Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Bronx cheer

 New York City is much in the news these days, so is there any wonder that the phrase Bronx cheer popped into my mind?

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Here's the definition from American Slang, 2nd Edition by Robert L. Chapman  (which is one of the first reference books I pulled out, given that Bronx cheer clearly originated in the U.S.): "(1) A loud, rude, flatulating noise made with the tongue and lips ... (2) Any outright and precise expression of derision." Chapman dates Bronx cheer to the 1920s.

The Phrase Finder, a nifty online resource based in the UK, has a nice discussion of this saying, and even includes a little map of Manhattan that pinpoints the location of the Bronx. After delving into the origin of the word Bronx (a bit of interesting NY history there), Phrase Finder notes that Bronx cheer began showing up in newspapers in the 1920s, with this earliest sighting in a newspaper article in the Bridgeport Telegram, October 1921: "...if Chicago lose the east will grin and give western football the jolly old Bronx cheer."

The Phrase Finder then makes the point that the use of this bit o'slang in print without any accompanying explanation implies that the author expected his readers to be familiar with it, and that the use of "old" as a description also suggests an origin prior to 1921. More musings about the precise origin—in sports? in theater?—follow, as well as a quick notation on the expression blowing a raspberry, which is essentially the UK equivalent of Bronx cheer. There is also a cute little photo of a small girl enthusiastically blowing a raspberry. The Phrase Finder never disappoints, so I invite you to click on over and read the entire entry.

Yeah, I can almost hear it now...
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay