Talk:boom

What does BOOM mean when you say something ends with a BOOM ?????????????????

It could mean that an action or event ends with a loud noise like an explosion, or it could mean that it ends with something that is very flashy and exciting. —Stephen 20:33, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

RFD discussion: May 2024

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for deletion (permalink).

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.

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boom

Rfd-sense: A period of prosperity, growth, progress, or high market activity. Not asking for this to be deleted, just moved to Etymology 1 Denazz (talk) 14:15, 24 May 2024 (UTC)

I wonder if this might be raised at Wiktionary:Etymology scriptorium. Seems to hinge on the strength of the "perhaps" in "Perhaps a figurative development of Etymology 1". It does seem kind of "obvious", but maybe there are sound reasons for uncertainty. But in any case, it doesn't seem plausible that Ety 1 has at the moment a sense "A rapid expansion or increase", with example "You should prepare for the coming boom in the tech industry", AND we should have a separate Ety 3 with your sense. Mihia (talk) 16:49, 24 May 2024 (UTC)

Does any authority suggest "a period of ... growth" is a separate ety from "a rapid expansion or increase"? Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster both sort it into the list of "expansion" senses with no comment, AFAICT. It was split in diff in 2010. - -sche (discuss) 17:33, 24 May 2024 (UTC)

I think we have to keep Etymology 3 somehow. Collins English Dictionary merges it with the sound, so has two senses. The Oxford Dictionary of English has all three senses, but says for the period of prosperity or rapid growth: Origin late 19th cent. (originally US):probably from BOOM1 [the sound]. Maybe Etyms 2 & 3 should swap places (and numbers). DonnanZ (talk) 08:57, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Procedural close because this isn't a deletion request Purplebackpack89 19:35, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Not helpful. The discussion can be moved if necessary. Theknightwho (talk) 20:29, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

And resolved by (re)merging ety 3 and ety 1. - -sche (discuss) 20:29, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Okay, now it can be closed. Theknightwho (talk) 20:30, 25 May 2024 (UTC)