July 24, 2004, 18:59
KallehB[l]ooming, buzzing confusion...which is it?
Recently at a conference there was a debate about the phrase "blooming, buzzing confusion" or is it "booming, buzzing confusion?"
I thought this would be easy; check Google. Well, I should have known. Of course, they are both cited. The phrase was evidently used by William James, over a century ago, writing about the minds of babies. Yet, some
sites quote James as writing "blooming," while
others quote him as writing "booming."
Does anyone know for sure?