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In your area/country, did you have a word or phrase to describe the static white noise on a television set not tuned to a channel? (upload.wikimedia.org)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

104 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Bonus points if there's a known onomatopoeia to describe the sound.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Back in the days when we all had antennas and cable hadn't been born yet, the static stations were a great thing to watch if there might be a tornado in your area. Apparently if one formed, it would significantly change the look of the snow on the TV and give you a warning to quickly head to the basement. I never actually saw it happen, but there were a couple times we had local warnings and my parents plopped me down to keep an eye on the TV.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Never heard about this. Interesting tid bit.

I remember getting our first tv about 1982 I think.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I actually started questioning whether this was something my parent's told me to keep me busy, but turns out it's a real thing.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

That is an interesting source. Thanks for the link!