Michael PryorAug 14, 2023

The English language is a wonderful thing, and we know some rules without knowing we know them.

‘Have you ever heard that patter-pitter of tiny feet? Or the dong-ding of a bell? Or hop-hip music? That’s because, when you repeat a word with a different vowel, the order is always I A O. Bish bash bosh. So politicians may flip-flop, but they can never flop-flip. It’s tit-for-tat, never tat-for-tit. This is called ablaut reduplication, and if you do things any other way, they sound very, very odd indeed.’ From ‘The Elements of Eloquence’ by Mark Forsyth.

#English #language

Show threadDrewAug 14, 2023
@MichaelPryor my favorite is how adjectives have a specific order they go in. Like "big red pimple", never "red big pimple".
Show threadHermit the FrogAug 14, 2023
@Drew @MichaelPryor and the exceptions, like the big bad wolf.
Show threadHermit the Frog
@Drew @MichaelPryor funny little duck, bad little wolf, big bad wolf.
Honestly as a non-english person it seems entirely random
Aug 14, 2023 at 4:23amWeb
Show threadekesAug 14, 2023

@Jiriki @Drew @MichaelPryor

The other way around it doesn't roll off the tongue very well.

big bad wolf follows the iao scheme instead as you can see.

Show threadHermit the FrogAug 14, 2023

@ekes @Drew @MichaelPryor
yes, and it is an exception to the other order of adjectives.

Wish I could find that screenshot, it blew my mind at the time.
How there is a subconscious order to adjectives in the English language and if you put them slightly out of order you sound like a maniac😂

And the iao order interferes with it.

Show threadMichael PryorAug 14, 2023
@Jiriki @ekes @Drew
Remember that this I A O rule is for repeating a word with a different vowel
Show threadHermit the FrogAug 14, 2023
@MichaelPryor @ekes @Drew oooh that is the part I was missing (from my memory) right, right. So there *is* some sort of logic to it all.
Thanks!