13

There are several sound clips that are widely understood to mean "(epic) fail". I think the most famous one is the one with the oboe or trumpet... 4 notes with declining pitch, the last one being stretched out.

  • Is there a common way to capture that in writing?
Emanuel
  • 1,507

2 Answers2

23

The most common ways I've seen are writing out the words:

sad trombone
:( trombone

Or to use the onomatopoeic

Wah, Wah, Wah, Wahhhhhhh …
Womp, Womp, Womp, Wommmmmp… (at the behest of several commenters)

Or to combine them:

sad trombone: wah, wah, wah, wahhhhh …

David M
  • 22,515
  • 2
    Perfect... I was trying all kinds of "wua, ua, wue" on Youtube and I couldn't find anything :) – Emanuel Mar 25 '14 at 14:32
  • 1
    Yes, onomatopoeia varies from language to language. It makes it challenging to look it up … – David M Mar 25 '14 at 14:34
  • 1
    +1 I would have used similar onomatopoeia, but had never heard of "sad trombone". – TecBrat Mar 25 '14 at 17:40
  • @TecBrat I initially couldn't remember it either. I googled sad trumpet which didn't sound right to me. And sad trombone came right up. It was an aha moment … – David M Mar 25 '14 at 17:48
  • 5
    I also saw "womp, womp, womp" and I like "wom, wom, wowowom". – TecBrat Mar 25 '14 at 17:59
  • @TecBrat excellent onomatopoeic terms as well. – David M Mar 25 '14 at 18:00
  • @David M: Sometimes it is a trumpet, with the mute on. A popular musical trope in the Ealing comedies of the '50s. – Terpsichore Mar 25 '14 at 18:03
  • @Terpsichore I don't doubt that. But, the trope seems to be sad trombone. – David M Mar 25 '14 at 18:27
  • The spelling "womp womp womp" even has a single-purpose website associated with it: http://wompwompwomp.com/ – RJHunter Mar 26 '14 at 05:11
  • 1
    But that sound isn't wompwompwomp. It's wompwompwompwomp. The name "womp womp" to me conjures up a different sound [not sure where to most easily find it] which smears the first three notes together [it's a trombone after all]. – supercat Jun 22 '18 at 15:16
  • Same here. "Womp womp" does not invoke the sad trombone sound to me. – Mr Lister Jun 23 '18 at 11:22
12

This is known as the "sad trombone" (see as a reference: http://www.sadtrombone.com/)

teepee
  • 462