# Unnecessary, but expected, sounds **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2006, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271 "2006-08-11T12:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/21 "2006-08-11T16:52:28Z")
Who could forget the pluck the violin strings “plinckkkk” when Moe poked Larry or Curly in the eyes? ---
**Author:** ![Arrimus\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@Arrimus\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrimus_2)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/22 "2006-08-11T18:06:05Z")
There’s also the drinking straw slurping sound, like every drink from a full container is the last. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/23 "2006-08-11T18:14:59Z")
Not exactly on topic, but a good excuse to pimp a cool video I found on Youtube. [Wilhelm Scream compilation!](http://youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio). So many years…the same _exact_ sound effect. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/24 "2006-08-11T18:15:06Z")
When someone hangs up on you, you don’t hear a dial tone. You hear silence. Except in movies and TV. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/25 "2006-08-11T18:16:34Z")
The sound of thunder before every rainstorm. (And the rain begins immediately after the thunder, but that’s off topic). ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/26 "2006-08-11T18:25:30Z")
Whenever an establishing shot of a hot, dry place is shown, you’ll hear a falcon go “Screeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Scuba-regulator sounds in space suits. Loud fabric rustling in kung fu fights. A repeated “click…click…click…” from an empty gun, even if it is a semi-auto. I still here old recycled revolver sound effects applied to any type of handgun. The default Nokia ringtone for cell phone rings. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/27 "2006-08-11T18:39:11Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Every dark wooded area at night has a hoot owl. Unless it’s not really an owl, but Indians sneaking up on you! Cowboys talking…. hooting sound effect… Cowboy: Shhh! Indians! Those poor Indians, it never fools them. They might as well just yell to each other. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/28 "2006-08-11T18:48:15Z")
Where’s there’s lightning, there’s always thunder, and it’s always in _perfect sync_, too. In real life I have seen lightning in the distance, but not heard thunder. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/29 "2006-08-11T18:53:40Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > The default Nokia ringtone for cell phone rings. I don’t have a cell phone, but if this is the one on _24_ I totally agree. If I had to work one hour in that place there wouldn’t be a single working phone. I’d have busted every one of them. There was an old spy show on TV, maybe one of these: Man from U.N.C.L.E. The Avengers Get Smart I Spy Secret Agent something altogether weirder but the “ringtones” on that phone would drive a monk to cuss. This thread isn’t automatically about bothersome noises, but I just had to vent on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/30 "2006-08-11T19:10:32Z")
When you see an eagle, and the sound they play isn’t an eagle’s cry, but some kind of hawk. An eagle’s cry isn’t that exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/31 "2006-08-11T19:13:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Here’s one people on this Board have frequently complained about – **Computer Sounds**. Computers on TV and in the movies seem to respond to every keystroke, and frequently make improper noises. I expect to hear the “ding” from the carriage return in a non-comedy one of these days. That was probably me. I bring that up a lot. Another one: the revving engine to imply speed, even along a straightaway. Used to death in **Smokey and the Bandit**. Ban-One is driving along and you hear the engine going VROOM-VROOM-VROOM. What’s he doing - pumping the clutch? Or how about the really silent silencer? The one that goes “pyeeeeoooooh!” The most silent gun silencer in existence would still sound like you dropped a phone book. And don’t get me started on the one in **Dr. No**. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/32 "2006-08-11T19:22:17Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Knives and swords zinging and dinging and swooshing when all they’re doing is moving through the air. > [@light strand](#): > > The sound of **Metal on Metal** when a sword or knife is removed from a leather scabbard. > [@gotpasswords](#): > > Oddly enough, my cooking knives do make a bit of that “Shhhing!” noise when I pull them from the wooden block. Especially the long chef knives. Not very loud, though. I think of this sound as being more of a “sha-ching!” Roger Ebert calls it the “snicker-snack.” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/33 "2006-08-11T19:36:37Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The sort of squelchy rumble-crash that happens when a person hits the ground after being thrown bodily out of a door; very common on _The A-Team_. And the loud ‘click’ that happens every time someone punches someone else. Yeah, I was going to say that punches to the face aren’t as loud as they make them out to be. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/34 "2006-08-11T19:55:37Z")
Often, when small toy dogs are shown, lots of irritating yapping is dubbed in. This is despite the fact that I’m looking at the dogs’ faces and can see that not one of them is barking. Usually this is a clue that something cruel and horrible is going to happen to the dogs, which we all know they deserve, because hey, small dogs are yappy and should be killed. _See_: _A Fish Called Wanda_, for one example. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/35 "2006-08-11T19:57:55Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I think of this sound as being more of a “sha-ching!” Roger Ebert calls it the “snicker-snack.” That’s just the sound a vorpal blade makes when it kills a jabberwock. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/36 "2006-08-11T20:23:01Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I think of this sound as being more of a “sha-ching!” Roger Ebert calls it the “snicker-snack.” And Roge knows his snack noises! C’mon, someone had to say it! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/37 "2006-08-11T20:30:32Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > And Roge knows his snack noises! > C’mon, someone had to say it! :dubious: Yeah because it’s too funny to make fat jokes about a guy who is undergoing treatment for cancer and currently looks like [this.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-ebert-hospitalized,1,6511501.story?coll=chi-news-hed) ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/38 "2006-08-11T20:51:02Z")
My husband and I have had several pet rats in the past, and whenever some squeaking rats appear in a movie or on TV, we whisper “Hollywood rats” to each other. When movies and television programs have a group of rats scurrying, there’s invariably a whole lotta squeaking going on. Actual rats don’t squeak constantly as they move. They don’t squeak very often at all. Squeaking draws the attention of predators. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/39 "2006-08-11T21:21:14Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > When movies and television programs have a group of rats scurrying, there’s invariably a whole lotta squeaking going on. Actual rats don’t squeak constantly as they move. They don’t squeak very often at all. Squeaking draws the attention of predators. So that means that the groups of scurrying rats in the world are _silent!!!_ :eek: They could be anywhere? Like sneaking up right behind me??? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271/40 "2006-08-11T21:36:38Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Another one: the revving engine to imply speed, even along a straightaway. Used to death in **Smokey and the Bandit**. Ban-One is driving along and you hear the engine going VROOM-VROOM-VROOM. What’s he doing - pumping the clutch? This has made me think of another car thing that was most noticeable in Steve McQueen’s classic _Bullitt_ and that’s the forever shifting of gears after a car is already going flat out. I guess it’s to let you know that that ride is truly smoking. Phony shit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-but-expected-sounds/368271.md?page=3)