It’s Only Words!

“She had always wanted words, she loved them;
grew up on them.
Words gave her clarity, brought reason, shape.”
Michael Ondaatje 1943 –
from The English Patient.

I am sure by now, you know that I am a logophile – a lover of words. From a very young age, I have been fascinated by words. I just love words. I like the sound of them, I like to see them written down, I like to see them used by others in different ways, and I just like playing with them.

Today, as the Rain Drips, from somewhere in the back of this elderly brain, came the word Onomatopoeia. I am sure you know what it means but my dictionary defines it as – “The formation of words whose sound is imitative of the sound of the noise or action designated, such as hiss.” My late husband’s favourite was “The water lapped at the lake”

So after playing around for a time I came up with this –

Onomatopoeia

Actors mumble
Birds flutter
Cats purr
Dogs bark
Eagles swoosh
Friends chatter
Guns boom
Harnesses jangle
Insensitives belch
Jellies squish
Kites swoosh
Lovers whisper
Mothers murmur
Noses sniff
Orchestras zing
Pigs snort
Rain drips
Snakes hiss
Trains rumble
Victors roar
Xylophones twang
Zealots blare.

Sorry, I couldn’t come up with words for Q, or U. Perhaps you can. And I am sure you can come up with many others. But it was an interesting way to spend an hour today.

“Better than a thousand hollow words
is one word that brings peace. ”
Buddha