bang

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bæŋ/^[1]

bang¹ blow, loud noise

Etymology

The verb is an imitative formation,^[2][3][4] perhaps borrowed from Old Norse banga (“to pound, hammer”) or another Scandinavian word, itself echoic,^[2][5][6][7] compare Old Swedish banga “to strike”, Old Norse bang “hammering” and Low German bangen, bangeln “to beat”.^[5][6][4] The noun is from the verb or from the same Scandinavian source.^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To strike violently with a resounding blow, and the noun, a heavy resounding blow: about 1550 in Barnhart, the OED and MWU, the 1540s in Etymonline.^[5][8][6][2]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes that most of the OED's uses for a loud noise date from the late 18th century onwards, so that this sense is a fairly recent development;^[5] the loud sudden explosive noise is by 1855 in Etymonline.^[2] Of a door, to close noisily is from 1713,^[8] and of firearms, to make a loud noise from 1840.^[8] The adverb, suddenly or abruptly, is by 1828,^[2][5] and bang-up, excellent, from 1810.^[2] The slang sense, to have sex with, is attested by 1937.^[2] Bang on, exactly right, comes from air-force slang for a bomb dropped on target;^[7] bang for your buck, value for money, was first used in the early 1950s of military, especially nuclear, spending;^[7] and the Big Bang was a term of ridicule coined by Fred Hoyle in 1949 that became the standard name for the theory.^[7] T. S. Eliot's “not with a bang but a whimper” is from The Hollow Men (1925).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1550 – to strike; a heavy blow.^[5][8]
• 1713 – of a door, to slam.^[8]
• 1810 – bang-up, excellent.^[2]
• 1828 – the adverb, suddenly.^[2][5]
• 1855 – a loud explosive noise.^[2]
• 1937 – to have sex with.^[2]
• 1949 – the Big Bang.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sudden loud noise, as of an explosion or a gunshot.
2. A hard, noisy blow or knock.
3. (informal) A sudden burst of energy or excitement: go out with a bang.

Verb

1. To strike hard and noisily; to bump.
2. To close suddenly and loudly; to slam.
3. (vulgar slang) To have sex with.

Adverb

1. (informal) Exactly; right: bang on time.

bang² fringe of hair

Etymology

The fringe is perhaps from the adverb bang “abruptly”, as in hair cut bang off,^[5][4] or short for bangtail, a horse's tail cut straight across (bangtailed, 1861).^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fringe of hair cut straight across the forehead, usually bangs: 1878, American English.^[5][4] The verb, to cut hair so, is from 1882.^[8]

Semantic evolution

It remains chiefly North American, where British English says fringe.^[4][9]

Timeline

• 1861 – bangtailed.^[5]
• 1878 – bangs, a fringe of hair.^[5]
• 1882 – to cut hair in a fringe.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly North America, usually plural) A fringe of hair cut straight across the forehead.

Related words

• bangtail
• big bang
• banger

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins