# I fail at life. (I didn't know what a 'rimshot' was until just now) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 12, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554 "2009-02-12T16:58:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/1 "2009-02-12T16:58:37Z")
Until now I always assumed it was something vaguely sexual. It is often used on the darker side of the internet, hence the misunderstanding. I never bothered to actually find out until now. Turns out it’s the perfectly innocent badum-ching sound… > **[Urban Dictionary: Rimshot](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rimshot)** > > that badum-CHING thing they do on a drum after a joke. If you’ll just show me the way to the exit I’ll be going. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/2 "2009-02-12T17:00:49Z")
Rimshot is used on the darker side of the internet? I’d assume you’ve found out by now, but what you were thinking of is rim job. > **[Urban Dictionary: Rim Job](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rim%20Job)** > > Oral sex involving the sphincter. Or When your fuck buddy tongues your ass. A.K.A.- tossing the saladanalingus ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/3 "2009-02-12T17:00:52Z")
> **[Welcome to Instant Rimshot](http://instantrimshot.com/)** > > If you need quick access to an ironicly-placed rimshot sound to mock your friends, or a genuinely-placed rimshot to put your great joke over the top, you've come to the right place. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/4 "2009-02-12T17:01:08Z")
“Rim shot” and “rim job” are not the same thing. It is good that you learned this now, instead of when you are in bed with a beautiful woman and breathily ask her if she would give you a rim shot, only to hear her say in a confused voice, “Ba-dum-ching?”😛 ---
**Author:** ![mmouse9799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mmouse9799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmouse9799)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/5 "2009-02-12T17:09:20Z")
And all along I’ve thought that a rim shot was a basketball shot that bounced off of the hoop’s metal rim… ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/6 "2009-02-12T18:29:07Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > [http://instantrimshot.com/](http://instantrimshot.com/) > > 😃 The “I fail at life” should be followed by [this](http://sadtrombone.com/). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/7 "2009-02-12T18:52:00Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > “Rim shot” and “rim job” are not the same thing. Good thing, otherwise they’d be pretty painful. And they wouldn’t sound like much. It would make going to comedy clubs far more interesting, though. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/8 "2009-02-12T19:11:10Z")
So _that’s_ what a rimshot is. I’d seen the term used by Dave Barry, but I didn’t know what it meant. Do I fail at life, too? (And I don’t even wanna know about rim jobs). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/9 "2009-02-12T19:30:31Z")
You all know, of course, that it’s only a matter of time before body shots, rim jobs, and rim shots all coalesce into something that’s probably a lot closer to what the OP had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/10 "2009-02-12T19:37:25Z")
> [@mmouse9799](#): > > And all along I’ve thought that a rim shot was a basketball shot that bounced off of the hoop’s metal rim… If you mean that it bounces off the front of the rim without going in, that’s a “brick”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/11 "2009-02-12T19:44:18Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > (And I don’t even wanna know about rim jobs). In case you get curious, it’s a rusty trombone played in monotone. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/12 "2009-02-12T19:50:20Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > [http://instantrimshot.com/](http://instantrimshot.com/) > > 😃 Instant rimshot included a link to > **[Headset Hotties](http://www.headsethotties.com/)** which is exactly what it says it is. Clearly, there is now a website for everything. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/13 "2009-02-12T21:14:25Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > “Rim shot” and “rim job” are not the same thing. It is good that you learned this now, instead of when you are in bed with a beautiful woman and breathily ask her if she would give you a rim shot, only to hear her say in a confused voice, “Ba-dum-ching?”😛 But “snow job” and “blow job” are the same, right? I hope so… I use them interchangeably all the time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/14 "2009-02-12T21:18:50Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > But “snow job” and “blow job” are the same, right? I hope so… I use them interchangeably all the time. 😉 No, they’re the opposite. One involves the accumulation of snow in your driveway, the other involves the removal of it. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/15 "2009-02-12T22:35:58Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > So _that’s_ what a rimshot is. I’d seen the term used by Dave Barry, but I didn’t know what it meant. I also read the term in Dave Barry books for years before figuring out what it meant. I did get, from context, that it was associated with a one-liner joke, but I figured it was related to the basketball term. Like, it was a joke that didn’t quite hit the mark. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fail-at-life-i-didnt-know-what-a-rimshot-was-until-just-now/485554/16 "2009-02-13T01:00:02Z")
> [@mmouse9799](#): > > And all along I’ve thought that a rim shot was a basketball shot that bounced off of the hoop’s metal rim… > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I also read the term in Dave Barry books for years before figuring out what it meant. I did get, from context, that it was associated with a one-liner joke, but I figured it was related to the basketball term. Like, it was a joke that didn’t quite hit the mark. I also thought for years that it was a basketball term. (I know almost nothing about basketball, so there must be plenty of basketball terms I’ve never heard in their original context.) Since “rimshot” was always used after corny/obvious jokes, I too figured it was meant as an acknowledgment that the humorist had gone for a joke but not quite managed a truly funny one.