Just ♥ Words

January 13, 2009

English—what a great language to have fun with!  Below are several homophones, words that sound alike but have different meanings and often spellings (a few liberties taken, I know).  Thanks for this one to my dear friend Gordon Higgins.

Don’t You Just ♥ Words?

gnu | knew | new | nu

Trapped in existential despair, the
new gnu knew he knew nada about nu.

Translation: The young wildebeest realized he had no understanding of the Greek letter N.

November 17, 2008

English—what a great language to have fun with! Below are homophones, words that sound alike but have different meanings.  (I’ve taken a few liberties here.)  My thanks to Gordon Higgins.  He’s too, too clever.

Don’t You Just ♥ Words?

She wore two too many tutus to dance.

two  |  too |  tutu  |  to

It's what I do for a living. Too, too sad. Anyway, hope you’ll join in the fun. These are mine. Can you find others . . . or come up with your own.  It’s good exercise for the brain—honest.

October 4, 2008

Slough—a great word, and one that’s kept me running to the dictionary over the years. The problem is, it has 4 different pronunciations . . . along with 6 different meanings, and I can never keep them straight.  Slough is the perfect example of a heteronym.

Don’t You Just ♥ Words?

Slough — when it sounds like . . .

slow,
is a morass or swamp or . . .
despair (as in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress)

slew,
is a sluice or drainage ditch

Sl-how . . . (or slouch, minus ch)
is a town near Liverpool, England

sluff,
is a skin (as in snake)
and a verb: to discard, throw off

—Okay, see how quickly
you can get through this—

He decided, that poor snake, in a slough of despond to slough off his slough in the slough near the slough outside Slough.

Here’s what it sounds like…

He decided, that poor snake, in a slow of despond to sluff off his sluff in the slew near the slow outside Sl-how

Well...it's how I spend my days. How do you spend yours? Got any cool words? Please join in the fun by leaving us a comment.

September 15, 2008

English—what a great language to have fun with! Below are homophones, words that sound alike but have different meanings. (And, yes, I’ve taken a few liberties.)

Don’t You Just ♥ Words? 

want  |   wantin’   |  wanton  |  wont  |  wonton

My wont isn’t wantin’ to be wanton —
I just want a wonton.  Want one?

Translation:
I’m not usually fresh; I’m just reaching over you for a fried wonton.

These are mine.  See if you can find others . . . or come up with your own. This is good exercise for the brain—so feel free to play along!