Bleeps

/bliːps/ noun

Definition

Short, high-pitched electronic sounds, or to censor out words in audio by replacing them with such sounds.

Etymology

Onomatopoeia—the word imitates the sound itself. 'Bleep' entered English in the 1950s with early electronic technology and radar. Now commonly used for censoring profanity in broadcast media.

Kelly Says

The 'bleep' sound used to censor curse words is actually a 1950s invention from radar systems, and now it's become so iconic that hearing a bleep makes people MORE curious about what was said!

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