# Zwong! - Or: describe - in words - the sounds your computer makes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618 "2008-11-07T10:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/1 "2008-11-07T10:57:44Z")
‘Zwong!’ is the sound made by my daughter’s iMac, when it has completed a file move or copy operation. Although sometimes I think it’s more of a ‘Zwang!’ or even ‘Tkwong!’. What sounds do your computers (and other technology items) make? Feel free to channel James Joyce. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/2 "2008-11-07T15:19:09Z")
I love the sound my laptop makes when it’s finished opening a .zip file, kind of a “Doodleep!” noise. I must admit that sometimes I piss around with the files just so I have an excuse to hear it. Another one I like is the sound when the PS2’s logo comes up on the tv screen, the “WOM” noise. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/3 "2008-11-07T16:14:27Z")
I get annoyed at my work machine whenever it throws up an error message – BOWMP! – but I leave the settings alone, because I figure that’s what it’s designed to do. (Changed 'em at home, though, because I might actually kick that one.) I miss the sound of the old first-gen Pentiums that’d go “cchrkk-kchk-kckRRRKk” when you really got 'em thinking. And of course, everyone loves the soothing _woooooiiiiiiIIIIIIIIII_ of the CD-ROM drive that lets you know your disc is being read, followed by the quiet tssh-tssh of data access. ---
**Author:** ![beanpod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/4 "2008-11-07T23:16:01Z")
These are my favorites: connecting a USB: duh-DONK? disconnecting a USB: DUH-donk. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/5 "2008-11-08T12:01:24Z")
Even though I have progressed from ICQ to Trillian, I still set it to go “Uh-Oh!!!” at every new message, because I am so familiar with it that it’s become a Pavlov’s Dog experience. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/6 "2008-11-08T12:35:59Z")
None. Which is odd. Every sound card I’ve ever owned blows out, & I usually keep the sound & speakers turned off when I don’t need them. \ ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/7 "2008-11-08T14:18:48Z")
My computer is generally very silent, although the speakers do have the disconcerting habit of occasionally picking up stray signals from… cell phones? CB radios? The afterlife? All I know is that, every so often, it speaks to me in faint voices that I can’t quite understand. Last night it laughed at me in a woman’s voice. It’s a little unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/8 "2008-11-08T15:39:24Z")
I’ve turned off all the sound, because I can’t stand being beeped or buh-DONKed at. And it’s a solid state hard drive, so the only sound I hear out of this thing is when I put in a CD. Can hardly tell when it’s turned on. ---
**Author:** ![CoBa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@CoBa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoBa)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zwong-or-describe-in-words-the-sounds-your-computer-makes/471618/9 "2008-11-08T22:41:06Z")
As a **The World Ends With You** fan, my machine is chock full of Sho Minamimoto quotes. Assorted errors can be “So zetta slow!” or “TANGENT!” “Sine!” and “Cosine!” are assigned as alerts for assorted IMs.