sproing!

[rogue_mother]

I'd like to recommend sproing, one of my favorite onomatopoetic words, for inclusion on the list. It would join its near cousin, boing, which is already on there.

[technomc]

You must have made that up Rm.....it's a brilliant word though....and should be included for no other reason than that...

[rogue_mother]

I didn't make it up, honest! Here are some samples from the internet:

1. Answer: “Sproing, Snap”
Question: What is the sound of a mousetrap being triggered at 11:15 on a Friday night?
http://geekhiker.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/answer-sproing-snap/

2. Entropic Storm: Spring Goes Sproing! http://www.fourmilab.ch/fourmilog/archives/2005-04/000513.html

3. The thing I hate about pruning is when you have to let go of a branch and it sproings back at you and slaps you in the face.
                                                    and
    Pull one toward you, and a second one goes all random, and then Sproing. Thwap.
http://www.belly-timber.com/2006/03/08/sproing-cleaning/

4. it's amazing how spring makes everything sproing lol
http://www.norcalblogs.com/bumpkins/2008/03/sproing.html

5. when eyeballs go “sproing!” http://www.thewormbook.com/hlog/?p=1454

6. I am very embarrassed about the use of the sound effect "Sproing" in this weeks Claviger.
http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=34807&sid=534fd75192b0c8599760550bedd362d7

7. Sproing-oing-oing http://www.nhgazette.com/2007/03/21/sproing-oing-oing-%E2%80%A6/

8. Sproing. Sproing. Sproing. Sproing. [with a picture of a pogo stick]
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTspringforward.html

9. Poetry Springs ... Boing (Sproing Poetry Journal)
http://www.arcpoetry.ca/portage/links/poetry_springs_boing_sproing_poetry_journal.php

Most Google hits for sproing relate to a game called, um, Sproing!, described by a blogger this way:

Sproing is a um, spring simulator.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040413233901880


                                                   

[technomc]

I will endeavour to use it at least once a day for the next week....i love it...

[biggerbirdbrain]

It's such a springy word -- makes me feel like Tigger! 

[Binkie]

Even if it weren't a word, it ought to be. How onomatopoeic can you get, after all ? Sproing is the sort of word that describes the difficult-to-describe, doesn't it ?

[Alan W]

Sproing is certainly used often enough. A search on Google Books returns plenty of examples. I always like it if a word can be found in at least one standard dictionary. In this case, the only entry I could find was in the rather specialist reference work, Ka-BOOM! A Dictionary of Comicbook Words on Historical Principles:

SPROING [The Twisted Tantrum of the Purple Snit #1, 1980] The sound made when the spring of a spring loaded mechanism is released: also SPROOOING [The Ren and Stimpy Show vol.1 #6, 1993] A springing sound

Despite the lack of dictionary support, I think sproing should be allowed.

Interestingly, I feel it's not a case of pure onomatopoeia. The -oing part is certainly onomatopoeic, but the spr- beginning doesn't seem to me to be part of what a sproing! sounds like. I think it's there to remind us of the word spring. It would be interesting to know how other languages represent this sound, but alas, I never thought to acquire a multi-lingual comic book collection.

[rogue_mother]

Thanks, Alan! Now all I have to do is stop trying sproing until the word list gets updated again...