Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Onomatopoeia

BOOM!

Gong.

Ping.

Bang!

Tinkle.

Buzz.

Clang.

Hiss.

Cacophony.

Hush.

Whisper.

Screech.

Moist.

Crackle.

Rustle.


And the near neighbor Misattribute, which doesn't SOUND like what it is, but when you read it, you tend to DO what its definition is... It's like onomatopoeia for writers and readers...


I adore these words that sound like exactly what they are. It is like super double meaning words... I wish all of the English language was so elegant. I mean don't get me wrong. I always love words.  All words.  Even silly words, like poop. But I will always adore this little trick for getting more out of a word.


Close runners up on the O-front:

Oprah: My long time fantasy about book success is for Oprah to pick me. (the other component of this is Diane Rehm--when I make it onto Diane Rehm, even if it is Susan Page interviewing me, I will know I have arrived...)

Order: And my wonky version of said word that none of you would recognize. I actually wrote a paper on this in grad school. I am THAT sure that orderly isn't the proper order.

Oblique: This is a math word that I love for other reasons (and for that reason--I admit it, I'm a geek)—sort of coming at things sideways. It's sort of how I roll, after all...

OTHER

Huge thanks to Alex the fabulous for featuring me yesterday!  I have several new followers and appreciate it so much!!!

And one week to ABNA announcements for semi-finalists... keep your parts crossed for me!

25 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Now if only I could think up a word that makes the sound of NAKED!??!

Oh Tart!! I have all my bits and pieces crossed for you for the ABNA results!!! Take care
x

Laura said...

everything crossed for you... eek!
I always loved the word sproing - is that even a word? Maybe we can get it out there :)
Lx

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You are welcome, Hart! And I can only cross so many parts...

Charmaine Clancy said...

I chose this O word too! I love using this technique but hate saying it. I always stutter this word! But now when my dogs come inside the house they have to sit on a mat so they don't run around and when they try and sneak off, I find myself calling On the mat.. opia.

Wagging Tales

Karen Baldwin said...

What a great "O" word.

Ciara said...

Do you know I've never liked a book I read from Oprah's list? Yet, I still dreamed of being on said list. :)

Patti said...

OK, so I read oblique and think about my abs...

Speaking of, I could use to do some ab work. Oblique twists in 5! :)

Laura Eno said...

I'm with Old Kitty...what does the sound of naked make? :) Great word for a writer and I'll keep my parts crossed!

Laura
A to Z of Immortals, Myths & Legends

Ella said...

I love this O word! All the zany words you shared would be great in a poem ;D

I too thought of abs, it must have something to do with the naked concept, lol

T. Powell Coltrin said...

That is a great word.

T

VR Barkowski said...

Love Onomatopoeia. Even like to make up my own. My two favorites are jagged (used as a verb) and fwapped. :)

Pursuit of a crawling baby said...

Good luck for the ABNA :-)

Donna K. Weaver said...

These are great O words. Wasn't Seuss just amazing?

Heather Savage said...

Best of luck to fellow finalists. I don't know about you but now that I've told people I'm still in it I'm worried it's snakebit. Fingers crossed to you.

Liwi said...

Ahh Onomatopoeia is one of my favorites!!! There's a comic with a guy at the doctor, Dr says 'I'm sorry sir, you have onomatopoeia.' patient: 'what is that??' Dr: 'It's exactly what it sounds like.'

JCS said...

Crossing all my parts for you! Good luck with ABNA!

CA Heaven said...

Onomatopoetica is a funny word class. And it's quite amazing that animals in cartoons say different things in different languages >:)

Cold As Heaven

Alison DeLuca said...

Best of luck for ABNA, Hart! And here's to the squish, squash, and sploosh of Onomatopeia.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Great words. Just saying onomatopoeia is fun!
My favorite O word is obfuscate. I learned it watching The X-Files.
HMG

Amber T. Smith said...

I read 'keep your pants crossed', and my first thought was that I wasn't wearing any...

Got your email... will get going next week (I have a week off work then - yay!).

Sarah Ahiers said...

oooh Oblique is a good one!

Helena said...

I got all my fingers and toes crossed for you and your ABNA success! You deserve it.

vic caswell said...

i <3 onomatopoeia, too!

Anonymous said...

I didn't do the ABNA this year. I was bounced in the first round last year. Maybe next time.

Tina said...

I write a lot of poetry, so Onomatopoeia is a device I'm quite familiar with. At one point my YellowBoy and I collected words of that nature to share. Sometimes it's hard for a math and word-nerd to find common ground with the boy who has beaten almost every video game out there. Turns out though that he's also a word nerd. People comment to me all the time about his vocabulary, which is really impressive, but even though I'm his mom, I get to say it. This is my bl...um comment...I save some of his doozier sayings. He's stopped me from posting them on fb, but he's never said my blog is off limit...hmmm...wonder if anyone would read a post of a kid saying weird stuff...
Tina @ Life is Good
Co-Host of the April A to Z Challenge
Twitter: @AprilA2Z #atozchallenge