #8, 1993] The sound of a thrown discus hitting someone in the head.
posted by NationalKato at 10:09 AM on November 21, 2005

I could have sworn we'd done this before, but apparently not. So: waku waku!
posted by languagehat at 10:10 AM on November 21, 2005

But it must have been hard to compile with a straight face...

Under P:
PHHHHHT see PHHHHHHT

Also, while it is cool, how exactly does it qualify as archive material that needs to be maintained by Library and Archives Canada? Odd, but perhaps pleasing, that my tax dollars are going to preserve this important work.
posted by GuyZero at 10:11 AM on November 21, 2005

Great stuff!
Here's a similar site that features panels so you can 'hear' the sound effect in its proper context. Uh-unnn!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:20 AM on November 21, 2005

Comic fonts.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:33 AM on November 21, 2005

Cool idea, but the web site kinda made my eyes water.

When I think of sounds in comics, it's hard not to think of MAD magazine's legendary Don Martin.
posted by alumshubby at 10:37 AM on November 21, 2005

I can't believe they left out "WANK" (SFW).
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:51 AM on November 21, 2005

Deet, cool.
posted by safetyfork at 11:30 AM on November 21, 2005

"Web and graphic design that gets you noticed!" Uh huh.

At least both the Canadian and Japanese lists support my spelling of the standardized evil laugh as "bwahahaha" and NOT "muahahahah" or something like that. It's important to me.
posted by wendell at 11:42 AM on November 21, 2005

Walt Simonson's run on Thor in the late 80s defines cool comic book sound effects for me. I have been unable to find too many samples on the web, except for KLA THASSH! and BARRROOM!
posted by flipper at 11:55 AM on November 21, 2005

From flipper's 2nd link - FTASSP! They're all just really fun to say...at work.
posted by NationalKato at 12:00 PM on November 21, 2005

Flipper, as soon as I saw this article I thought of Walt Simonson as well. Huge, huge sound effect lettering in a distinctive style. It definitely helped to bolster the epic feel of his run on Thor.
posted by solid-one-love at 12:09 PM on November 21, 2005

Whenever I re-read Nausicaa, I always fixate on the odd sound effects Miyazaki (or the translator, not sure which) put in there. Especially the engine thrum of the warships in the sky : DNDNDNDNDNDNDN
posted by suckerpunch at 12:10 PM on November 21, 2005

A-A-ACHOO [Kool Asthma Kids #2, 1996] The sound of a sneeze

Okay, now I'm going to have to find a copy of Kool Asthma Kids.
posted by mikrophon at 12:12 PM on November 21, 2005