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 threadMichael PryorAug 14, 2023
@Jiriki @Drew 'Big bad wolf' neatly follows the I A O rule, though!
Show threadHermit the Frog

@MichaelPryor @Drew but it doesn't follow that weird other rule! Which is the one I was thinking about when commenting half asleep 😂

The extended version of the unconscious but somehow logical order of adjectives, which makes big bad wolf an outlier even though it follows the rule op pointed out.

Something something subjective, size, color, material, origin. Pretty little green cotton French handbag
(this might be wrong but I don't have the screenshot with the lengthy explanation handy).

Aug 14, 2023 at 1:40pmWeb