Etymology and origin of the English word pong
pong1 ringing sound
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Onomatopoeia
- First attested
- 1823 New Monthly Magazine
Etymology
The sound word is imitative,[2][3][4] often paired with ping.[2] Its use for table tennis is a shortening of ping-pong,[2][4][5] itself imitative of the sound of the ball.[5][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
A blow or bang, a short, resonant, low sound: 1823, in the New Monthly Magazine.[2][4]
Semantic evolution
Etymonline cites pong from 1823 as the second half of ping-pong, a trademark of 1900 for table tennis equipment.[5] Pong alone for table tennis is recorded from 1968, in American student slang,[2][5] and Pong became the name of an early electronic game resembling tennis or table tennis, released in 1972.[5][2][4]
Timeline
- 1823 – a blow or bang; a resonant low sound.[2][5]
- 1968 – table tennis, short for ping-pong.[2][5]
- 1972 – Pong, an early electronic video game.[5]
- 1976 – first OED quotation for the game.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- A hollow, ringing sound, often contrasted with a ping.[3][2][4]
- (informal) Table tennis.[2][4]
- (usually Pong) An early video game resembling table tennis.[2][4]
Verb
- To make a hollow ringing sound.[3]
pong2 bad smell
- Confidence
- Unknown
- First attested
- 1900 Marvel
Etymology
The noun meaning a smell is of unknown origin.[2][4][3][6][7] Collins and Wiktionary suggest Romani pan (“to stink”),[8][9] and Green's Dictionary of Slang suggests an extension of the sound word pong1, or a stereotype linked to the Australian slang Pong for a Chinese person.[10]
Earliest recorded meaning
A strong, usually unpleasant smell: 1900, in the boys' paper Marvel.[2][10][4]
Semantic evolution
The verb followed in 1906, in the same paper, with "It pongs!",[2][10] and in 1927 W. E. Collinson listed it among the words people used instead of "smell", beside niffed and hummed.[10] Green's Dictionary of Slang notes that it long belonged to children's comics and to speakers who kept their school slang.[10] Etymonline dates the noun to 1919,[5] and Dictionary.com to 1915–20.[7] It remains chiefly British and informal.[8][3]
Timeline
- 1900 – a strong smell, a stink.[2][10]
- 1906 – verb, to stink.[2][10]
- 1919 – the noun, according to Etymonline.[5]
Meanings
Noun
- (British, informal) A strong, unpleasant smell; a stink: What's that pong in the garage?[8][3][2][4]
Verb
Word family
- pongy
Related words
- ping
- ping-pong
Usage notes
In theatre slang, chiefly British, to pong is to improvise or pad out lines on stage, or to declaim them, of unknown origin (1893).[2][3] In Australia Pong was a derogatory and racially offensive name for a Chinese person (1910), probably from the southern Chinese surname Pong;[2][4][10] Etymonline dates it to 1931.[5]
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
- ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
- ^ a b c d e f g h Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
Cite this entry
“Pong.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/pong. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.
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