ba dum tss

A form of ba-dum ching — Used to underscore or acknowledge a joke.

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Meanings

interjection
  1. alternativeAlternative form of ba-dum ching.

    9. The thought. It counts! *ba dum tss*

    2014, "Top Ten Worst Gifts", The Union (Milpitas High School, Milpitas, California), Volume 26, Issue 3, December 2014, page 5
    2 more examples

    At press time, HipCityVeg was buying burgers from McDonald's and making a “healthy” (Ba Dum Tss) profit.

    2013, "Report: HipCityVeg Admits Wrongdoing, Hopes To Reopen As 40th Street McDonald's", 34th Street (joke issue), 5 December 2013, page 19

    All in all, the column was so weak and bitter that it's probably being served at Dunkin' Donuts (ba dum tss).

    2015 February 5, Eleanor Hildebrandt, “The true scourge of Super Bowl XLIX”, in The Heights, volume 96, number 6, Boston College, page 97
Cite this entry
APA

ba dum tss. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ba%20dum%20tss

MLA

“ba dum tss.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ba%20dum%20tss. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ba dum tss,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ba%20dum%20tss.

Source: ba dum tss on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.