Meaning of Noise

The concept of noise comes from the Portuguese word barulho. The term alludes to the confusion, mess, mess or mess that is usually generated when different elements are mixed.

For example: “Last night we left the party early because there was a lot of noise”, “The Brazilian striker found the ball in the middle of the noise and managed to score the only goal of the game”, “I like places where there is no noise and I can be quiet ”.

Many times the idea of hubbub is used with reference to the noise that is generated in a place where there are many people talking. It is also said noise to the very loud sound of a stereo or some kind of machine in operation: “With the noise in this bar I can’t even hear you”, “What a noise! Can’t you turn off the music for a bit? ” , “This air conditioner makes a lot of noise.

In other contexts, hubbub refers to a confusing situation, in which it is difficult to think or act with clarity or precision. Suppose that, in a soccer game, in the same play the ball bounces three times against the goal posts and four players fall in the area. In this context, athletes are confused and are not clear where the ball is. Suddenly, in the midst of the hubbub, a footballer manages to dominate the ball and kicks the goal, managing to score a goal. It could be said that this player, either by ability, by intuition or by chance, managed to locate the ball in the hubbub and took advantage of that situation.

This term of noise is also used to describe the hubbub and screaming typical of a group of children and adolescents that can be seen in schools, especially when they go out for recess, during a free hour or when the shift ends and they can return home. In this case it is not a negative thing, but the noise they produce is no less confusing than that of an emergency situation, and parents, with much less energy than they, must fight to find their children and get them to leave their homes. conversations for later, as time is short for adults.

Another example of noise caused by the little ones occurs in the neighborhoods, when they go out to play with their friends, unconcerned about the effect that the decibels of their screams can cause on the elderly or on neighbors who try to take a nap.. Once again, this hubbub is not negative, but occurs as a result of the volume of vitality that we have during childhood; in fact, it very often puts a smile on the faces of adults who, on the other hand, yearn for calm.

Returning to the etymology of the term barullo, in the Portuguese language it was an apheresis of an older word, embrulho (“entanglement or wrapped package”), which in turn came from the Latin word involucrum (which can be translated as “wrapping”). The concept of apheresis is defined as the cancellation of one or more sounds at the beginning of a word, which can occur as part of its evolution, something very common when moving from one language to another.

With respect to the Latin word involucrum, it is related to volvere, a verb whose translation is “to roll, to turn, to wrap or to turn”, which in turn came to our language through different words, such as “to return, volume, voluble, wrap, pomace, stir, rebujar and rebujo ». The list goes on, and the ramifications are many, although they always make it clear that the origin of the noise already referred to something tangled, crooked or difficult to understand.

Noise