# Where's the Kaboom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559 "2004-12-01T20:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/41 "2004-12-02T14:42:27Z")
Kingboom! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/42 "2004-12-02T17:15:32Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > The kaboom was not heard because, in fact it was caused by not a 1920’s style death ray, but _dun duuun_ a 1910’s style deathray! Which raises the question: What is the earliest known occurrence of a kaboom in popular culture? A quick googling suggests the “earth-shattering kaboom” line came from _Hareway to the Stars_ (1958). But where did kaboom come from before that? World War II? The Atomic Age? I tend to doubt it was around in the pre-onomatopoetic era of 1930s comics. Leighter’s _Dictionary of American Slang_ has no entry for the word. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/43 "2004-12-02T17:45:33Z")
The kaboom has occurred, but we are so far from it, that no light from it will reach us for several billion years. Sad, really. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/44 "2004-12-02T17:48:04Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > You had arms?!? We were forced to use our fins and we were happy! [Mike Myers Scots accent]Oh, we evolved! We’re too good to use fins! Ya wee bastards![MM Scot accent] > > You humans shock me sometimes. Luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/45 "2004-12-02T22:08:05Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > You had arms?!? We were forced to use our fins and we were happy! [Mike Myers Scots accent]Oh, we evolved! We’re too good to use fins! Ya wee bastards![MM Scot accent] > > You humans shock me sometimes. You think you’re so good, with your “mulpiple cells,” and your “tissue” and “organs.” We never had any of that stuff! All us cingle celled life forms had to get on top of the barral, and all jump together. _And then_ we had to make sure we didnt get stuck in the barrel and undergo anarobic resperation! ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/46 "2004-12-02T22:38:56Z")
[Wolf Blitzer] An earthshattering KA-BOOM, scheduled to have taken place yesterday at 3:15 EST, and which was to have been caused by 1 billion Chinese jumping off chairs simultaneously, has been postponed indefinitely, according to undercover sources in Beijing. For months now, rumors of what dissidents have called the ultimate low-tech doomsday device, capable of throwing the Earth out of orbit, have been circulating in intelligence circles, though reaction from western governments has been mixed. In a news conference last week, President Bush refused to comment on these reports, adding under his breath that “one major WMD intelligence clusterf\*ck was quite enough, thank you.” The United Nations, however, stung by the recent food-for-oil program scandel, launched an investigation in August. Just this week the investigators published their findings, which concluded that China does not, in fact, possess 1 billion chairs. But critics of the investigation point out that the UN’s “chair inspection” team encountered a constant pattern of interference from Beijing officials during their exhaustive three-day tour of Mainland China, and that the resulting delays could have been used to relocate chairs to hidden sites in Mongolia. And still the rumors remain. Sources claiming to be involved with the project have insisted that today’s scheduled KA-BOOM (a preliminary test using low stepstools in lieu of actual chairs) was cancelled due to what they called “administrative difficulties.” We’ll be following this story closely, and will be filling in details as they become available. [/Wolf Blitzer] ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/47 "2004-12-03T00:11:07Z")
Join C-FUVOV The Committee for Unobstructed Views of Venus ---
**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:** [December 3, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559/48 "2004-12-03T01:00:52Z")
[Here’s the Kaboom.](http://homepage.mac.com/moonlion/Kaboom_big.jpg) Pass the milk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-the-kaboom/277559.md?page=2)