# Origin (or non-comedic use) of \*dunh dunh DUNH\*
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 13, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071 "2016-01-13T21:19:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/1 "2016-01-13T21:19:32Z")
I’m sure everybody knows this particular sound effect—when something dramatic is revealed, the music goes _dunh dunh DUNH_, rising on the final note, often accompanied with a zoom to closeup on a character’s shocked expression, like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw) (or variations thereof—this actually isn’t quite the sound I have in mind).
However, it’s mostly used for exaggerated comic effect, at least nowadays. So I was wondering, is there a clearly defined origin for this? Has it always been comedic, or was it used earnestly? Can somebody point to a non-comedic usage? Or to the origin of the music in the video?
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/2 "2016-01-13T21:27:10Z")
I always associate it with the hokey science-fiction movies of the 1950s:
_“Oh, my God! Look at the SIZE of that thing!” \*\*\* Dunh-dunh-DUNH!_\* :eek:
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/3 "2016-01-13T21:30:29Z")
> [@terentii](#):
>
> I always associate it with the hokey science-fiction movies of the 1950s:
>
> _“Oh, my God! Look at the SIZE of that thing!” \*\*\* Dunh-dunh-DUNH!_\* :eek:
This, of course, would always be followed by a few bars of theramin music:
_OooooooohWHOOOOOoooooooh! OooooooohWHOOOOOOOOoooooooh!_
**Dunh-dunh-DUNH!** :eek:
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/4 "2016-01-13T21:30:42Z")
I’m pretty sure they’re called Stingers, and they come from old time radio serials.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/5 "2016-01-13T21:32:39Z")
> [@terentii](#):
>
> This, of course, would always be followed by a few bars of theramin music:
>
> _OooooooohWHOOOOOoooooooh! OooooooohWHOOOOOOOOoooooooh!_
>
> **Dunh-dunh-DUNH!** :eek:
And then:
_“Be careful! Don’t hit THE GIRL!”_ :eek:
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/6 "2016-01-13T22:53:30Z")
Relevant [TV Trope](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Sting).
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/7 "2016-01-14T03:37:22Z")
There is a particularly British version, in strings, you hear in 40s radio shows, like “The Black Museum” and the like. I wish I could link to an example… In one episode of “The Prisoner” (“The Girl Who Was Death”) it is used for semi-comedic effect.
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### Author:  [@Baine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baine)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/8 "2016-01-14T07:30:09Z")
Are you talking about this sound effect?
I always associated it with Ren and Stimpy.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/9 "2016-01-14T07:56:45Z")
I think it’s referred to in radio plays as “Dramatic Chords”.
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### Author:  [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/10 "2016-01-14T11:15:16Z")
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> There is a particularly British version, in strings, you hear in 40s radio shows, like “The Black Museum” and the like. I wish I could link to an example… In one episode of “The Prisoner” (“The Girl Who Was Death”) it is used for semi-comedic effect.
[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PsychoStrings](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PsychoStrings)
A more recent British convention is the drumbeat leading into the signature tune at the end of every episode of EastEnders, usually following some dramatic cliffhanger or revelation, now known as a doof-doof:
“You’re not my mother!”
“Yes I am!”
_Doof Doof_…etc
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/11 "2016-01-14T13:09:20Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#):
>
> A more recent British convention is the drumbeat leading into the signature tune at the end of every episode of EastEnders, usually following some dramatic cliffhanger or revelation, now known as a doof-doof:
>
> “You’re not my mother!”
> “Yes I am!”
> _Doof Doof_…etc
We have a different use here in America:
Doof Doof
Beep Beep
“Bad girls
Talking about the sad girls”
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/12 "2016-01-14T14:26:57Z")
> [@Baine](#):
>
> Are you talking about this sound effect?
>
> I always associated it with Ren and Stimpy.
Same sound effect here: [http://www.dramabutton.com/](http://www.dramabutton.com/). My family uses it from time to time:
"You thought you were done with your homework… _but are you?"_
"You just ate the last cookie… _or did you?"_
"We’ll probably just stay home for spring break… _or will we?"_
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-or-non-comedic-use-of-dunh-dunh-dunh/743071/13 "2016-01-14T16:21:37Z")
And because I never see it worked out, it’s octaves on Eb and C, then a Gbdim7. On piano, I tend to roll the last chord, to help simulate the “splat” sound the brass makes. I also sometimes throw in a G (making it Gbdim7b9) to try and simulate that off key note.
(And, yes, I know it’s technically an A-double-flat.)