Blowing a Raspberry

Do you realize that rain and thunder are really just the clouds blowing us all raspberries?  And why is it called “blowing a raspberry” anyway?  A raspberry?  What does that have to do with anything?

The term “raspberry” actually comes from the term “raspberry tart,” which was Cockney rhyming slang for the word “fart,” the sound that is made by blowing a raspberry with the lips.  Cockney rhyming slang was a device used by post-WWII British comedians to get risqué material past the BBC censors.  It is an attempt to replace a socially offensive word with an acceptable word or words that rhyme with the original.  Over time the replacement word becomes adopted by society and essentially becomes a synonym for the original.