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	* In ], ''gedebak-gedebuk''		* In ], ''gedebak-gedebuk''
	* In ], ''daḍas'' (දඩස්)		* In ], ''daḍas'' (දඩස්)
	* In ], ''pácatelas'' ''crash or pungun''		* In ], ''pácatelas'' crash, or ''pungun''
	* In ], ''dhishumm'', ''dhishum''		* In ], ''dhishumm'', ''dhishum''
	* In ], ''güm''		* In ], ''güm''

Revision as of 15:19, 13 September 2008

For the supervillain, see Onomatopoeia (comics).

Onomatopoeia (also spelled onomatopœia, from Greek: ονοματοποιΐα) is a word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, suggesting its source object, such as "click", "bunk", "clang", "buzz", "bang", or animal noises such as "oink", "moo", or "meow". The word is a synthesis of the Greek words όνομα (onoma, = "name") and ποιέω (poieō, = "I make" or "I create") thus it essentially means "name creation", although it makes more sense combining "name" and "I do", meaning it is named (and spelled) as it sounds (e.g. quack, bang, etc.).

Template:IndicText Template:Sinhala transliteration

Variations in onomatopoeia among languages

Onomatopoeic words exist in every language, although they are different in each. For example:

Balloon bursting

In English, pop
In Spanish, pop

Clock

In Chinese, Mandarin dī dā (滴答)
In English Tick Tock
In Indonesian Tik Tok
In Romanian, tic tac
In Spanish, tic tac
In Swedish, tick tack
In Turkish, tik tak
In Bulgarian, tik tak
In Tamil, tik tik

Bird singing

In Basque (Euskara), txio txio
In Bosnian, čip bolan čip
In Catalan, piu piu
In Chinese, Mandarin jī jī zhā zhā (叽叽喳喳)
In Czech, Slovak, píp píp /peep, peep/
In Dutch, twiet twiet, "tok tok tok" (hen(chicken))
In English, chirp chirp, tweet tweet
In Filipino, twitwittwit
In Finnish, tviit, piip piip, ti-pi-tii, ti-ti-tyy (Great Tit)
In French, cui, cui
In German, piep piep /peep, peep/, tschiep
In Hungarian, csip csip
In Italian, cip cip, pio pio (for chicks)
In Japanese, it varies: piyo piyo (ピヨピヨ) for chicks
In Korean, jjek jjek (짹짹)
In Malayalam, "coo coo"
In Polish, ćwir ćwir
In Portuguese, piu piu
In Brazilian Portuguese, piu-piu
In Romanian, cip cirip, piu piu
In Russian, chirik chirik (чирик, чирик)
In Sinhalese, kumu kumu (කුමු-කුමු)
In Spanish, pío, pío
In Swedish, kvitt, kvitt
In Tamil, koo, koo
In Thai, "jib jib" (จิ๊บ จิ๊บ)
In Turkish, cik cik /dʒik dʒik/

Cannon firing or gun shot

In Arabic, bom, bov
In Brazilian Portuguese, bum
In Catalan, pam
In Chinese, Mandarin, cannon firing - pēng (嘭 or 砰); gun firing - ping, pang or Pa (乒 or 啪) (乒 also means "table tennis"); machine gun - da da da... (嗒嗒嗒) (嗒 singly means "clatter")
In Danish, bang, bum
In Dutch, cannon firing - boem, gun firing - pang or pauw, machine gun - ratatata
In English, bang, "brap", boom, or pow
in Estonian, põmm
In Finnish, pum, pam: generally for all gunfire and explosions; ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta: an example of fully automatic gunfire.
In French, pan: a gun or cannon firing
In German, peng, puff, päng (pistol); rat-tat-tat-tat (machine gun); Bumm, Rumms, Kawumm (cannon)
In Greek, bam, (μπαμ)
In Indonesian, dorr, bum
In Hungarian bumm
In Italian, bum, bang
In Icelandic, búmm or bamm
In Lithuanian, bumpt
In Polish, bum
In Romanian, bum
In Sinhalese, ḍisum (ඩිසු‍‍ම්); ḍaka-ḍaka-ḍaka (ඩක-ඩක-ඩක) - automatic weapon; ḍung (ඩුං) - single shot
In Spanish, pum or bang
In Swedish, pang or bang: a gun shot
In Thai, pung (ปัง)
In Turkish, bam: a gun shot or bom: a cannon firing
In Hebrew, bum (בום)
In Tamil, doom
In Telugu, dhaam

Cat meowing

In Arabic, miao
In Bengali: মিউ মিউ miu miu
In Brazilian Portuguese, miau
In Bulgarian, miau (мяу)
In Catalan, mèu
In Czech, mňau
In Chinese, Cantonese, mēu-mēu (喵喵)
In Chinese, Mandarin, miāo miāo (喵喵)
In Danish, mjau
In Dutch, miauw
In English, meow , miaow (UK), or mew
In Estonian, mjäu, njäu
In Filipino, ngyaw
In Finnish, miau
In French, miaou
In German, miau, mietz
In Greek, niau, (νιάου)
In Hebrew, miaw (מיאו)
In Hungarian miaú, nyau
In Hindi Myaau, Myaaoo
In Icelandic, mjá
In Italian, miao miao
In Indonesian, meong
In Japanese, nyā (ニャー)
In Korean, yaong (야옹)
In Lithuanian, miau
In Malayalam, "myaoo myaoo"
In Polish, miau
In Portuguese, miau
In Romanian, miau
In Russian, myau (мяу)
In Sinhalese, ñāvu (ඤාවු) and puru puru (පුරු-පුරු) - purring
In Spanish, miau
In Swedish, mjau or mjao
In Thai, miaw (เมี๊ยว)
In Turkish, miyav
In Telugu, miao(m)
In Tamil, miaow(m)
In Vietnamese, meo

Collision sounds

In Arabic, bom, trakh
In Bengali: ঠাস ṭhash ঠুস ṭhush ধুম dhum ধাম dham
In Bulgarian, bum, dum tryas (бум, дум, тряс)
In Chinese, Cantonese, bìhng-līng baang-làahng (乒鈴嘭唥)
In Chinese, Mandarin, larger objects crashing, buildings falling down or bigger bombs detonating - hong (轰); describing glass shattering or metal objects falling to ground - guang-dang (哐当) or guang-lang (哐啷)
In Dutch: boem, knal
In English: boom, crunch, wham, bang
In Finnish: ryskis, kolin, rämin
In French, bing or bang or boum
In German, rumms or bumms
In Gilbertese. beeku: a collision.
In Haitian Creole, bip: the sound of a collision (eg. a car crash).
In Hebrew, bum, trakh (בום, טראח)
In Hindi, dhishumm, dhishum
In Indonesian, buk or brekk or j'derr
In Italian, sbam
In Korean: Koong: the equivalent of bang bang in English.
In Latin, tuxtax was the equivalent of bam or whack and was meant to imitate the sound of blows landing.
In Lithuanian, bumpt
In Malay, gedebak-gedebuk
In Sinhalese, daḍas (දඩස්)
In Spanish, pácatelas crash, or pungun
In Tamil, dhishumm, dhishum
In Turkish, güm

Crow calling

In Arabic, qa qa
In Bengali: কা কা ka ka
In Bulgarian, ga ga (га га)
In Chinese, Mandarin, ya-ya (哑哑) (哑 means "mute")
In Czech, krá krá
In Danish, kra kra
In Dutch, kra kra
In English, caw caw
In Finnish, kraa kraa
In French, crôa crôa
In German, krah krah
In Greek, kra kra, (κρα κρα)
In Hungarian kár kár
In Italian, cra cra
In Japanese, kaa kaa, gaa gaa, ahoo ahoo
In Korean, kaak kaak,(까악까악)
In Lithuanian, kar kar
In Malayalam, "kra kra"
In Polish, kra kra
In Romanian, cra cra
In Russian, kar kar (кар-кар)
In Sinhalese, kāk kāk (කාක්-කාක්)
In Spanish, cuaa cuaaa or uacc uac
In Swedish, kra kra or krax krax
In Turkish, gaak gaak
In Tamil, kha-kha
In Hebrew, kra kra (קְרה קְרה).
In Telugu, kaau kaau

Dangling

In Chinese, Cantonese, dìuh-díu fihng (吊吊捹)
In Chinese, Mandarin, objects creaking when swaying - yiya yiya (咿呀咿呀)
In Czech, houpy-houp referring to motion similar to clock pendulum or baby swing chair.
In Dutch, doing-doing-doing referring to something dangling in a vertical motion.
In English, clink, clang
In Finnish, kilin, helin
In Korean, dal-lang dal-lang evoking the feeling of something dangling, slightly swaying.
In Tamil, sil-sila silu-sila

Dog barking

In Arabic, haw haw
In Bengali: ঘেউ ঘেউ gheu gheu, ভেউ ভেউ bheu bheu, ভউ ভউ bhou bhou
In Brazilian portuguese: au au
In Bulgarian, bow bow, djaff, djaff (бау бау, джаф джаф)
In Catalan, bup bup
In Czech, haf haf
In Chinese, Cantonese, wōu-wōu (㕵㕵)
In Chinese, Mandarin, wāng wāng (汪汪) (汪汪 also means "tearful")
In Danish, vuf vuf, vov vov, bjæf bjæf
In Dutch, waf waf, woef woef
In English, woof woof, arf arf, bow wow, bark bark, ruff
In Estonian, auh auh
In Filipino, aw aw
In Finnish hau hau
In French, ouaf ouaf
In German, wau wau, waff waff, wuff wuff'
In Greek, gav gav (γαβ γαβ)
In Hebrew, haw haw, hav hav (האו האו, הב הב)
In Hungarian vau vau
In Icelandic, voff voff
In Indonesian, guk guk
In Italian, bau bau
In Japanese, wan wan (ワンワン)
In Korean, meong meong (멍멍)
In Lithuanian, au au
In Malayalam, "bau bau"
In Romanian, ham ham
In Russian, gav gav (гав-гав)
In Polish, hau hau
In Portuguese, ão ão
In Sinhalese, buh buh (බුඃ බුඃ)
In Slovene, hov hov
In Spanish, guau guau
In Swedish, vov vov, voff voff
In Telugu, bau bau
In Thai, hong hong (ฮ่ง ฮ่ง)
In Turkish, hav hav
In Tamil, vovw-vovw

Duck calling

In English, quack quack
In Spanish, cua cua

Frog croaking

In Ancient Greek, brekekekex koax koax
In Modern Greek, kuax kuax, (Κουάξ Κουάξ)
In Bengali: মক মক môk môk, কট কট kôṭ kôṭ
In Bulgarian, kva kva (ква ква)
In Chinese, Mandarin: guā guā (呱呱) (The Chinese onomatopoeic signs usually feature a "口" (mouth, oral) part on its left)
In Czech, kvá kvá
In Danish: kvæk kvæk
In Dutch: kwaak kwaak
In English, ribbet ribbet
In Estonian krooks krooks
In Filipino, kokak kokak
In Finnish kurr kurr, kroak
In French, croac croac
In Galician, cro cro
In German, quak quak
In Hebrew, kwwa kwwa (קווה קווה)
In Hungarian, brekeke
In Italian, cra cra
In Japanese, kero kero (ケロケロ)
In Korean, gaegool gaegool (개굴개굴)
In Lithuanian, kva kva
In Polish, kum kum
In Romanian, oac oac
In Russian, kva kva (ква ква)
In Sinhalese, baka baka (බක බක)
In Spanish, croac croac
In Swedish, kvack kvack, ko ack ack ack
In Thai, Ohb Ohb (อ๊บ อ๊บ)
In Turkish, vrak vrak
In Telugu, beka beka

Geese calling

In Dutch, gak gak
In English, honk honk
In French, ca car
In German, gack gack
In Hebrew, bak bak (באק באק).
In Hungarian, gá gá
In Italian, qua qua
In Polish, gę gę
In Portuguese, qüém qüém
In Russian, ga-ga-ga (га-га-га)
In Spanish, cua cua
In Turkish, vak vak
In Korean, Kkwak-Kkwak(꽤액-꽤액)

Heart beating

In Arabic, bom bom
In Bengali: দুরদুর durdur, দুড়দুড় duṛduṛ
In Chinese, Cantonese - bìhng-bìhng (砰砰)
In Chinese, Mandarin, slightly excited - tong-tong (嗵嗵), excited - peng-peng (砰砰)
In Dutch, boenk boenk, boem boem
In English bum bum, du-thump, lub dub
In Estonian, tuks tuks
In Finnish, tu-tum, tykyn
In German, ba-dumm, bumm bumm
In Hindi daḍak (pronounced /ˈd̪əɖək/) and Urdu dhakdhak: a person's heartbeat, indicative of the sound of one beat.
In Indonesian, dag-dig-dug, deg-degan
In Japanese, doki doki (ドキドキ): the (speeding up of the) beating of a heart (and thus excitement).
In Korean, doogeun doogeun (두근두근)
In Portuguese, tun-tum
In Lithuanian, tuk tuk
In Tamil, lappu-tappu
In Hebrew, bum-búm (בום-בום).
In Spanish, bum bum bum,
In Swedish, dunk, dunk
In Turkish, dup dup
In Russian, "tuk-tuk" (тук-тук)
In Italian, tu tump

Kissing

In Arabic, mwa
In Persian, mua
In Danish, møs
in Dutch, smak
In English: smooch or mwah
In Bengali: চুমা chuma (noun)
In Chinese, Mandarin: boh (啵) (This word is a modern creation)
In German: muah, schmatz
In Greek: ma or smats, (μα or σματς)
In Hungarian: cupp
In Korean: zzohk
In Malayalam, umma: the sound of a kiss.
In Norwegian, smask
In Polish, cmok
In Portuguese, splish splash, smac, chuac
In Romanian, mua
In Russian, chmok (чмок)
In Japanese, chuu
In Filipino, tsup or mwah
In Finnish, muisk
In Sinhalese, umma (උම්ම)
In Spanish, mua or muac
In Swedish, smack
In Turkish, muck /mudʒ(u)k/
In Hebrew, mwa (מואה).
In Telugu, umma
In Italian, smack
In Tamil, umma

Rooster crowing

In Arabic, kuku kukuku
In Bulgarian, kukurigu (кукуригу)
In Chinese, Mandarin, Gu Gu Gu! 咕咕咕
In Carlish, arh-ah-ariihhr
In Czech, kykirikí
In Danish, kykkeliky
In Dutch, kukeleku
In French, cocorico
In English, cock a doodle doo
In Euskara, kukurruku
In Finnish, kukkokiekuu (kukko - a cock, kiekuu - crowing)
In German, kikeriki
In Greek, kikiriku, (κικιρίκου)
In Hungarian kukurikú
In Icelandic, "gaggalagó"
In Indonesian, kukuruyuk
In Italian, chicchirichi
In Japanese, kokekokko (コケコッコー)
In Korean, gugugugu (구구구구)
In Lithuanian, kakarykū
In Polish, kukuryku
In Portuguese, cocorocó
In Romanian, cucurigu
In Russian, koo-ka-re-koo
In Sinhalese, kuku kūk kuu (කුක්කු කූක් කූ)
In Spanish, quiquiriquí or quiquiriquiquí or cocoricó
In Swedish, kuckeliku
In Turkish, ü-ürü-üüü /yʔyryʔyː/
In Filipino, tiktilaok
In Tamil, kokkara-ko-ko
In Hebrew, kúku ríku (קוקוריקו)
In Telugu, kokkaro-ko
In Hindi kukadu-ku

Sneezing

In Arabic, atchu
In Bengali, হাচি hachi (noun)
In Bulgarian, apchih (апчих)
In Chinese, Cantonese, hāt-chī (乞嗤) (also means "begs scoffs")
In Chinese, Mandarin, ah-qiu! (啊嚏)
In Czech, hepčík /hap cheek/
In Danish, Atju!
In Dutch, Hatsjoe!
In English, Achoo!
In Estonian, Atsihh!
In Finnish, Atshii!, Atshiu!, Ätshii!
In French, Atchoum
In German, Hatschi!
In Greek, apsiou!, αψιου!
In Hungarian, Hapci!
In Icelandic, Atsjú!
In Italian, etciuu
in Japanese, hakushon! (ハクション!)
In Korean, etchi (에치)
In Lithuanian, apčiū
In Norwegian, aatsjoo
In Polish, apsik!
In Portuguese, atchim!, atchô!
In Romanian, hapciu!
In Russian, Apchkhi! (Апчхи)
In Sinhalese, Hacis (හචිස්)
In Spanish, ¡Achu! more frequent is ¡Achís!
In Swedish, atjoo!
In Thai, hud-chei (ฮัดเช่ย)
In Turkish, hapşu
In Filipino, Atsing!
In Hebrew, apchi! (!אפצ'י).
In Tamil, A-Choo

Stuttering

In Bengali: থৎমৎ thôtmôt, তৎলানো tôtlano (verb)
In Hebrew, gimgoom (גמגום).
In Sinhalese, bäk bäk (බැක් බැක්)
In Turkish, kekelemek

Tooth brushing

In English, brushing- "brusha brusha" alternatively "sshssh"
In Korean, chi-ka chi-ka
In Chinese, Mandarin, brushing - shua (唰)
In Polish "szuru szuru"
In Spanish, ¡chiqui chiqui! more frequent is ¡xiqui xiqui!

Wailing siren of a police car or ambulance

In Dutch, Taatuutaatuu
In English Wee Woo, Nee Nar
In Finnish, Pii paa
In French, Pin Pon
In German, Tatütata
In Hungarian, Nínó
In Norwegian, Bæ bu bæ bu
In Romanian, ni no ni no
In Spanish Wiu Wiu
In Swedish, Tut tut
In Thai, Pee Por (ปี๊ ป่อ)
In Turkish, Daa dii
In Tamil, aaaaaeeen-neeeeen

Water dripping

In Bengali: টুপ টুপ ṭup ṭup
In Chinese, Cantonese, dihk-dihk (滴滴)
In Chinese, Mandarin, di-da (滴答) (which can also mean "the drop answers")
In Czech, kap /cup/
In Danish, dryp dryp (dryppe is the Danish verbal equivalent), plop plop
In Dutch, drup drup
In English, drip drop
In Finnish, tip tip
In French, plic plic/ploc
In Greek, plits plits or splats splats, πλιτς πλιτς or σπλατς σπλατς
In German, plitsch, platsch; tropf
In Hindi, tipak, tipak
In Hungarian, csöp-csöp or csip-csöp (csöpp or csepp is also the Hungarian word for "drop")
In Indonesian, tik tik
In Italian, plin plin
In Korean, toktok(똑똑)
In Polish, kap kap
In Portuguese, plim plim
In Romanian, pic pic
In Russian, kap kap (кап-кап)
In Spanish, ploc ploc; pluip pluip
In Swedish, dripp dropp
In Turkish, şıp şıp
In Tamil, sottu-sottu
In Hebrew, plup (פלופ), tif taf (טיף טף).
In Telugu, tup tup

Wind blowing

In Bengali: ভোঁ bhõ, শন শন shôn shôn, ঝির ঝির jhir jhir
In Chinese, Mandarin: shiao-shiao (萧萧), Slightly strong wind - hu-hu (呼呼), Rapid/chilly wind - sou-sou (嗖嗖) (萧 means "dreary", 呼 means "shout (verb)")
In Czech: fíííí /fee/
In Japanese: byuu byuu, pyuu pyuu, zawa zawa, soyo soyo
In Vietnamese: vi vu: the sound of a gentle breeze and vù vù: the sound of a strong wind.
In English: Swish: The sound of a gentle breeze and Whoosh: the sound of a strong wind
In German: Huiiih
In Portuguese: Vuuuush
In Spanish, fuuuu fuuuu; fgrrrr frgrrrr
In Swedish: Svish
In Dutch: Woesh, Woesj
In Turkish:"vuuuu vuuuu"
In Tamil, Shhhhhhhhhh

Reasons for variations

In the case of a frog croaking, the spelling can vary because different frog species around the world make different sounds: Ancient Greek brekekekex koax koax for probably Rana ridibunda; English ribbit for species of frog found in North America; English verb "croak" for Rana temporaria.

Uses of onomatopoeia

Some other very common English-language examples include hiccup, bang, beep, and splash. Machines and their sounds are also often described with onomatopoeia, as in honk or beep-beep for the horn of an automobile, and vroom or brum for the engine. In science fiction the sounds made by laser weapons are often described as "zaps". For animal sounds, words like quack (duck), bark (dog), roar (lion) and meow (cat) are typically used in English. Some of these words are used both as nouns and as verbs.

Agglutinative languages or synthetic languages flexibly integrate onomatopoeic words into their structure. This may evolve into a new word, up to the point that it is no longer recognized as onomatopoeia. One example is English "bleat" for the sheep noise: in medieval times it was pronounced approximately as "blairt" (but without an R-component), or "blet" with the vowel drawled, which is much more accurate as onomatopoeia than the modern pronunciation.

An example of the opposite case is "cuckoo", which, due to continuous familiarity with the bird noise down the centuries, has kept approximately the same pronunciation as in Anglo-Saxon times and has not changed to having its vowels as in "furrow".

Verba dicendi are a method of integrating onomatopoeia and ideophones into grammar.

Occasionally, words for things are created from representations of the sounds these objects make. In English, for example, there is the universal fastener which is named for the onomatopoeic of the sound it makes: the zip (in the UK) or zipper (in the U.S.). Many birds are named from the onomatopoetic link with the calls they make, such as the Bobwhite quail, the killdeer, chickadee, the cuckoo, the chiffchaff, the whooping crane and the whip-poor-will. In Tamil and Malayalam, the word for crow is kaakaa. This practice is especially common in certain languages such as Māori and, therefore, in names of animals borrowed from these languages.

Advertising uses onomatopoeia as a mnemonic, so consumers will remember their products, as in Rice Krispies (US and UK) and Rice Bubbles (AU) which make a "snap, crackle, pop" when one pours on milk; or in road safety advertisements: "clunk click, every trip" (click the seatbelt on after clunking the car door closed; UK campaign) or "click, clack, front and back" (click, clack of connecting the seatbelts; AU campaign) or "click it or ticket" (click of the connecting seatbelt; US DOT campaign).

Manner imitation

Main article: Ideophone

In many of the world's languages, onomatopoeia-like words are used to describe phenomena apart from the purely auditive. Japanese often utilizes such words to describe feelings or figurative expressions about objects or concepts. For instance, Japanese barabara is used to reflect an object's state of disarray or separation, and shiiin is the onomatopoetic form of absolute silence (used at the time an English speaker might expect to hear the sound of crickets chirping or a pin dropping in a silent room). It is used in English as well with terms like bling, which describes the shine on things like gold, chrome or precious stones.

Audio (US)

Onomatopoeia in pop culture

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Whaam! (1963) by Roy Lichtenstein is an early example of pop art, featuring fighter aircraft being struck by rockets with dazzling red and yellow explosions.
Marvel Comics have trademarked two words of their own invention: thwip!, the sound of Spider-Man's web shooter, and snikt! the switchblade-sound of Wolverine's claws locking into place (which was replaced with the lesser-known schlikt during the period he was left without the adamantium covering on his bones). Marvel also uses the sound effect "bamf" to signify Nightcrawler's teleportation.
In Doctor Who comic strips, the sound of the Tardis is represented as vworp! vworp!
In the Garfield comic strip and television series, there is a running gag about a "splut," which is usually the sound of a pie hitting someone in the face.
- For example, Garfield once kicked Odie, but instead of 'kick' it said 'blagoonga', with Garfield remarking to Jon that Odie needs to be tuned
The late MAD Magazine cartoonist Don Martin often used such words in his artwork, to comic effect.
In the 1960s TV series “Batman”, comic book style onomatopoeias such as wham!, pow!, "biff!", crunch and "zounds" appear onscreen during fight scenes. This is often the subject of parody, for example in the Simpsons episode "Radioactive Man" where the onomatopoeic words are replaced with snuh!, newt! and mint! which are references to other Simpsons episodes.
Ubisoft's XIII employed the use of comic book onomatopoeias such as bam!, boom and noooo! during gameplay for gunshots, explosions and kills, respectively. The comic-book style is apparent throughout the game and is a core theme, as the game is an adaptation of a comic book of the same name.
In the movie Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Rooh, Tigger lists Onomatopoeia as a possible word that Rabbit doesn't allow to be said in his house. Tigger also announces that onomatopoeia is in fact a real word.
The onomatopoeia that is said to be heard at a typical Disco Biscuits (a popular jamband) show is untz. This description seems to have originated from an interview with Bob Dylan, who said "I kept hearing this, untz..untz..untz..untz..(sound in the background of all the music)...fun time, though... lots of young kids with dilated pupils."
In Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, the name of the Houyhnhnm's is an onomatopoeia for the whinny of a horse.
Todd Rundgren wrote a humorous song "Onomatopoeia" which uses many examples in this "Love Song". Examples in the song start out reasonable and start to get more ludicrous as the song goes on.
The comic strip For Better or For Worse is notorious for using non-onomatopoeic verbs as onomatopoeias, such as "Scrape," to indicate a person shaving, or "Tie," to illustrate someone tying a string around a package.
A well-known rhetorical question is "Why doesn't onomatopoeia sound like what it is?". Ian M. Banks references this in his novel Use Of Weapons, when a character claims that the word onomatopoeia is spelled "just the way it sounds!".
Brian Preston, a popular Quizzo night host in Philadelphia used words like crash, boom, and fart to describe onomatopoeia. Unfortunately, fart is a non-onomatopoeia (although its Proto-Indo-European language ancestor perd- (compare Greek περδομαι and Avestic prd) is more realistic).
"Kerplunk" was used in the video game Final Fantasy VIII as the name of one of the Guardian Force Cactuar's attacks. For the Guardian Force Tonberry, the humorously out of place onomatopoeia of doink! is written on-screen during its powerful knife stab attack.
In the video game Brave Story: New Traveler, an onomatopoeia appears wherever an attack hits its target.
The January 8, 2008 comic of Ozy and Millie featured a panel in which Millie repeats the word "Splorsh" and Ozy quips "I've noticed you find Onomatopoeia extremely distracting."
"Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss", recorded by The Bloodhound Gang in 2005 for their "Hefty Fine" album simulated the driving beat of most popular House and Rave music styles.
In one Captain America comic, the accidental use of the word "wank" as an onomatopoeia was found hilarious by many teenagers. (The enemy was saying "Captain America, I command you to-" but was interrupted by Captain America smacking him across the face and the "wank!" showed up right after the enemies' speech bubble; Thus looking as though it had said: "Captain America, I command you to- Wank!".)
The marble game KerPlunk is an onomatopoeia for the sound of the marbles dropping when one too many sticks has been removed.
Another popular onomatopoeia is "Om nom nom", which is used to describe the process of eating, or indicate one is hungry. This has recently become apparent on much internet media such as lolcatz.

References

Crystal, David (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Second Edition ISBN 0-521-55967-7
Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. pp. p. 680. ISBN 0-674-36250-0. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

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