When you see/hear the word WHISTLE, what descriptive first springs to mind?

“Shrill.”

I think of a silver-toned whistle blown by a police officer directing traffic or a gym teacher putting a class through its paces.

a whistle, obviously.

A whistle. Lol.

I picture a train whistle with smoke or steam coming out.

German dictionary, Whistle: a whistle, obviously…....fascinating stuff.
Maybe it’s just whistling dixie.
@Jeruba & yes, you @Trillian Yay, you gave it a chance as asked & did very well, says the patronising questioner.

A train whistle – not a visual, just the sound.

Folsom Prison Blues springs to mind and I think of Johnny Cash sitting in the Iron Bar Motel listening to that lonesome train whistle.

The wind.

Sweet, clear.

My Little Orphan Annie dog whistle. I sent for it to the radio show that broadcasted her daily story line. I was very disappointed. It was a brass whistle that you blew and pushed the stem in to change the pitch. I never found a dog that responded to it. It went very high until I couldn’t hear it at all. What a gyp. Don’t waste your allowance.

The first thought? It is of my old friend “Whistle”. He used to visit while I was in the bathtub as a very young child. Conversations were held between us, he in a whistling format and me speaking English. Whistle’s tone and vocal structure made perfect sense.

Years later, I discovered that Whistle was my brother. He would quietly slip into the bathroom and hide in the toilet stall out of view of the tub. While I know in my head that Whistle wasn’t a real entity, in my heart, he was. In a way, he probably still is.

@Pied_Pfeffer I love that story. What an imaginative fellow your brother must be! And you, too, if you could interpret what you thought the whistles meant,

First I thought of Lauren Bacall’s famous line, “You know how to whistle don’t you Steve? Just put your lips together and blow.”

Then I thought about the candy whistles called Toot Sweets from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Then I thought about my Dad’s collection of whistles—tin whistles, wooden train whistles, bird whistles etc.

A shiny whistle like this.

Little hard clear candy shaped like a whistle is cherry flavor.

The cardinal as a harbinger of spring. LIsten.

“Purse.” What you do to your lips to whistle. I thought of whistling tunes in a happy-go-lucky way. I’m trying to teach my granddaughter to whistle over Skype. Cute, cute, cute.

A safety device for children on camping trips.

First, somebody idly whistling a tune.

Then I thought of a metal whistle, the kind that gym teachers use.

A dog. People whistle their dogs.

interesting euphemism

First I think of an actual wistle
Then I think of the sound of someone whistling
Then think of this

My dad. He whistled constantly when I was in high school. (Drove me crazy!) He’s stopped doing it as much now that he’s older.

Also, the seven dwarfs.

Steam engine train. Hey, is that Uncle Joe, moving kinda slow at the Junction?

Petticoat…Junction. Chk-a-chk-a-chk-a-chk-a-chk-a-chk-a-chk-a-chk-a WOOOWOOOOOOOO!

@Trillian LOL

And then there’s the whistle you need to wet. (whet?) Make mine a G&T. Light on the ice.

(“Whet” means to sharpen or hone. The idiom is “wet your whistle.”)

And sometimes when I think “whistle” I think about this one:

How can you get to sleep when the whistle don’t moan?

R.I.P. Levon. You did good. You made ours, at least my life, I am certain about that at least, better, for your music.

O.K. so I shamelessly used this question to get in tribute and R.I.P. in for Levon Helm, but the song really is one of my favorite and “go to” whistle thoughts, when I think whistles.

A bloody annoying sound lol.

A referee blowing a whistle! Lol

A steam train going across America, with no trace of man (apart from the tracks obviously!), vast plains, prairies, tumbleweed . . .
I am aware that a) I have never been to prairies, b) seen tumbleweed a-tumblin’, c) read too much for my own good, but that what I picture!
It is aways lonely and with ‘big skies’ and gives me goose-bumps.

Cheers peeps (see what I did there) good stuff….....mostly.

@Sunny2 and @gailcalled Wet your whistle, whet your appetite!

@SomeoneElse I have a whole CD that is nothing but train sounds. Whistles and clickety clacking down the tracks. It’s really soothing and nice to go to sleep by.

The one I have is called Sleep on a Train

Lucky me. The local Amtrak freight trains pass through our village 14 times every 24 hours. Being four miles away as the crow flies, I can hear the whistle and admire the Doppler effect.

I hear those seven cheeky dwarves & look, Snow White as I live & breathe….....

Lips in whistle form (Doc of the Seven Dwarfs).

I immediately thought about all the songs I whistle along to.

Jiminy Cricket

@gailcalled & @Trillian So you sharpen your appetite and wet down your dry throat. Makes sense. Thanks.