As I understand it, “phhhht”, when written in prose, is meant to represent the raspberry sound. But, when you read it, does your mind’s ear hear it as the classical raspberry/Bonx cheer, or as a softer sound, closer to the way it is written? Is “phhhht”, in fact a sound effect whose pronunciation is contingent upon context? Consider the following two sentences:
As Billy inserted the lit bottle rocket into the Pepsi bottle’s orifice, all of a sudden, PHHHHT, it shot right in his eye.
As Dr. Bill inserted his lubricated finger into the patient’s bottom oriface, all of a sudden, PHHHHT, it shot right in his eye.
Do you hear Phhhht the same way in both sentences? I always hear it with the softer pronunciation, despite the context.
The “Phhhht” sounds more like air being let out in a steady stream. Whenever I think of the raspberry sound, I think more of a Bill-Watterson-esque “Thbpbpbphtht!”
Go here for more written depictions of the Bronx cheer.
There’s a country song called “I’d have wrote you a letter, but I couldn’t spell <raspberry>” Problem is, several websites mention the song (usually in a list of worst-ever country song titles, or similar), but all of them have the last word as “yuck”, whereas he quite clearly blows a raspberry on the record.
Anybody know how it’s spelled on the record or sheet music? Or who recorded it?
Indeed, there appears to be quite a large variety of spellings for the lowly raspberry. In the spirit of literary excellence and continuity, I propose that a single spelling be chosen as the standard. Can you think of any other words or sounds with as many alternate spellings? I can’t.
