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Fun with Homonyms....and the like

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  • #31
    Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

    Originally posted by Brenthoven View Post
    You'd have to have a word with at least 3 syllables, of course.

    Ok, that's your challenge. Find a three-way.
    I'd prefer we make it a group challenge...... I don't think it "has to" be 3 syllables, since Polish / polish changes by the capitalization... too bad for me that "polish" the verb and "polish" the noun don't change the accented syllable, or I'd be done....

    I suppose if I spoke with a British accent, I could get a four-way homonym with you / ewe / yew / 'ugh (Hugh with no aitch) but no...

    Ah, thanks to Alan Cooper, I found my four-way: air, e'er, heir, err, ere (so it's also a five-way...)


    For those who like obscure or esoteric words, this site can be fun: http://phrontistery.info/faq.html


    Edit: wow, the internet makes all sorts of , um, "interesting" things available...Not only is there someone who collects and publishes a list of homonyms, Jon Vahsholtz published a list of heteronyms here. He has colon, the punctuation mark; colon, the internal organ, and some obscure third definition of colon that I've never heard of before.
    Last edited by FreshFish; 04-12-2012, 09:51 PM.
    "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

    "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

    "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

    "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

      Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
      He has colon, the punctuation mark; colon, the internal organ, and some obscure third definition of colon that I've never heard of before.
      Interestingly, he DOESN'T have the organ there. He has the punctuation mark, a colonial farmer, and a unit of Costa Rican money. I call BS on the money thing, because I don't think you can count a foreign word, that would just be stupid. And yet, he missed a really obvious one. Weird.

      And the accent thing is an interesting point. Think about the fact that the A. A. Milne character Eeyore is named for the sound that donkeys make.
      Last edited by duper; 04-12-2012, 10:37 PM.

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

        Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
        I can think of several three-word homonyms (you ewe yew, there their they're, and depending upon what part of the country you are from, perhaps you wed a jovial woman, or marry merry Mary), I can't recall if I've ever seen a four-word one or not.


        I've also been in parts of the country in which you can clearly hear a pronounciation difference between "marry" and "merry" though I can't recall where.


        Nor can I think of a three-way heteronym....like "PRAH-ject" (project) the noun or "proJECT" the verb.
        Maybe the Midwest? I know I pronounce "marry" and "merry" differently.

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        • #34
          Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

          Originally posted by REDaero91 View Post
          Maybe the Midwest? I know I pronounce "marry" and "merry" differently.
          We pronounce them the same in the North Country. Of course it may have been some slight Buffalo influence slipping in as well.

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          • #35
            Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

            right
            rite
            wright
            write

            carat
            caret
            carrot
            karat

            and, of course, the winner:

            air
            e'er
            ere
            err
            heir
            are

            (yes, "are" can be pronounced "air" when it means an area of 100 square meters)
            If you don't change the world today, how can it be any better tomorrow?

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

              I saw an article about an unpopular law, and how people were violating a statue.....not sure if that was "just" a typo or an instance of a person not knowing the correct term and just tossing in something that sounded close.
              "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

              "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

              "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

              "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
                I saw an article about an unpopular law, and how people were violating a statue.....not sure if that was "just" a typo or an instance of a person not knowing the correct term and just tossing in something that sounded close.
                It's a typo... should be statute.

                However, after a few days of not making much progress, I had a weak week.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                  I guess a former hockey great became a coach for a crew team, except they apparently had some trouble understanding his accent. One day they brought both long wooden blades and lode-bearing rock to practice. When the coach wondered why, his assistant told him, "that's because they weren't sure whether you said 'ore' or 'oar', Orr."
                  "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                  "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                  "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                  "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                    This question may have already been posted on the "eternal questions" thread....

                    Why do we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway?
                    "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                    "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                    "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                    "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                      Originally posted by French Rage View Post
                      I don't know if it fits here, but whenever some writes "should of" I want to beat them.
                      I am wanting to understand what your problem is.
                      bigmrg74: "You can't drink the day away if you don't start early!"
                      SledDog: "UncleRay seems to be the most sensible one here tonight."
                      All great men are dead and I'm not feeling well.
                      A Margarita! in every hand and another Margarita! in the other hand!

                      And stay off the lawn!

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                        Originally posted by UncleRay View Post
                        I am wanting to understand what your problem is.
                        What they mean is "should have" and they write "should of" because they have only heard it spoken and don't understand the meaning of what they are now writing. Same with "could of" instead of "could have."

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                          another example of why the game "telephone" can be so much fun.....


                          Apparently there was a person who went to Sunday services every week as a child from well before he could read. There is a ritual prayer that includes a line that "Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate" which was mumbled / muttered quickly as everyone said it by rote. Our friend, who heard something like "punch us pilot" had to try to make sense out of these syllables that sounded like nonsense, in the context of suffering, and so the story goes he thought the words were "Jesus suffered under a bunch of spiders" until he was old enough to know how to read and see the actual words for himself.

                          Not sure if it is true or apocryphal....


                          Good thing Mel Gibson never heard that story, I suppose....
                          "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                          "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                          "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                          "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                            Originally posted by goldy_331 View Post
                            What they mean is "should have" and they write "should of" because they have only heard it spoken and don't understand the meaning of what they are now writing. Same with "could of" instead of "could have."
                            Sorry, Goldy, that is one of my enormous pet peeves, too. I was just trying to highlight the curious mid-Westernism of "to be ____ing." In my post I said "I am wanting to" instead of "I want to." I suppose the English is correct, I've just always found it odd.
                            bigmrg74: "You can't drink the day away if you don't start early!"
                            SledDog: "UncleRay seems to be the most sensible one here tonight."
                            All great men are dead and I'm not feeling well.
                            A Margarita! in every hand and another Margarita! in the other hand!

                            And stay off the lawn!

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                              Originally posted by UncleRay View Post
                              Sorry, Goldy, that is one of my enormous pet peeves, too. I was just trying to highlight the curious mid-Westernism of "to be ____ing." In my post I said "I am wanting to" instead of "I want to." I suppose the English is correct, I've just always found it odd.
                              Yeah, I overlooked the odd phraseology you used and didn't realize you were peeved about it as well. Ever been to Texas? Down there you might could hear some different expressions too.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                                My sister returned to Chicago after about 10 years living in Indiana having lost the ability to use the infinitive "to be."

                                ex. The baby's diaper needs changed. The leftovers need reheated.

                                Thank Christ she got over that stupidity!

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