Pratique du Shadowing: Where Did "Ba-Dum-Tss" Come From? - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo

Ba -dum -tis.

Two snare hits and the strike of a hi -hat.

This rhythmic phrase has been used to punctuate bad jokes for a long time now, and in some way or another, we've all become familiar with it.

But where did it actually come from?

What is the origin of ba -dum -tis?

Well, we don't really know for sure.

But, but, but, but, we do have some idea as to where it could have come from.

Unfortunately, it seems like Bedumtis is just not well documented at all, and most of what I could find on its history is just hearsay.

This is in contrast to its much -belothed counterpart, the laugh track.

We know exactly who made it, why they made it, and when.

I guess in this case we're dealing with one of those things that's difficult to determine the exact origins of, like when we started using to build tension and excitement.

But the point of this video isn't to give a crystal clear answer.

I thought it would be interesting to explore two different origin points that people claim Bedumptus was born out of, talk about them a little, and explore how they could link back to this iconic sound.

Because sometimes when you go on a deep dive on a topic, you become more engrossed in the dive itself than what you were diving for.

Again, take all of this with as many grains of salt as you would like.

Before we actually, you know, dive deeper, there's gotta be a better name we can use than "Badumtis", right?

A lot of people refer to it as "The Rimshot", that is the term that it's called by in the entertainment industry.

However, as a person with a music degree, I am required to tell you that this term can be misleading.

In music terms, "rimshot" refers to a drumming technique where you hit the center

and the rim of the snare drum with your stick at the same time, producing a louder sound and a different timbre.

confusion to the point where some sites mistakenly cite acclaimed jazz drummer Gene Krupa, often credited as the pioneer of the rimshot snare technique,

as the inventor of the bedumtis drumline.

Wikipedia refers to the comedic punctuation as a sting, but this is also a generic term that could mean a number of things.

Since rimshot became the industry term for bedumtis, I'll just refer to it as that for the rest of the video.

So when I say it, I don't mean the snare technique.

You got that?

Don't make me go musicologist on your ass!

Let's take a look at the first of the proposed origin points for the rim shot: vaudeville performances.

These were entertainment shows often compared to burlesque or cabaret that were popular in North America from the 1890s till the 1930s,

and they featured a wide variety of unrelated acts performed back to back, including musical performances, magic shows,

various other displays of skill and talent, and comedy routines.

whose names you might recognize include Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, and the Marx Brothers.

Now what interests me about vaudeville is the drummer's role in these live performances, and I found out more about it through this book called Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit,

written by musicologist Matt Brennan.

According to Brennan's research, during the vaudeville era, drummers were frequently hired to play sound effects for shows and events.

silent films, which people thought were unsettling without sound.

Drummers would invent and make use of various instruments and tools to produce different sounds.

And this is actually how we ended up with the wire brush sticks that drummers still use to this day.

Seeing as drummers were essentially tasked with "catching the falls" for the various acts at vaudeville shows, it's possible that this is what led to the invention of the rimshot.

And I know that this concept very likely did not originate from vaudeville entirely, but vaudeville is the name that popped up the most often often in my research.

If the rimshot really did originate from vaudeville, then it wouldn't be the only recognizable influence it left on comedy.

If you ever witnessed the trope of someone getting pulled off stage by a long hook, well, that's called the vaudeville hook,

a tool designed for closing curtains that showed its effectiveness in pulling unfunny comedians off the stage.

But that does it for vaudeville.

Now the second alleged origin point of the rimshot is borscht belt comedy.

The borscht belt is the name given to a region of New York State

that used to be a popular vacation destination nation for Jewish Americans, its popularity peaking in the 1950s and 60s.

And for that reason, it is named after the soup borscht, a dish that Jews brought over to America from Eastern Europe.

A lot of the resorts throughout the borscht belt would host these stand -up comedy shows, and thanks to these shows,

many comedians that would go on to lead successful careers ended up getting their start in the borscht belt.

These include Rodney Dangerfield, Buddy Hackett, supposedly Jerry Seinfeld is among these names as well, and also Mel Brooks, the director of the Borscht Belt, and also Mel Brooks, the director of the Borscht Belt,

and the director of the Borscht Belt of movies like Spaceballs, and Young Frankenstein.

"Call it." "A ham -ch -broom -chip !" Oh, and sort of off -topic here, but do you remember that old -ass meme of the prairie dog with the dramatic music?

Well, turns out that music is from Young Frankenstein, and that revelation just completely blindsided me as I was watching the film for the first time recently.

But yeah, the man said it himself.

No Borschtbelt, no Mel Brooks.

"I just got back from Venice, and boy are my arms tired !" didn't age well, because of course they didn't,

this is 1950s and 60s America we're talking about.

The humor of the Borscht Belt proved to be appealing to the rest of the country as well, as evident by the success of the comedians that it nurtured.

Borscht Belt comedy is typically described as being self -deprecating, but also fast -paced.

"Well, when I was born, the doctor told my mother I did all I could, but he pulled through anyway, you know?" And this is what gives me reason to believe that the rim shot could have originated from it,

because the fast pace really lends itself to be coupled with some sort of musical sense sting.

Not just the rimshot, but really anything that can help punctuate a joke.

"This guy walks in the doctor and says, 'Doctor, I have a ring in my ear, what'll I do is you don't answer?'" This is Henny Youngman,

another borscht belt comedian that I've seen associated heavily with the rimshot.

His rapid -fire style of comedy, relying on short, bite -sized jokes instead of telling stories, earned him the title of "The King of One -Liners".

He also made an appearance in the movie Goodfellas

"I take my wife everywhere but she finds her way home." It's an interesting

but unsurprising coincidence that a lot of successful figures in comedy are also drummers.

And you know, this is the point where I'd say something about the importance of timing and rhythm in comedy, but I think I've yapped enough.

And even after all that talking, I haven't even given you guys the true answer to the question at hand: where does Badumtis come from?

Well...

Obviously, it comes from the drum kit that it's played on, Eh?

It comes from the...

Are you gonna -

Sorry, sorry guys.

It wasn't all that good actually.

Can you just play the thing?

✨ Vidéo recommandée

65 phrases

Vocabulaire et conseils d’expression pour cette leçon

Cette leçon d’expression orale de niveau B2 s’appuie sur la vidéo « Where Did "Ba-Dum-Tss" Come From? ». Les mots qui reviennent le plus souvent : borscht, belt, rimshot, vaudeville, comedy. Cette vidéo contient 78 phrases et 1314 mots à répéter en shadowing. La partie parlée dure 7:13. Le locuteur parle vite, environ 182 mots par minute : attendez-vous à des liaisons et à des sons réduits. Seuls 77 % des mots font partie des 3 000 mots les plus courants en anglais, le vocabulaire est donc exigeant.

Vocabulaire clé de cette vidéo

Les 15 mots les plus avancés de la vidéo, avec leur prononciation et leur sens :

Mot	Prononciation	Sens
borscht nom	/bɔːʃt/	bortsch, borsch
drummer nom	/ˈdɹʌmɚ/	batteur, batteuse
snare nom	/snɛ(ə)ɹ/	collet, piège
comedian nom	/kəˈmiː.di.ən/	humoriste, comique
drum nom	/ˈdɹʌm/	tambour, batterie
dive verbe	/daɪv/	nager, plonger
originate verbe	/əˈɹɪd͡ʒɪneɪt/	venir de
musicologist nom		musicologue
punctuate verbe	/ˈpʰʌŋktjuːeɪt/	ponctuer
sting verbe	/ˈstɪŋ/	piquer
acclaim verbe	/əˈkleɪm/	crier d'enthousiasme, acclamer
blindside verbe	/ˈblaɪndˌsaɪd/	prendre par surprise
burlesque nom	/bə(ɹ)ˈlɛsk/	parodie
cabaret nom	/kæbəˈɹeɪ/	cabaret
deprecate verbe	/ˈdɛp.rɪˌkeɪt/	désapprouver de

Les verbes à particule que vous entendrez

Mot	Sens
end up verbe	se terminer, se finir
find out verbe	découvrir, savoir
pop up verbe	se pointer
pull off verbe	sortir, retirer
stand up verbe	se lever, se mettre debout
turn out verbe	se finir, se terminer

La grammaire de cette vidéo

Les structures que le locuteur utilise le plus, avec les mots exacts de la vidéo :

Structure	Dans la vidéo
Present perfect have/has + participe passé — une action passée qui compte encore maintenant	has been · I've seen associated · I've yapped
Voix passive be + participe passé — l’accent est mis sur ce qui arrive, pas sur qui le fait	was born · is named · be coupled

Prononciation à surveiller

Le locuteur utilise 20 contractions et formes réduites, comme don't, didn't, I've. Prononcez-les sous leur forme courte, telles que vous les entendez.

Les sons « th »: rhythmic /ˈɹɪð.mɪk/, rhythm /ˈɹɪð.əm/
Les sons « sh » et « zh »: borscht /bɔːʃt/, punctuation /ˌpʌŋk.t͡ʃuˈeɪ.ʃən/, revelation /ˌɹɛv.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, invention /ɪnˈvɛnʃən/, confusion /kənˈfjuːʒən/
Mots longs — placez bien l’accent: comedian /kəˈmiː.di.ən/, originate /əˈɹɪd͡ʒɪneɪt/, mistakenly /mɪˈsteɪ.kən.li/, punctuation /ˌpʌŋk.t͡ʃuˈeɪ.ʃən/, supposedly /səˈpoʊ̯.zɪd.li/

Les sons difficiles pour les francophones :

/h/ — il se souffle, il n’est pas muet: hearsay /ˈhɪəseɪ/, humour /ˈhjuːmɚ/
/tʃ/ et /dʒ/ — à ne pas adoucir en « ch » et « j »: originate /əˈɹɪd͡ʒɪneɪt/, allege /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/, nurture /ˈnɜːɹ.t͡ʃəɹ/, punctuation /ˌpʌŋk.t͡ʃuˈeɪ.ʃən/, generic /dʒɪˈnɛɹ.ɪk/
/r/ anglais — langue recourbée, sans frotter la gorge: drummer /ˈdɹʌmɚ/, snare /snɛ(ə)ɹ/, drum /ˈdɹʌm/, originate /əˈɹɪd͡ʒɪneɪt/, burlesque /bə(ɹ)ˈlɛsk/

Comment s’entraîner avec cette vidéo

Écoutez la vidéo en entier une fois sans parler et notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas.
Commencez à la vitesse 0,75×, répétez phrase par phrase, puis revenez à la vitesse normale quand cela devient facile.
Enregistrez-vous et comparez avec l’original, en faisant attention à des mots comme borscht, drummer, snare.

Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?

Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.

Technique du shadowing : lire le guide complet étape par étape →

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