Since the dawn of time human beings have been belittling each others’ feelings. Maybe it’s your ex-best friend or your parents, or your grandpa telling you for the 100th time that “back in the day” he had it so much worse than you and you have no right to complain about any of your puny little problems (okay maybe that one was a little personal). Either way, we’ve been womp womp-ing since before the term even existed, but lately it’s taken on a whole new life in gen-z humor.
The phrase “womp womp” has actually been around since the early 1900’s, and throughout time has been associated with things like the “sad trombone noise” or old game show failure sounds. Recently, it’s been used by younger generations as a slang expression to sarcastically mock or convey a lack of sympathy toward someone else’s misfortune, or to express a general sense of disappointment toward oneself or others in a humorous way. You may find yourself saying “My bank account is empty again? Womp womp.” or “Oh wow you only got a A- in that class? Womp womp.”
For the 77th Loco Mag issue, we welcome any takes on this term. Maybe you’d like to use this opportunity to explain why influencers complaining about out-of-stock Stanley cups is absurdly stupid. Maybe you’d prefer a photo essay about all the places you’ve been sad at, or one about why belittling mental health struggles is wrong. Maybe you even want to go way out and explain why the Wilhelm scream is your favorite sound effect of all time. Feel free to give us your most out-there article topics, humorous or not.
Struggling to find inspiration? Here are some keywords to guide your ideas: disappointing, lack of sympathy, sports, unfortunate, game shows, grief, onomatopoeias, sarcasm, cartooms, video games, star wars womprats, grades, gen z, humor, the price is right, loss, failures, miscommunications, coping mechanisms, comfort phrases, gloomy, evolutions, language, slang terms, repetition, sound effects, double, sad trombone, debbie downer, humor, sadness, emo.
Our sections include Travel, Lifestyle, AV Room (Audio/Photo/Video), Entertainment, Mood, and Features. Regular articles usually run upwards of 500 words. Features typically run around 1,500 words. Have more than that? Cool! If not, no worries. We’re an electronic publication so space is unlimited. We’ll accept anything from a 250-word photo spread to a 500-word interview to an hour-long podcast to a 2-minute video. Be creative, and tell your truth.
Submit your work by Sunday, April 21st at 11:59 pm. You can submit by clicking the “submissions” tab right below the featured slider on our homepage.
Questions? Send them over to editor@locomag.com or DM us on Instagram @Locomag. To stay in the know for all things Loco Mag, be sure to follow us on social media. We look forward to receiving your submissions!
