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shipyards (ba-da-boom)

English translation: Joke about big bells

04:37 Feb 9, 2009
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Music / drumming
English term or phrase: shipyards (ba-da-boom)
Right off the bat, the most impressively obtrusive cymbal in the lot was clearly the 24” Rude Mega Power Ride. Huge and heavy, it has the biggest bell I’ve seen this week, and I was just ***at the shipyards (ba-da-boom)***. Seriously, the bell is bigger than most splash cymbals. It sings in a low, anvil-like voice with great projection.

Would someone please clarify what the phrase could mean within the context? Does this refer to the cymbal's loud sound or something?
Andrew Vdovin
Local time: 01:09
Selected answer:Joke about big bells
Explanation:
(ba-da-boom) refers to the little drum riff that vaudeville or late-night-talk-show drummers do after somebody has made a joke. He is talking about the large bell of the cymbal, and says he hasn't seen anything bigger, even though he just went to the shipyard, where he presumably saw some huge ship's bells. It's a weak joke, told with irony ("ba-da-boom") to show that he doesn't really expect people to think it's funny.

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Note added at 54 mins (2009-02-09 05:31:43 GMT)
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It refers to the size of the actual cymbal--supposedly bigger than a ship's bell.
Selected response from:

JaneTranslates
Puerto Rico
Local time: 14:09
Grading comment
Thank you very much for your help Jane! Thanks everybody!!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +8Joke about big bells
JaneTranslates
4ba - da -boom
Gary D
3noise
Dylan Edwards
Summary of reference entries provided
Bells are often cast - and rung - at shipyards, as warning signals.
Jim Tucker (X)

  

Answers


51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +8
Joke about big bells


Explanation:
(ba-da-boom) refers to the little drum riff that vaudeville or late-night-talk-show drummers do after somebody has made a joke. He is talking about the large bell of the cymbal, and says he hasn't seen anything bigger, even though he just went to the shipyard, where he presumably saw some huge ship's bells. It's a weak joke, told with irony ("ba-da-boom") to show that he doesn't really expect people to think it's funny.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 54 mins (2009-02-09 05:31:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It refers to the size of the actual cymbal--supposedly bigger than a ship's bell.

JaneTranslates
Puerto Rico
Local time: 14:09
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thank you very much for your help Jane! Thanks everybody!!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jim Tucker (X): yes - this is the meaning of "ba-da-boom" - and well explained. It's a "rimshot," as drummers say, delivered after a joke. (Not necessarily ship's bells - other bells are also often cast at shipyards - only place big enough)
2 hrs
  -> Rimshot!! That term just would not come into my brain last night. Thanks, Jim, for the "agree," the right term, and the additional info.
agree  Dylan Edwards: I get it now. I didn't know that kind of "ba-da-boom" is called a rimshot./ After the little digression of the joke, he says "Seriously,...". I can see it's a joke now!
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Dylan. Generous of you to agree! (
agree  Owen Munday: That's it, and what a terrible joke!
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Owen. Yes, it is! It would take a lot of "personality" to pull that one off.
agree  Suzan Hamer: and with Jim that your explanation is very good. When I saw "ba-da-boom" I knew right away what it meant...and while waiting for the page to open, wondered how on earth one would explain it. "Little drum riff after a joke." Perfect!
5 hrs
  -> Thank you, Suzan. "Rimshot" would have been even better, if I could have thought of it, but Jim took care of that for us. Actually, I didn't immediately think of that, but rather of gangsters. The context made it clear, though.
agree  B D Finch
5 hrs
  -> Thanks very much, B D.
agree  Bianca Jacobsohn: Rimshot - learn something new everyday!
5 hrs
  -> Yeah--I hope I can keep that term in my head now! Thanks, Bianca.
agree  Sheila Wilson: Brings back unwanted memories of a certain fox on UK TV many years ago - Basil Brush
7 hrs
  -> Never heard of him, and I guess I don't want to? Thanks, Sheila!
agree  NancyLynn
8 hrs
  -> Thanks, Nancy Lynn.
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38 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
ba - da -boom


Explanation:
Same as saying cha-cha-cha or anything else like this as an expression of excitement, as to where he found something,

Just he used this expression, as he was talking of a percussion instrument, so he was being clever, and it fitted in with the conversation.

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Note added at 54 mins (2009-02-09 05:32:13 GMT)
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It is just where he found the bell, at the shipyards, and the ba-da-boom is his excitement to finding something in such a strange place, Maybe it was a ships bell, and it was obvious it would have been there?

Gary D
Local time: 04:09
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you very much Gary, but what does “shipyards” have to do with it?


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Jim Tucker (X): "ba-da-boom" is the rimshot that follows a (bad) joke in the US comic tradition; shipyards not a strange place for a bell - bells are often cast there, and rung there as warnings.
2 hrs
  -> thanks Jim
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
noise


Explanation:
Have to admit, my first thought was: noise. Industrial noise, and specifically metallic noise. Metal being beaten. The sounds of a shipyard.

The cymbal, surely, is very different in shape from a ship's bell, even though he refers to the "bell" of the cymbal, and it's very different in sound.

If I could hear that "ba-da-boom", I'd know for sure, but I think it must be said with a certain intensity! - to emphasise the impressive sound of the cymbal.

He went straight to work on that cymbal!
I think you're right, he's talking about the loudness.


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Note added at 2 hrs (2009-02-09 07:21:08 GMT)
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It would also help, of course, to hear how those words "I was just, at the shipyards" are spoken. I felt like putting a comma in, because I think it's something like: "I was like, at the shipyards".

You can imagine those words "at the shipyards" being said with a particular emphasis.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2009-02-09 08:34:47 GMT)
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I get it now.

I now see that this is a typical kind of joke, like:
"the snow was falling in the biggest flakes I've ever seen, and I'm from [name the city of your choice]" (a play on the different meanings of "flake").

Dylan Edwards
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:09
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Jim Tucker (X): "ba-da-boom" is the rimshot that follows a (bad) joke in the US comic tradition
55 mins
  -> Well, yes, I've heard that kind of "ba-da-boom". It also reminds me of the "boom-boom" that follows a punchline. This is why I say it would help to hear the speaker! - but I take your point, yes, he is in fact making a comparison.
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Reference comments


3 hrs peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Bells are often cast - and rung - at shipyards, as warning signals.

Reference information:
Reference information:
one example of many:

http://www.gcna.org/data/PLGDNSKB.HTM


...and rung there, as shipbuilding is a dangerous profession; they are rung as warnings when a ship is launched from the dock.

Jim Tucker (X)
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Dylan Edwards: I accept the general association of ships and bells, and Jane is therefore right. At least there has been some useful discussion of "ba-da-boom" (something like the "boom-boom" heard from some British comedians after their jokes).
32 mins
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