Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Sound and Sense, 46



We’re moving next to the homophone: a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as heir and air. So … contronyms are words that have contradictory meanings (sanctiion = approve and disapprove; homophones sound alike but to not mean the same—and often are not spelled the same, either.

choler (noun): anger
collar (noun): a part of a piece of clothing that fits around a person’s neck and is usually folded down; a band of leather, plastic, etc., worn around an animal’s neck (verb): to catch or arrest someone

So when the cops had collared him,
They saw his famous choler rise.
And soon it filled him to the brim,
From toenails to his fiery eyes.

They put a collar on him then—
To transport him to county jail,
And that where he for months has been—
Oh, you should hear him rant and rail!

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