deeply satisfying whoing-bang slam of a screen door

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tesoke

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Hi, I cannot understand the meaning of the red parts of the following sentence from “I’m a stranger here myself” by Bill Bryson. Would you please explain it to me? Thanks a lot.


As well, there has been the constant, unexpected joy of reencountering all those things I grew up with but had largely forgotten: baseball on the radio, the deeply satisfying whoing-bang slam of a screen door in summer, insects that glow, sudden run-for-your-life thunderstorms, really big snowfalls, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, the smell of a skunk from just the distance that you have to sniff the air quizzically and say: "Is that a skunk?", Jell-O with stuff in it, the pleasingly comical sight of oneself in shorts. All that counts for a lot, in a strange way. So, on balance, I was wrong. You can go home again. Just bring extra money for road maps and remember to ask for spackle.
 

emsr2d2

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Do you know about onomatopoeia? "Whoing-bang" is an example of it. The writer thinks that is what the noise of a screen door slamming sounds like.
 

Raymott

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Jell-O is American for 'jelly'. The items in jars labelled 'jelly' is American jam.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=jelly&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=rvYpVYW0H6avmAXxlIHoDw&ved=0CCIQsAQ
 

tesoke

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Thank you all, but I do not know why the author think that the voice of a slammed door is joying?!
 

Barb_D

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As an adult, you walk out the door, close it behind you, turn and lock it, and walk away.

As a care-free kid, you run out of the house and just let the screen door slam closed behind you. It's nostalgia.
 

MikeNewYork

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In AmE, Jello has nothing to do with jelly or jam. We have all three.
 

SoothingDave

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Jello is a brand name which is used generically for the fruit-flavored gelatin dessert.
Jam is a sweet spread made with fruit, to put on your toast or other bread product.
Jelly is the same as jam, but made with fruit juice rather than fruit itself.
 

emsr2d2

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In BrE, "jelly" is the fruit-flavoured gelatine dessert. It's eaten on its own or as part of a trifle or as part of "jelly and ice cream", a kids' favourite. "Jell-o" is not used in BrE. Most of us know it either as the brand name of a jelly in America or as the AmE generic term for the substance.

"Jam" is fruit boiled up with sugar and pectin. It's then used in sandwiches, on toast, as a layer in a cake, spread on scones in the famous English cream tea, or stirred into rice pudding.
 
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