Found this interesting origin of the onomatopoeia “Biff” of which we Batman fans are fond.
According to the article, “Biff” is supposed to represent the sound of a baseball being hit by a baseball bat. (Now, we use it to represent the sound of a villain being struck by a different kind of “Bat”!)
https://digitalcultures.net/slang/pop-c ... biffed-it/
Webster’s dictionary dates the first known use of the onomatopoeia to circa 1887.
I read someone else’s suggestion that we typically say the fight words “Biff! Bang! Pow!” in that order because of where those words are formed by our tongue in the mouth (front to back: easiest to hardest) similar to the ablaut reduplication rule - (for example example, why we say “tick tock” and not “tock tick”).
BIFF! Origin of the onomatopoeia!
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A. Pennyworth
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Re: BIFF! Origin of the onomatopoeia!
...a couple from the past-2005 (.gif was my creation)
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Ben Bentley
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Re: BIFF! Origin of the onomatopoeia!
Holy Memory lane! This put a smile on my face today. Also…how was that TWENTY years ago already?!A. Pennyworth wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 4:23 pm ...a couple from the past-2005 (.gif was my creation)
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A. Pennyworth
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Re: BIFF! Origin of the onomatopoeia!
Screen grabs old TV Land version, but BIFF, 1st season 2nd/3rd and movie
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Re: BIFF! Origin of the onomatopoeia!
Great grabs!