bang English · revision 5983

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bæŋ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|blow, loud noise}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=c. 1550}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is an imitative formation,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) perhaps [[bor|non|banga|t=to pound, hammer]] or another Scandinavian word, itself echoic,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Cresswell 2021) compare Old Swedish banga “to strike”, Old Norse bang “hammering” and Low German bangen, bangeln “to beat”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) The noun is from the verb or from the same Scandinavian source.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==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.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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;^(Barnhart 1988) the loud sudden explosive noise is by 1855 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Of a door, to close noisily is from 1713,^(OED 1989) and of firearms, to make a loud noise from 1840.^(OED 1989) The adverb, suddenly or abruptly, is by 1828,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and ''bang-up'', excellent, from 1810.^(Etymonline) The slang sense, to have sex with, is attested by 1937.^(Etymonline) ''Bang on'', exactly right, comes from air-force slang for a bomb dropped on target;^(Cresswell 2021) ''bang for your buck'', value for money, was first used in the early 1950s of military, especially nuclear, spending;^(Cresswell 2021) and the Big Bang was a term of ridicule coined by Fred Hoyle in 1949 that became the standard name for the theory.^(Cresswell 2021) T. S. Eliot's “not with a bang but a whimper” is from ''The Hollow Men'' (1925).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1550 – to strike; a heavy blow.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1713 – of a door, to slam.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1810 – bang-up, excellent.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1828 – the adverb, suddenly.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1855 – a loud explosive noise.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1937 – to have sex with.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1949 – the Big Bang.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sudden loud [[noise]], as of an [[explosion]] or a gunshot.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A hard, noisy blow or knock.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A sudden burst of energy or excitement: ''go out with a bang''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To strike hard and noisily; to bump.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To close suddenly and loudly; to [[slam]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(vulgar slang)'' To have sex with.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(informal)'' Exactly; right: ''bang on time''.^(Collins 2023)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ {{homograph|2|fringe of hair}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=clipping|attested=1878}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The fringe is perhaps from the adverb bang “abruptly”, as in hair cut bang off,^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) or short for bangtail, a horse's tail cut straight across (bangtailed, 1861).^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fringe of hair cut straight across the forehead, usually ''bangs'': 1878, American English.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) The verb, to cut hair so, is from 1882.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It remains chiefly North American, where British English says fringe.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1861 – bangtailed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1878 – bangs, a fringe of hair.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1882 – to cut hair in a fringe.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly North America, usually plural)'' A [[fringe]] of hair cut straight across the forehead.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bangtail]]

+ * [[big bang]]

+ * [[banger]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}