Hi all, I am aware of the famous Splosh magazine but did Bill actually coin the term splosh? After an extensive two-minute long search, I couldn't find anything on the etymology of the word. Any ideas?
I think this was entirely Bill's creation and he was the first person to coin that term for this culture when he started his magazine in 1989. Others have said that Bill created this term by adapting the word "Splurge" which was first used in the 1976 movie "Bugsy Malone" which invented the pie throwing device known as the "Splurge gun". Bill could not use the term "Splurge" for his magazine because that was copyrighted by the owners of the 1976 film, so he used the terms "Splosh" and "Sploshing" instead. This was a uniquely British term, because in the USA at around the same time in 1991 Rob Blaine called his video company "Messy Fun" and I called my video company "Wamtec" (Wet and Messy), Rob and I only used the term "Wet and Messy" and WAM because Splosh or Sploshing was a trademark that Bill identified with.
But the quick answer is....the term Splosh was a modified version of the original term "Splurge" used in the 1976 movie "Bugsy Malone".
wamtec said: I think this was entirely Bill's creation and he was the first person to coin that term for this culture when he started his magazine in 1989. Others have said that Bill created this term by adapting the word "Splurge" which was first used in the 1976 movie "Bugsy Malone" which invented the pie throwing device known as the "Splurge gun". Bill could not use the term "Splurge" for his magazine because that was copyrighted by the owners of the 1976 film, so he used the terms "Splosh" and "Sploshing" instead. This was a uniquely British term, because in the USA at around the same time in 1991 Rob Blaine called his video company "Messy Fun" and I called my video company "Wamtec" (Wet and Messy), Rob and I only used the term "Wet and Messy" and WAM because Splosh or Sploshing was a trademark that Bill identified with.
But the quick answer is....the term Splosh was a modified version of the original term "Splurge" used in the 1976 movie "Bugsy Malone".
If you want to know more about the term "Splosh." Mike Nomic would be the man to enlighten you. He attended the early Tenby events, so should be able to regal some of the stories that helped develop the phrase.
I seem to remember reading some interview with Bill...Maybe FHM or Forum...where he discussed naming the mag and said something like "splash was too wet, splat too messy...so splosh it was."