Friday, July 22, 2016

Sound and Sense, 48



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.

cinque (noun): the 5 at dice, cards, etc.
sink (noun): a basin or receptacle (kitchen sink) (verb): to submerge, go below
sync (verb): to synchronize (noun) harmony or harmonious relationship

He drew the cinque—that lousy deck!
And felt his hopes for victory sink.
So out of sync he felt—a wreck.
He wished that he could simply shrink

And disappear. Or maybe sync
His hopes and his reality.
“This can’t be very  hard, I think,”
He said. But then he drew a three!

He then cashed in his single chip—
And took a long and bitter drink.
He took a little bathroom trip,
And wept his heart out in the sink.

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