different between thump vs whump

English

Etymology

Probably imitative.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

thump (plural thumps)

1. A blow that produces a muffled sound.
   • December 24, 1709, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym for Richard Steele or (in some later numbers of the journal) Joseph Addison), The Tatler No. 111

     The watchman gave so very great a thump at my door last night, that I awakened at the knock.

2. The sound of such a blow; a thud.
3. (dated, colloquial, euphemistic) Used to replace the vulgar or blasphemous element in "what the hell" and similar phrases.

   Where the thump have you been?!

Translations

Verb

thump (third-person singular simple present thumps, present participle thumping, simple past and past participle thumped)

1. (transitive) To hit (someone or something) as if to make a thump.
2. (transitive) To cause to make a thumping sound.

   The cat thumped its tail in irritation.

3. (intransitive) To thud or pound.
4. (intransitive) To throb with a muffled rhythmic sound.

Translations

English

Etymology

Imitative.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

whump (plural whumps)

1. (informal) A thumping sound.
2. (fandom slang) A genre of fan fiction in which a character endures injury, torture, or other forms of physical and mental suffering.
   • 2014, Joseph Brennan, "'Fandom is full of pearl clutching old ladies': Nonnies in the online slash closet", International Journal of Cultural Studies, Volume 17, Number 4 (2014), page 365:

     By embracing dark genres of slash such as ‘squick’ and ‘whump’, the art of mythagowood purposely skirts parameters of taste and acceptability.

   • 2018, Naja Later, "Quality Television (TV) Eats Itself: The TV-Auteur and the Promoted Fanboy", Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Volume 35, Number 6 (2018), page 540:

     Narrative devices shared by Hannibal and fanfiction include “whump,” the vivid abuse and torture of a character, a popular convention across certain types of fanfiction: Graham is knocked out, shot, stabbed, gutted, sawed open, and subjected to induced seizures.

   • 2019, Adrienne E. Raw, "Normalizing Disability: Tagging and Disability Identity Construction through Marvel Cinematic Universe Fanfiction", Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, Volume 8, Number 2, April 2019, pages 202-203:

     However, further research with a larger sample and encompassing more fandoms would be necessary to confirm this potential explanation of this trend and to explore the impact of other factors, such as assigning characters a physical and/or mental disability or illness for the purpose of whump or hurt/comfort stories.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:whump.

Verb

whump (third-person singular simple present whumps, present participle whumping, simple past and past participle whumped)

1. (informal, transitive) To strike something with a whump.