5

I'm writing a short story for my EAL Class and I was thinking of an onomatopoeia for coughing up blood. I tried all the words I knew but nothing felt quite right. Is there a proper English word that I can use to express this action?

Helmar
  • 5,437
Cynthia Azaran
  • 59
  • 1
    -- Khoff! Khak!! -- there was blood! Not sure of a single word though! – Nagarajan Shanmuganathan Aug 29 '16 at 15:40
  • It's spelled onomatopoeia and pronounced /anəmatə'poyə/, btw. – John Lawler Aug 29 '16 at 15:43
  • 4
    Coughing is already one ;) – Helmar Aug 29 '16 at 15:48
  • Related (without explicit blood though): http://english.stackexchange.com/q/161307/42179 – Řídící Aug 29 '16 at 15:58
  • 2
    I'm pretty sure the sound of coughing up blood is very close to identical to general coughing. So there could be no special onomatopoeia. – DJClayworth Aug 29 '16 at 16:50
  • Not what you asked for but here goes anyway... since as was already pointed out, coughing up phlegm and coughing up blood sound very similar, you may want to instead, make someone *witnessing* the blood-coughing have a strong reaction to the scene. – Kristina Lopez Aug 29 '16 at 18:17
  • @KristinaLopez how does one find an onomatopoeia for witnessing coughing blood? – Aoki Aug 29 '16 at 18:57
  • @Aoki, I prefaced my comment with "Not what you asked for...." but let's use our imagination anyway! :-) How about this? *"Blech! <kakk!> Glurg!" John violently heaved at the sight of his friend's coughed-up blood splashing across the tile floor, instantly coagulating into dark-red domed puddles.* – Kristina Lopez Aug 29 '16 at 19:06
  • 1
    @JohnLawler: /oya/? Not the pronunciation I've ever used :) I think /iya/'s much more common. – herisson Aug 29 '16 at 19:30
  • It's poeia in Greek, and all four vowels are pronounced. Since it's a borrowing, you can pronounce it any way you want. But since it's a fancy word with a meaning associated with sound, its pronunciation is more important than that of most words. – John Lawler Aug 29 '16 at 20:23
  • 1
    @KristinaLopez "instantly coagulating"? Not a doctor, are we? (I'm just teasing.) – pyobum Sep 30 '16 at 00:27
  • Not so much an onomatopoeia as it it is visually appealing: "I asked for my handkerchief back but I declined it once I realized he had ragged all over it." (as in, on the rag) – Mazura Sep 30 '16 at 03:01

2 Answers2

1

"Is there an onomatopoeia for coughing up blood?"

No. There is no word that would resemble or simulate the sound of coughing up blood specifically. It wouldn't make sense to have one anymore than it would to have a sizzling sound or hissing sound specifically for the frying of a skirt steak versus chicken.

But, is there a word that resembles, simulates, or is associated with any sound that would resemble 'coughing up blood', like coughing up syrup, baby formula, or hot wax? Maybe something that starts with 'gla', or 'ghluh', but they kind of sound weird to me. Go with your gut on that one I guess.

pyobum
  • 3,482
John
  • 1,027
0

Hemoptysis is the medical term for coughing up blood. It is a noun though, so maybe no use to you if you're interested in a verb.

NVZ
  • 22,590
user193951
  • 23