Often in a comic book or graphic novel I'll see a character that is experiencing intense pain, or possibly falling to their death, scream out. This scream appears in the dialog balloon as “Arrrrggghhhh!” You can vary the number of r's, g's, and h's but the general tone is "Arrrrggghhhh!" The trouble is I have never actually heard anyone utter the sound “Arrrrggghhhh!” except in an ironic way. As in “Joe, we have to work late tonight”. “Oh no. And I’ve got Mets tickets. Arrrrggghhhh!”
I wonder how the word “Arrrrggghhhh” came to represent the sound one makes when experiencing intense pain, falling to their death, or having Mets tickets? I’m sure there are an infinite number of shouts, gurgles, or moans made by those experiencing intense pain or falling to their death, yet somehow we have settled on “Arrrrggghhhh!”
“Arrrrggghhhh!” is now a part of our Collective Inarticulate Vocabulary.
Well, if “Arrrrggghhhh!” is the best we can do, I have only one thing to say.
"Yikes!"
2 comments:
Hey. I stumbled across your blog a while ago and I put it in my bookmarks folder. I keep coming back because it puts a little levity in my day and gives me a perspective I wouldn't have normally seen. Thanks.
Well, thank you. It's nice to know somebody is reading it. I appreciate your kind words.
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