Does ''bang" mean "suddenly and out of control" in the mentioned sentence?

Question

Does ''bang" mean "suddenly and out of control" in this sentence?

You have no control over it; you see the photo and, bang, the picture forms in your mind.

Answer 1

It has the meaning of suddenly, surprisingly, unexpectedly. To the extent that what you control is not likely to surprise you, there may be some implication that you are not in control of whatever is being discussed. (If what is being discussed is your own mental state, then what is implicated is a lack of conscious control.) But the primary meaning is sudden or unexpected.

But typically something described as being *out of control** is dangerous, or at least unwelcome, because it is outside its normal constraints. We would not usually say that a river flowing between its banks is out of control even though no human controls its flow, but we might well say that a river flooding beyond its banks is out of control.

Answer 2

The word bang is onomatopoeia, which is a term used to refer to words that resembles a particular sound – in this case, the sound of a gunshot or explosion. Other example of onomatopoeia include words such as whirr, buzz and moo.

In the context you gave, though, the word bang not referring to a loud physical explosion per se, but to the suddenness of an unexpected explosion. The writer is explaining how an idea comes into the mind, not gradually, but very suddenly and all at once.