7 Responses to “boing!”

1. 1 Laura Sep 21st, 2005 at 10:25 pm

   Onomatopoeia?

   (David maybe wants to be a rabbit for Halloween. Instead of referring to “hop like a rabbit,” he says he wants to “boing like a bunny.”)

2. 2 brendan Sep 22nd, 2005 at 7:41 pm

   I assume from the strangeness of the word that is must be onomotopoetic, but I am still curious of its origins. Is it a recent word? It has the ring of a word that could have been around for over a hundred years, but so far I can’t find any sort of citing of early examples of it, or really any discussion of its origins at all. Grrr.

   Boing like a bunny is good, though it should be pointed out that boing is used in popular vernacular as a synonym for ‘boink’, so boing like a bunny definitely has a secondary meaning. Given how much bunnies like to… er… boing.

3. 3 Laura Sep 22nd, 2005 at 8:24 pm

   Yes, I know. But David doesn’t.
   I really have no idea about early usage. I’m picturing that kind of text in cartoons, like the old Batman TV show. Have you checked the OED?

4. 4 brendan Sep 26th, 2005 at 5:58 pm

   OED says, “ORIGIN 1950s: imitative.”

   Weak.

5. 5 Lori Guidos Jun 1st, 2007 at 3:29 pm

   You are a very good writer. Pleas continue.

   Because of some synchronicity I came across your writings.

   While off reading “The Adventures of Lin, Lin” and other writings I came across an offer of a reward for coming up with the definition of Boing in a Blog you wrote in 2005.

   My question is what is my reward?

   The definition of BOING!

   According to “define: boing” in google, I get a result written in Italian which is

   evoca il suono di un rimbalzo in maniera più o meno metallica.
   it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossario_dei_fumetti

   Using bablefish to translate from Italian to English”

   The definition of Boing is: it evokes the sound of a bounce in more or less metallic way.

   So now will you volunteer to help me with my website?

   Lori Guidos
   Execuitve Director
   DisabledCommunity.Org

6. 6 brendan Jun 1st, 2007 at 3:45 pm

   well,

   i’m still curious about the actual history of the word — like i said earlier, i assume it is onomatopoetic, but i wonder what the origins of it are nonetheless. what i really want is an earliest citable attribution — something a bit more concrete than the oed’s “1950s”.

   i’ll still help you though

7. 7 Jonathan May 10th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

   I accidently mispelled Boeing and clicked on a random Google page number for boing. This website has the name of Brendan McGuigan an old friend from Palmetto High School. Maybe it is his site and maybe it’s another Brendan McGuigan. Strangely, I may happen to know part of the answer to this told to me from a random machinist I met a decade ago in Pennsylvanua whose father worked at a train repair factory.

   In the early half of the century, machinists/engineers/repairmen had to fix trains and other large tracked equipment. In the days before diagnostic computer reports, it was very expensive to take apart an entire locmotive for a small mechanical problem. Thus, specially trained repair teams would run damaged locomotive or rail cars on a closed circuit track at the repair plant where the repair workers would listen to it start and stop. On a side note, many people have natural rhythm, to do the job you needed to have natural ability in deciphering pitch in sounds. Anyhow, “boing” was one of a number of words that could be used to describe the sound of spring mechanisms that an experienced mechanic and a layman can use to communicate what they heard since not all people could be at the same position as a train was moving. Boing may have been used in other industries that may pre date my train story but that may be the origin. Someone told it to me so I’m telling it to you all.

   Sorry for the diatribe.

   Jonathan

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