BORED? Play our free word games – INTERACTIVE HANGMAN Oronyms and HomophonesOronyms (or homophones) are words which sound the same. Generally the word homophone is used to describe one of a pair or group of words that have the same sound (like prince and prints; allowed and aloud), whilst oronyms are normally strings of words (phrases) such as iced ink and I stink.Psycholinguist Steven Pinker defines oronyms in his bestselling popular linguistics book The Language Instinct:
[In speech] it is impossible to tell where one word ends and the next begins. The seamlessness of speech is... apparent in "oronyms," strings of sound that can be carved into words in two different ways:Here are some more phrases that sound the same:
Oronym (Homophone) PoetryThere is a well-known poem called Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer (I Have a Spelling Checker) that written almost entirely with homophones. It could be considered an oronym poem:
It came with my pea sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
As soon as a mist ache is maid
Eye have run this poem threw it (Sauce unknown)
An Oronym Story – Ladle Rat Rotten HutEven more impressive in length is the following oronym story. It is the tale of Little Red Riding Hood... but not the famous version; this one is constructed entirely from homophones: Ladle Rat Rotten Hut. This curious version was written in 1940 by a professor of French named H. L. Chace. He wanted to show his students that intonation is an integral part of the meaning of language. Try reading it out loud (best in the accent of Southern/Central USA)!Wants pawn term, dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage, honor itch offer lodge, dock, florist. Disk ladle gull orphan worry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut. Wan moaning, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut's murder colder inset. "Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, heresy ladle basking winsome burden barter an shirker cockles. Tick disk ladle basking tutor cordage offer groinmurder hoe lifts honor udder site offer florist. Shaker lake! Dun stopper laundry wrote! Dun stopper peck floors! Dun daily-doily inner florist, an yonder nor sorghum-stenches, dun stopper torque wet strainers!" "Hoe-cake, murder," resplendent Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, an tickle ladle basking an stuttered oft. Honor wrote tutor cordage offer groin-murder, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut mitten anomalous woof. "Wail, wail, wail!" set disk wicket woof, "Evanescent Ladle Rat Rotten Hut! Wares are putty ladle gull goring wizard ladle basking?" "Armor goring tumor groin-murder's," reprisal ladle gull. "Grammar's seeking bet. Armor ticking arson burden barter an shirker cockles." "O hoe! Heifer gnats woke," setter wicket woof, butter taught tomb shelf, "Oil tickle shirt court tutor cordage offer groin-murder. Oil ketchup wetter letter, an den - O bore!" Soda wicket woof tucker shirt court, an whinney retched a cordage offer groin-murder, picked inner windrow, an sore debtor pore oil worming worse lion inner bet. En inner flesh, disk abdominal woof lipped honor bet, paunched honor pore oil worming, an garbled erupt. Den disk ratchet ammonol pot honor groin-murder's nut cup an gnat-gun, any curdled ope inner bet. Inner ladle wile, Ladle Rat Rotten Hut a raft attar cordage, an ranker dough ball. "Comb ink, sweat hard," setter wicket woof, disgracing is verse. Ladle Rat Rotten Hut entity betrum an stud buyer groin~murder's bet. "O Grammar!" crater ladle gull historically, "Water bag icer gut! A nervous sausage bag ice!" "Battered lucky chew whiff, sweat hard," setter bloat-Thursday woof, wetter wicket small honors phase. "O Grammar, water bag noise! A nervous sore suture anomolous prognosis!" "Battered small your whiff, doling," whiskered dole woof, ants mouse worse waddling. "O Grammar, water bag mouser gut! A nervous sore suture bag mouse!" Daze worry on-forger-nut ladle gull's lest warts. Oil offer sodden, caking offer carvers an sprinkling otter bet, disk hoard hoarded woof lipped own pore Ladle Rat Rotten Hut an garbled erupt. Mural: Yonder nor sorghum stenches shut ladle gulls stopper torque wet strainers.
Oronyms and MondegreensOn a similar theme to oronyms are mondegreens. Why not visit the mondegreens page of our malapropisms section to find out more?Do you know anyone else who would enjoy this? Email this page to a friend. | |||
|
Recommended Book: |
Rhyming Cockney Slang ... |
Buy this book at Amazon |
View all in this category: Rhyming Slang Books |
Hundreds more books at: Wordplay Book Store |
|
ichthyophobia is the fear of fish Click for more phobia words |