Etymology: From the Saturday Night Live character Debbie Downer, played by Rachel
Dratch
Function: Noun
1. a: a person who says something terribly depressing (a downer), typically only tangentially related to the present circumstance or topic of conversation, and thereby destroys the positive atmosphere. b: a statement that is charactaristic of Debbie Downer
Usage note: In the skit, following each downer Debbie voices, a trombone plays a "wah waaah" (
sad trombone) sound effect and the camera zooms in on
Debbie Downer's face, which is twisted in comic despair.
Debbie Downer: Hey, does anyone have a banana?
Friend #1: What?
Debbie Downer: Well, if I don't get enough potassium every day, I awaken in the middle of the night by crippling leg cramps.
(higher-pitched wah
wahhhhhhh;
zoom in)
(everyone looks pissed off)
Debbie Downer: By the way, it's official -- they've located my birth mother. Deceased.
(deeper wah wahhhhhhhh;
zoom in on a particularly painful facial expression)