Blowing a raspberry, strawberry, razzing or making a
Bronx cheer, is to make a noise similar to
flatulence
Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...
that may signify derision, real or feigned. It is also used in childhood
phonemic play. It is made by placing the
tongue between the lips, or alternately placing the lips against any area of skin, and blowing. When performed against the skin of another person, it is often a form of
tickling.
A raspberry (when used with the tongue) is not used in any human language as a building block of words, apart from jocular exceptions such as phonemic play and the name of the comic-book character
Joe Btfsplk
Joe Btfsplk was a character in the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (published 1934–1977) by cartoonist Al Capp. He is well-meaning but is "the world's worst jinx", bringing disastrous misfortune to everyone around him. A small, dar ...
. However, the vaguely similar
bilabial trill (essentially blowing a raspberry with one's lips) is a regular consonant sound in a few dozen languages scattered around the world.
Spike Jones and His City Slickers used a "birdaphone" to create this sound on their recording of "
Der Fuehrer's Face", repeatedly lambasting
Adolf Hitler with: "We'll Heil! (Bronx cheer) Heil! (Bronx cheer) Right in Der Fuehrer's Face!"
In the terminology of
phonetics, the raspberry has been described as a
voiceless linguolabial
Linguolabials or apicolabials are consonants articulated by placing the tongue tip or blade against the upper lip, which is drawn downward to meet the tongue. They represent one extreme of a coronal articulatory continuum which extends from ling ...
trill, transcribed in the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
, and as a
buccal interdental trill, transcribed in the
Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Name
The nomenclature varies by country. In most anglophone countries, it is known as a raspberry, which is attested from at least 1890, and which in the United States had been shortened to
razz
Razz may refer to:
* Razz (poker), a form of stud poker
* Razz (rapper), winner of MGP Nordic 2002
* "Razz" (song), a Kings of Leon song
* Razz, Arab Rock Jazz, a music genre promoted by Aziz Maraka & Razz
* Blowing a raspberry
* Golden Raspberry ...
by 1919. In the United States it has also been called a Bronx cheer since at least the early 1920s.
The term "raspberry" derives from the
Cockney rhyming slang "raspberry tart" for "fart" (that is, "blowing a fart").
See also
*
Bilabial trill
*
Joe Btfsplk
Joe Btfsplk was a character in the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (published 1934–1977) by cartoonist Al Capp. He is well-meaning but is "the world's worst jinx", bringing disastrous misfortune to everyone around him. A small, dar ...
*
Golden Raspberry Awards, which are named after the term
*
Linguistic universal
* ''
The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town''
*
Flatulence humor
References
Flatulence
Onomatopoeia
Gestures
Articles containing video clips
Sounds by type
Metaphors referring to food and drink
{{#related:Rhyming slang