Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia
Say what? When I was in school and the teacher first asked about this strange word, everyone just sat there with this bewildered look on their faces. Turns out that this is the term used to refer to a wonderful groups of descriptive words that sound like you say them. What? LOL Need examples? Me too!
Beep, Hiccup, Moo, Bang, Roar (lion), Woof (dog), Purr (cat) and the list goes on.
I still love ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ‘ from Mary Poppins. Per Wikipedia – According to the film, it is defined as “something to say when you have nothing to say”.
There are a number of games you can play to teach language. Here are just a few examples:
- Start with a set of letters and see how many words you can make from them in 2 minutes.
- Take a group of scrambled letters and unscramble them to make the correctly spelled word.
- Have a contest to see who can be the first spot the spelling error in a word.
- Provide a group of words and make a sentence with them.
Jeri from What Do I Know? is our resident English guru. Perhaps she can enlighten us on more weird language stuff.
See… English can be fun! 🙂
How about you? What uncommon words can you think of? What kinds of word games do you play with your grandchildren?
Filed in: education
I have never actually seen Mary Poppins. But the song supercalifragilisticexpealidocious is such a part of our culture it is impossible to not know it even without seeing the film.
I like the jumbled letter game. It is a great way to test your brain power even as an adult.
Yeah, I like that game too!
I loved Mary Poppins and for years would go around singing the song. I have been getting emails where the words are spelled wrong of course to test if you can read them. this one I thought was interesting.
Test for the week, and the week is almost over.
1- Find the C below…do not use any cursor help.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
2- If you already found the C, now find the 6 below.
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
69999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
3 – Now find the N below. It's a little more difficult.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
This is NOT a joke. If you were able to pass these three tests, you can cancel your annual visit to your neurologist. Your brain is great and you're far from having a close relationship with Mr Alzheimer.
I'm only sending this to my 'old' friends.
Eonvrye whocan raed this rsaie your hnad.
To my 'selected' strange-minded friends:
If you can read the following paragraph, forward it on to your friends and the person that sent it to you with 'yes' in the subject line… Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!
If you can raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid too
Can you raed this? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
Onomatopoeia has always been one of my favorite words. Don't ask me why. I think it's the rhythm. Onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia, onomatopoeia. When I was a kid my friends and I would chant it and then break up laughing.
My favorite word is oolitic. It's really fun to say over and over. I learned it in a geology lab. Limestone is an ooltic rock (full of tiny holes). Here's a link to a YouTube video on sound words that I used to use in the classroom: http://youtu.be/q-BVwwKTjlI. One of my favorite language games would be mad-libs. It's a great way to teach the parts of speech.