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Fun with Homonyms....and the like

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  • Fun with Homonyms....and the like

    It seems like, with spell check now as prevalent as it is, some newspaper editors don't read copy as closely as they once did. I've seen more than a few correctly-spelled incorrect words used lately....just today there was a story about a circumspect person being "discrete" for example (I guess it is better than being amorphous!)

    So I guess you have immobile fancy writing paper, or stationary stationery....

    A carving of a female sheep made out of conifer wood, or a yew ewe....

    and away we go!



    PS does anyone know what it is called when two words are spelled the same but pronounced differently?

    There are some words which are pronounced differently when used as nouns or verbs, like "say 'no' to the misfit" or "reject the reject."

    or my favorite, a word which is pronounced differently whether it starts wtih an uppercase or lowercase letter: polish and Polish.
    "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

  • #2
    Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

    Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
    It seems like, with spell check now as prevalent as it is, some newspaper editors don't read copy as closely as they once did. I've seen more than a few correctly-spelled incorrect words used lately....just today there was a story about a circumspect person being "discrete" for example (I guess it is better than being amorphous!)

    So I guess you have immobile fancy writing paper, or stationary stationery....

    A carving of a female sheep made out of conifer wood, or a yew ewe....

    and away we go!



    PS does anyone know what it is called when two words are spelled the same but pronounced differently?

    There are some words which are pronounced differently when used as nouns or verbs, like "say 'no' to the misfit" or "reject the reject."

    or my favorite, a word which is pronounced differently whether it starts wtih an uppercase or lowercase letter: polish and Polish.
    As to the last, it doesn't have to involve caps: power mower.
    2011 Poser of the Year & Pulitzer Prize winning machine gunner.

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    • #3
      Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

      I believe words that are spelled the same but sound different are called heteronyms.
      the state of hockey is good

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      • #4
        Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

        Originally posted by state of hockey View Post
        I believe words that are spelled the same but sound different are called heteronyms.
        Nice pun!

        Would you mind posting it on the "really terrible puns" thread too? I've got a really good pun I'm holding in reserve for post # 1,000 on that thread.....
        "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


        • #5
          Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

          Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
          PS does anyone know what it is called when two words are spelled the same but pronounced differently?

          There are some words which are pronounced differently when used as nouns or verbs, like "say 'no' to the misfit" or "reject the reject."

          or my favorite, a word which is pronounced differently whether it starts wtih an uppercase or lowercase letter: polish and Polish.
          When two words are spelled the same, they are homographs. This includes the examples you gave, such as reject the verb and reject the noun. Although they are obviously related, they are not the same word. So because they are spelled the same, they are homographs. Because they are pronounced differently, they are, as state of hockey said, heteronyms. So just as every square is a rhombus but not every rhombus is a square, every set of heteronyms is a set of homographs, but not vice versa.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
            Nice pun!

            Would you mind posting it on the "really terrible puns" thread too? I've got a really good pun I'm holding in reserve for post # 1,000 on that thread.....
            I would, but I am serious. That is what they are actually called.

            A homonym is a kind of homophone, a heteronym is a kind of homograph.
            the state of hockey is good

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

              I are good at english.
              Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
              Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                Originally posted by Brenthoven View Post
                I are good at english.
                I have never seen you commit any of the various pet peeves that I have when it comes to English. Of course, most of them relate to people trying to sound artificially smart.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                  Originally posted by duper View Post
                  I have never seen you commit any of the various pet peeves that I have when it comes to English. Of course, most of them relate to people trying to sound artificially smart.
                  While I had a difficult time understanding the "rules" of English, I didn't have trouble following them. It was a matter if it "sounded" right to me. Grammar, I usually don't care for the finer points, as many have pointed out over the years, but I can speak formally, if need be.
                  Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
                  Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                    Originally posted by Brenthoven View Post
                    While I had a difficult time understanding the "rules" of English, I didn't have trouble following them. It was a matter if it "sounded" right to me. Grammar, I usually don't care for the finer points, as many have pointed out over the years, but I can speak formally, if need be.
                    My greatest pet peeve is the idiots who say things like "Would you like to blah blah blah with Joe and I?" That shyte ticks me off no end, because it is done to sound smart, and it's wrong.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                      I don't know if it fits here, but whenever some writes "should of" I want to beat them.

                      Cornell '04, Stanford '06


                      KDR

                      Rover Frenchy, Classic! Great post.
                      iwh30 I wish I could be as smart as you. I really do you are the man
                      gregg729 I just saw your sig, you do love having people revel in your "intelligence."
                      Ritt18 you are the perfect representation of your alma mater.
                      Miss Thundercat That's it, you win.
                      TBA#2 I want to kill you and dance in your blood.
                      DisplacedCornellian Hahaha. Thread over. Frenchy wins.

                      Test to see if I can add this.

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                      • #12
                        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.
                        You have my blessing.

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                        • #13
                          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.
                          Could care less
                          I borrowed him.....
                          Using "myself" inappropriately...."The people and myself think that...."
                          For all intense and purposes....
                          Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
                          Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                            Originally posted by Brenthoven View Post
                            Could care less
                            I borrowed him.....
                            Using "myself" inappropriately...."The people and myself think that...."
                            For all intense and purposes....
                            Also "for all intensive purposes..."
                            If you don't change the world today, how can it be any better tomorrow?

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                            • #15
                              Re: Fun with Homonyms....and the like

                              Originally posted by Brenthoven View Post
                              Could care less
                              I borrowed him.....
                              Using "myself" inappropriately...."The people and myself think that...."
                              For all intense and purposes....
                              or the closely related for all intensive purposes.

                              Could care less just makes me laugh.

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