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| This sound has a name, it’s Boy Three |
Ping, pop, growl and rumble. Tinkle, roar and bang. Scream. English is packed with excellent words for different kinds of noises. Yet, I’ve noticed there are some sounds so distinctive they deserve a word of their own.
- The fizzle a hot pan makes when the only place you can find to put it is in a sink full of water.
- The thumping noise a dog makes in its throat when it’s just about to vomit – most likely on the carpet.
- The futuristic ping of a frozen lake just when you’re wonder if it’s safe to walk on.
- A cooling engine’s pink, pink pink when it stops after a long journey.
- The mad disembodied shout of a toy talking to itself from the toy box long after the children are in bed.
- The savage screech of a bra wire trapped in the washing machine. It’s going to be expensive.
- The almost joyful crunch of irreparable damage happening to a plastic toy under a boot.
- An ominous drip you can’t locate.
- The dainty tink of a glass or china vessel fatally objecting to being filled with something hot.
- The liberating rrrrrrrip of fabric that comes with an ill-advised movement in a tight garment.
- The breath-holding silence between the bump and the yell.
We need words for these things – and all the others. I’d like to say answers on a postcard, but only so I can hear the hollow thud of things landing on the doormat.