Bronx Cheer

Meaning of “Bronx Cheer”

The phrase “Bronx cheer” means to create a sound when ridiculing somebody. Most often, both lips are closed to blow a whistle by using the tongue as the piping organ to create a sound of disrespect. It is the sound of contempt, similar to jeering and cat-calling. The phrase is often used when you have to explain a person looking down on others and making this noise,

Origin of “Bronx Cheer”

It is possible that the term originated from The Bronx. The Bronx is a borough in New York City which was named after the European settler, Jonas Bronx in the 17th Century. The phrase “Bronx cheer” is believed to have originated in the United States after or during the 1920s when it first appeared in the Bridgeport Telegram, a daily. It was published in October in 1921 with reference to the loss of Chicago in the soccer match.

It was written as “…if Chicago lose the east will grin and give western football the jolly old Bronx cheer.”

Later it was included in the English-American Dictionary and also printed in the Daily Mail, an English newspaper, in its publication of 1924. Since then, it has been used in the same meanings.

Examples in Literature

Example #1

Madame Entelechy by Jascha Kessler

Bafflement for battlement. It is just.
I join the throngs of frozen revelers.
Under dense low clouds billing red and blue,
Mounted on marquees, waiting midnight’s knell,
Technicians garbed in flak jackets scan us
Television to an unsleeping world
How time in tumult takes its harshest turn:
Pale pimpled boys and patchy painted girls
Laugh, yell, scream, blat Bronx Cheers from tin trumpets,
Lope by flourishing pints of cheap whiskey.
I cross to Duffy’s Rock in the traffic.

The poet has captures the confusion of the city dwellers over the festivities that goes on a daily basis. Though they are pale and patchy, the girls and boys still laugh, yell and scream to make things worse for the observes. The phrase has been used in the third last line in the same mood as the young generation demonstrates by yelling and laughing.

Example #2

Bronx Cheer by Mercury Rev

Have you seen her running ‘round (have you seen her)
And the way she wears her hair (running ‘round)
If you see her out tonight (have you seen her)
Tell her I don’t care (running ‘round)
Tell her I don’t care (running ‘round)
Have you heard she’s coming down (have you seen her)
With every sickness in the air (running ‘round)
If you see her out tonight (have you seen her)
Tell her I don’t care (running ‘round)
Tell her I don’t care
Tell her I don’t care (running ‘round)
I don’t care
I don’t care

This stanza throws light on how the singer does not care about his beloved. The way his situation has been shown through parenthetical instructions demonstrates that he is scoffing his beloved. That is why the lyric has been titled with this phrase. The meanings of this phrase have been implicitly given through the situation given in this stanza.

Example #3

Au Grande Pair: The Adventures of a First-Time Grandfather As a Full-Time Nanny by Harry Lax

If not, I wind up wearing it. In addition, the baby has somehow developed a Bronx cheer. In case, you’ve never heard of it, the Bronx cheer is something created by Yankee fans, and reserved for visiting team. Here’s the way it works. You stick your tongue out and blow as hard as you can, releasing a fine spray and a derisive sound. Samantha’s parents are both Yankee fans, and I find it hard to believe that a Bronx cheer is in the genes and can be inherited. A Bronx cheer with a mouthful of food can be lethal.”

This paragraph sheds light on the use of the Bronx and how it has originated by the Yankee fans. The author has beautifully tried to present the way the fans or audiences make fun of their stars through Bronx cheers. It seems that it is ingrained in their genes. The author has also advised that it should not be done when eating something, for it can prove to be lethal and deadly. The meanings of this phrase have become clear after this explanation.

Example #4

The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training by Josh Wilker

In the ad, a pack of boys my age, many in baseball uniforms, careened down the road in a customized van literally spilling over its sides with the boisterous life within, a motorcycle policeman in pursuit. A fat kid up front laughed as he readied to chomp into a kitchen leg. A curly-haired, bespectacled kid leaned in next to him, losing a Bronx cheer.

This excerpt shows the use of the phrase “Bronx cheer” by the end. The phrase clearly means that it shows derision. The appearance of the boy also supports in conveying the meanings of derision. However, the entire passage evolves these meanings in subsequent lines where a fat kid laughs but the next kid loses a Bronx cheer, which means he stops scorning them.

Example in Sentences

Example #1: “The group blasted the players with Bronx cheer after losing the third match in a row.”

Example #2: “When I entered the home, all the children demonstrated a Bronx cheer at me. However, their amusement was unbearable.”

Example #3: “I don’t care if they give me Bronx cheer, said Janet. I am going to sing and give my best. Janet did give her best and the judges did appreciate her.”

Example #4: “He smiled and made a Bronx cheer. She stood there amazed at his audacity”

Example #5: “The table fan was so old and noisy it sounded like a Bronx cheer.”