An onomatopoeia is any word meant to replicate a non-language sound. Onomatopoeia are very common in comic books and graphic novels, where they are used to enunciate the sounds that punches and kicks make. For instance, the original Batman TV show made use of many onomatopoeia. Some typical onomatopoeia used in comic books and graphic novels are as follows: Zap, bang, schwack, and wub-ub-ub-ub-ub.

Animal language is another common onomatopoeic art form. For instance, meow, oink, and woof, are all examples of onomatopoeia. If an animal speaks using human words, however, it is not considered an onomatopoeia.

Let me give you an example:
If a cat said, “I’m very disgusted with the manner in which you are conducting yourself”, it would not be an onomatopoeia. However, if the cat said, “Meow, meow meow meow, …. meow meow meow meow?”, then each “meow” would be considered an individual onomatopoeia. This is true because each “meow” is an imitation of a sound, and does not have any definition in the dictionary other than, “the sound a cat makes”.

The number of onomatopoeia in existence is actually infinite, since any writer has the creative liberty to interpret a sound in any way that he or she wants to. There are occasionally some disagreements on what can and can not be considered an onomatopoeia, but as long as the author intended it to be an interpretation of a sound in language form, it is considered an onomatopoeia. Who is to say whether an explosion sounded more like “kablammy”, “pop”, or “kaboom”? You are — that’s who — so don’t let other people force you into using the white-washed, corporate, onion and cardboard flavored onomatopoeia by telling you that only certain ones are acceptable to use.

Common examples of onomatopoeia:

bang
bing
blam
blap
blip
bloop
bonk
clap
clink
clippity-clop
ding
dink
dong
donk
flap
flip
flip-flop
flonk
floop
flop
honk
jink
kablammy
kaboom
ma-na-na-na-na-na-na-na
meow
moo
oink
pizzong-ong-ong-ong
plop
pop
pow
quack
rip
roar
schwack
squeak
squibble
swoosh
tick
tick-tock
tock
vroom
whack
wham
woof
wub-ub-ub-ub-ub
yoink
zang
zap
zip
zoom

Remember, these examples of onomatopoeia are only a start, and you should feel free to create your own onomatopoeia whenever the mood strikes.

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