Blowing a raspberry

Blowing a raspberry, strawberry or making a Bronx cheer, is to make a noise that may signify derision, real or feigned. It may also be used in childhood phonemic play either solely by the child or by adults towards a child to encourage imitation to the delight of both parties. It is made by placing the tongue between the lips and blowing to produce a sound similar to flatulence. In the terminology of phonetics, this sound can be described as an unvoiced linguolabial trill [r̼̊]. It is never used in human language phonemically (e.g., to be used as a building block of words), but the sound is widely used across human cultures.

The nomenclature varies by country. In the United States, Bronx cheer is sometimes used; otherwise, in the U.S. and in other anglophone countries, it is known as a raspberry, rasp, or razz – the origin of which is an instance of rhyming slang, in which the non-rhyming part of a rhyming phrase is used as a synonym. In this case, "raspberry tart" rhymes with "fart". It was first recorded in 1890.

Bronx Cheer (Law & Order)

Bronx Cheer is the 245th episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order, and the sixteenth episode of the eleventh season.

Original air date: March 14, 2001.
Previous episode: 'Swept Away - A Very Special Episode'
Next episode: 'Ego'

Credits

Directed by Richard Dobbs
Written by Wendy Battles & Richard Sweren

Guest stars

Peter Greene as Francis 'Taz' Partell
Keith David as Bronx County DA Mr. Robertson
Kevin Kash as Anthony Shaeffer
Cynthia Hayden as Vera Shaeffer
Zach Grenier as Mr. Hauser
Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
Michael Mulheren as Judge Harrison Taylor
William Christian as Detective Regan
Robert Funaro as Quintana

Plot

Two bakery workers discover the body of a young woman in the alley behind their store. Arriving at the scene, Green notes severe bruising around the woman's neck and Briscoe observes that the heel on one of her shoes is broken. A uniformed policeman discovers a discarded handbag matching the victim's dress; it contains no identification but a bag of pills which Green notes "look like ecstasy."