onomatopoeic term for don't say or be quite [quiet]
- Thread starter ryooster
- Start date
madsh33p
Senior Member
English - UK, German - Germany
It is simply sh, as Natalisha said or shush
Be careful when you pronounce it as you wrote it above, (no offense but I had to laugh when I saw it) because it looks like different pronunciations of the word "shit"/"shite".
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Majorbloodnock
Senior Member
British English
Shh or shoosh.
Cameljockey
Senior Member
British English
Sh is correct but it's unusual to see it written with just the two letters, It's usually given more of either depending on your personal preference, and depending on the urgency with which it's being said. Perhaps shhh, or sshhh, or ssshhhh! Don't overdo it though. And as madsheep says, definitely no 'it'! 
Hermione Golightly
Senior Member
British English
It is often 'sh' as at the end of to 'hush' (to become quiet or to quieten), but apparently there are variations such as s-s-s-h, and sh-sh.(OED)
No vowel sound and no t.
Depending on the context and need, the verb hush can be used instead, " Hush!"
I hushed the children.
I told the children to hush.
Everybody hushed as the chewing gum bubble grew bigger and bigger.
Hermione
No vowel sound and no t.
Depending on the context and need, the verb hush can be used instead, " Hush!"
I hushed the children.
I told the children to hush.
Everybody hushed as the chewing gum bubble grew bigger and bigger.
Hermione
nzfauna
Senior Member
New Zealand, English
N.B. I think onomatopoeia is probably not the right term here...
An onomatopoeia is a word that approximates the sound it refers to... Silence has no sound.
An onomatopoeia is a word that approximates the sound it refers to... Silence has no sound.
Majorbloodnock
Senior Member
British English
Perhaps, but the interjection is most often directed towards kids, and we all know that a low level of white noise is the best we can hope for; silence is far, far too optimistic.
LV4-26
Senior Member
France French
Yes. I think interjection would be more appropriate.
Hush can be used as a noun, a verb and an interjection.
ewie
Senior Member
English English
Shush is my preferred option. It also works as a handy verb: 'tell someone to be quiet':
Don't shush me when I'm in the middle of speaking!
Don't shush me when I'm in the middle of speaking!
It's not an onomatopoeia of silence, it's an onomatopoeia of the sibilant sound someone makes to tell someone else to be quiet.
Einstein
Senior Member
UK, English
If someone says "shhhh!", it's just a sound made with the mouth; I don't think it's a word. If you say "He shushed me", that's an onomatopoeia, because "shush" is a word (here a verb) that imitates the sound made.
I'm saying that off the top of my head, someone will prove me wrong! But instinctively I just feel that shhhh! is not an onomoatopoeia.
Cameljockey
Senior Member
British English
In that case surely every word is onomatopoeic, because 'ashtray' is onomapotopoeic of the sound that someone makes when they say ashtray....
Sh as a word doesn't sound like the noise that's made, it actually is the noise thats made. Buzz is an onomatopoeic word but bzzzzzz (if it existed as a word) would not be.
Cameljockey
Senior Member
British English
We are along the same lines here, except that sh is certainly a word:
dictionary.reference.com :
Word Origin & History
sh
exclamation used to urge or request silence, 1847. The gesture of putting a finger to the lips to express silence is attested from Roman times.
Einstein
Senior Member
UK, English
OK, it's a word if they say so.
Another example: Hmmm is a sound; when we say He hummed and ha'ed (or however you spell it), these verbs are onomatopoeias.
Another example: Hmmm is a sound; when we say He hummed and ha'ed (or however you spell it
), these verbs are onomatopoeias.
sh, hush, and shush, imitating the noise made when air escapes under some restraint from the mouth are as onamatopoeic as bang, slap, and puff. Hiss too but that does not mean be quiet! though it might induce a so called artiste to leave the stage.
shush (v.) 1905, imitative of the command to be quiet. (Online Etymological Dictionary).
Ashtray does not imitate any sound, though it does sound pleasing to the ear if one forgets the connotations of toxic air and cancer.
Btw, note the Americanism hush up!
shush (v.) 1905, imitative of the command to be quiet. (Online Etymological Dictionary).
Ashtray does not imitate any sound, though it does sound pleasing to the ear if one forgets the connotations of toxic air and cancer.
Btw, note the Americanism hush up!
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Cameljockey
Senior Member
British English
sh, hush, and shush, imitating the noise made when air escapes under some restraint from the mouth are as onamatopoeic as bang, slap, and puff. Hiss too but that does not mean be quiet! though it might induce a so called artiste to leave the stage.
shush (v.)1905, imitative of the command to be quiet. Online Etymological Dicionary
Ashtray does not imitate any sound, though it does sound pleasing to the ear if one forgets the connotations of toxic air and cancer.
Btw, note the Americanism hush up!
OK I've played devil's advocate for long enough, I have to accept that a written representation of a sound (in the form of wors like h'm, sh, ah) cannot actually 'be' the sound, it's just letters on paper (or a screen) and so it must always be onomatopoeic.
I completely agree with you, Einstein. Saying in my post 2 'it's just "sh"' I answered the second part of the question:
And of course it's not an onomoatopoeia.
I'm with those who think it's "shush".
ewie
Senior Member
English English