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In your area/country, did you have a word or phrase to describe the static white noise on a television set not tuned to a channel? (upload.wikimedia.org)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Bonus points if there's a known onomatopoeia to describe the sound.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

In Poland it was „śnieży” (snowing).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (2 children)

How’s that pronounced? Sorry for coming achoo with too many cultural questions

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I am not even able to write it phonetically in English. Ask Google Translate - its pronunciation is close-enough.

In IPA it is: /ɕɲɛʑɨ/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

…and if you are interested in the sound of static rather than the image, then the Polish word is: „szumi”. This can be approximated in English as: 'shoomy'. The 'sz' sound does sound like static.

The funny thing is that our 'sz' (in „szumi”) and 'ś' (in „śnieży”) usually sound exactly the same to English or French speakers, while for us they are quite distinct sounds.