The Once-in-a-While
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2 Some commercial on teevee just said that.
3 "Badda book. Badda boom," that is. Some hotel thing or other had a commercial with that in it.
4 By "just" I mean Sunday night. I was watching a REELZ doc on Elvis, and a commercial played. It said, "Badda book.
Badda boom." Just shoot me.
5 An entire new generation is going to change the classic "Badda bing, badda boom" to that.
6 I Googled the latter. I didn't bother going to Urban Dictionary. I knew what the translation was, but here is what the Google tease had to say. This is a faux link, so don't try it. It's just for show. I did recreate what it looks like in Urban Dictionary. If I copy/paste, it will affect the fonts, or someone might lose an ear or something. Anyway, it looks exactly like this:
Urban Dictionary: Botta Bing Botta Boom
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term-Botta%20Bing%20Botta%20Boom
Jul 22, 2008 - This term is used by Italian mafia types to express their opinion that whatever they are planning is going to be a snap.
7 Botta bing, botta boom.
8 I did a good job of simulating a Google tease, don't you think?
9
10 <crickets>
11 I always thought that "Botta bing, botta boom' first distorted itself on the teevee series The Sopranos, but it was at least in keeping with its more familiar niche. In 2003, the word, now popularized by The Sopranos, made its way to the venerable and exalted Oxford English Dictionary.
12 I never saw it spelled out, to be honest. I assumed it was spelled "Botta-bing, botta-boom." The bar in The Sopranos spelled it "Bada bing."
13 The only support I get there is from the selfsame Urban Dictionary.
14 Growing up half Italian, I'm pretty sure I heard the expression once or twice. I mix those memories quite often with scenes from The Godfather, many of which reminded me of huge parties on the Italian side of the family. The only difference was that we didn't kill people.
15 Not that I know of.
16 But I digress, as always. I never really gave it a thought. The OED doesn't recognize "Botta Bing." It recognizes "bada-bing" and cites its etymology (origin) as "etymology unknown."
Here is my abridged simulation of the OED etymology, proving I was wrong all along:
bada-bing, int.
Origin: of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps imitative of the sound of a drum roll and cymbal clash (compare BOOM-BOOM int.). Perhaps compare Italian bada bene mark well.
Slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
Suggesting something happening suddenly,
emphatically and predictably; 'Just like that!',
'Presto!'
Here is my abridged simulation of the OED etymology, proving I was wrong all along:
bada-bing, int.
Origin: of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps imitative of the sound of a drum roll and cymbal clash (compare BOOM-BOOM int.). Perhaps compare Italian bada bene mark well.
Slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
Suggesting something happening suddenly,
emphatically and predictably; 'Just like that!',
'Presto!'
17 That solves it. I was wrong. Sue me.
18 Sue me.
19 Shoot bullets through me.
20 I love you.
21 Botta-bing.
22 Moving On, Part One: One of the perks of being retired is I get to watch a lot of teevee. I don't know how good that is for a soul, but at least I can watch Mitt Romney say things like, "What's up, gangstas?"
23 Or Richard Nixon play the piano, Bill Clinton play the saxophone, or Donald Trump play the fool to Jimmy Fallon.
24 Here go, sport.
25
26 Sometimes that foo be too easy.
27 Moving On, Part Two: I love how as I tack away at this nonsense each week, Grammarly gets disengaged, sort of like the entire mechanism of the film Inside Out.
28 This week in particular it tried to correct the word "Botta" about six times, "teevee," three times, and "week in particular" once.
29 It wanted "week, in particular," which of course would be considered correct, but not correct to me. Too many commas. Goes against a basic rule of commas I've always adopted, which is this: less is more.
30
31 Well excuse me. Fewer is more.
32 Oh, Grammarly! Sometimes you are so right that I mistake you for a Republican.
33 If you are indeed that picky, then why didn't you correct me down to "fewer are more?"
34 Because we can carve this language up into itsy-bitsy pieces and scatter it all to the winds, that's why.
35 But only if you know the book, inside and out.
36 In order to do that, you must needs grab an old edition of Warriner's English Grammar and Composition. I prefer the fourth course, but any extant edition should work well for those open-minded enough to realize that quality grammar books in 2017 are few and far between.
37 I shall again throw a link out there to some of you hungry enough to desire great grammar skills. Here's a link to Barnes and Noble:
38 $1.99. From Barnes and Noble. I had no idea when I clicked the link. This is a steal. Granted, you have to figure out the correct answers to the exercises, but you could do that with friends. If you really get stuck on an answer, just shoot me an email at gfharrington@aol.com. I'll be happy to figure out the answer, or even work through a series of exercises with you.
39 Build a new brain for practically nothing. My daughter Caitlin inspired me on that one recently. She posted something about getting smarter faster. Pretty simple concept if you ask me. I had no idea the concept would fall gently onto my desktop and flutter to these pages.
40
42 Too flowery?
43 Ah, I see you're learning already.
44 LOL.
45
54 Live life.
25
26 Sometimes that foo be too easy.
27 Moving On, Part Two: I love how as I tack away at this nonsense each week, Grammarly gets disengaged, sort of like the entire mechanism of the film Inside Out.
29 It wanted "week, in particular," which of course would be considered correct, but not correct to me. Too many commas. Goes against a basic rule of commas I've always adopted, which is this: less is more.
30
31 Well excuse me. Fewer is more.
32 Oh, Grammarly! Sometimes you are so right that I mistake you for a Republican.
33 If you are indeed that picky, then why didn't you correct me down to "fewer are more?"
34 Because we can carve this language up into itsy-bitsy pieces and scatter it all to the winds, that's why.
35 But only if you know the book, inside and out.
36 In order to do that, you must needs grab an old edition of Warriner's English Grammar and Composition. I prefer the fourth course, but any extant edition should work well for those open-minded enough to realize that quality grammar books in 2017 are few and far between.
37 I shall again throw a link out there to some of you hungry enough to desire great grammar skills. Here's a link to Barnes and Noble:
38 $1.99. From Barnes and Noble. I had no idea when I clicked the link. This is a steal. Granted, you have to figure out the correct answers to the exercises, but you could do that with friends. If you really get stuck on an answer, just shoot me an email at gfharrington@aol.com. I'll be happy to figure out the answer, or even work through a series of exercises with you.
39 Build a new brain for practically nothing. My daughter Caitlin inspired me on that one recently. She posted something about getting smarter faster. Pretty simple concept if you ask me. I had no idea the concept would fall gently onto my desktop and flutter to these pages.
40
42 Too flowery?
43 Ah, I see you're learning already.
44 LOL.
45
46 Thanks, K.T.
47 This was lofty.
48 As always tho, I gottago.
49 Like that? "tho."
50 It rhymes.
51 Captain Poetry over here. Which reminds me. Today is "Share a Joke Day," I think. I don't really have a good joke, but would love to share my favorite Haiku, which I consider to be one of the coolest jokes ever. AND it is by far my favorite Haiku of all time. I didn't write it, but I love whoever did. Ready? Here it is. The greatest Haiku of all time:
I don't like Haikus.
I don't understand Haikus.
Refrigerator.
I don't like Haikus.
I don't understand Haikus.
Refrigerator.
52 See you again.
53 Have a GREAT day.
54 Live life.
55 Love life. Learn something new, willya?
56 Peace.
fin.
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