"dun dun dun" meaning in English

See dun dun dun in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

IPA: /ˈdʌn ˌdʌn ˈdʌn/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation] Audio: En-us-dun dun dun.ogg [General-American]
Rhymes: -ʌn Etymology: An onomatopoeic representation of a three-note dramatic sting (“short musical phrase”), probably the seventh to ninth notes (E♭-C-F♯) from the start of the theme music of the American police procedural television series Dragnet (first broadcast 1967–1970), which was used for dramatic effect during various episodes. The tune, originally simply called “Main Title” and later “Danger Ahead”, was composed by the American composer Walter Schumann (1913–1958), based on the beginning of the theme music of the film The Killers (1946) by the Hungarian-American composer Miklós Rózsa (1907–1995). Etymology templates: {{onomatopoeic|en|nocap=1}} onomatopoeic, {{l|en|sting|t=short musical phrase}} sting (“short musical phrase”)
  1. (informal) Used as a dramatic pause, or to emphasize that something is frightening, thrilling, etc. Wikipedia link: Miklós Rózsa, Walter Schumann Tags: informal Related terms: dun (english: imitating a deep bass note, such as that found in suspenseful music) Translations (used as a dramatic pause, or to emphasize that something is frightening, thrilling, etc.): tan-tan-tan [rare] (Finnish), тан-тан-тан (tan-tan-tan) (Macedonian)

Download JSON data for dun dun dun meaning in English (4.6kB)

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          "ref": "2006, H. M. Leathem, chapter 3, in W.T.F.?: What Is Wrong with Tom Faerie, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, page 22",
          "text": "I am not going to tell you the exact locations of my stops, but my final destination (dun dun dun) is London, England. It is there that I will figure out my life purpose.",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "2007, Amanda Kerlin, Phil Oh, chapter 5, in Secrets of the Model Dorm, New York, N.Y.: Washington Square Press, Simon & Schuster, page 53",
          "text": "\"All right—dun, dun, dun! Time to get measured, hon.\" Luke tried to play off the seriousness of my weekly face-to-face with my own potential unworthiness to be a model with this little bit, but it made me feel even worse, thinking about how many empty calories in champagne and vodka I'd slurped down since I last saw him, […]",
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          "ref": "2012, Mike Draper, “Will the Last One out of the Midwest just Remember to Extinguish the Tire Fire?”, in The Midwest: God’s Gift to Planet Earth!: An Illustrated Guide to the History and Culture of the Galaxy’s most Important Region, Des Moines, Iowa: Raygun, part 5 (We’re #1 by a Wider Margin than Usual!), page 192",
          "text": "In the movie [RoboCop (1987)], central Detroit is \"Old Detroit.\" […] When police officer Alex Murphy starts his term in Old Detroit, his fellow officers tell him, \"Welcome to hell.\" / Dun dun dun.",
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        "(informal) Used as a dramatic pause, or to emphasize that something is frightening, thrilling, etc."
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          "code": "fi",
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          "sense": "used as a dramatic pause, or to emphasize that something is frightening, thrilling, etc.",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "tan-tan-tan"
        },
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          "word": "тан-тан-тан"
        }
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          "text": "\"All right—dun, dun, dun! Time to get measured, hon.\" Luke tried to play off the seriousness of my weekly face-to-face with my own potential unworthiness to be a model with this little bit, but it made me feel even worse, thinking about how many empty calories in champagne and vodka I'd slurped down since I last saw him, […]",
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        "(informal) Used as a dramatic pause, or to emphasize that something is frightening, thrilling, etc."
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      "code": "fi",
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      "sense": "used as a dramatic pause, or to emphasize that something is frightening, thrilling, etc.",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
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      "word": "tan-tan-tan"
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      "sense": "used as a dramatic pause, or to emphasize that something is frightening, thrilling, etc.",
      "word": "тан-тан-тан"
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  "word": "dun dun dun"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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