Create new terms by merging old ones
I was working on a story today when a writerruption occurred: My brother sent me photos of The Cutest Kid In the World — aka my niece.… Read the full article
Wordplay
Alphabet scoop
Create acronyms that help readers retain info
First there was FUBAR: F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition. Now, thanks to the Urban Dictionary, we also have PHOBAR: PHOtoshopped Beyond All Recognition.… Read the full article
Verbify a name
‘My goal in life is to become an adjective’
I was thrilled last month when one of my clients asked me to “Wylie-ize” part of her website.… Read the full article
Neologisms: Find half-and-half words
Gain inspiration for portmanteau from WordSpy
Tracy Ousdahl and Paul Pinney have traveled the globe. But sometimes, instead of venturing out to a cool destination, they use their time off to visit their families.… Read the full article
Play twister
Four steps to twist of phrase
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
— Jack London, American author and adventurer
Some people are natural-born phrase twisters.… Read the full article
Revive a cliché
Extend the metaphor to make a worn-out phrase new again
Call it a cliché makeover.
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, breathes new life into old, worn-out phrases in his 2006 letter to shareholders.… Read the full article
Resources on playing with words
Websites, books and tools
Learn more techniques for playing with your words.
Anagrams
Andy’s anagram solver
Type in your key word or phrase, and this tool will create anagrams from them.… Read the full article
From diddleman to nominatrix
Open readers’ minds by creating your own words
The first people to “neologize publicly on purpose” were English writers Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Among other neologisms, Carroll, author of Through the Looking Glass, brought us “chortle,” a combination of “snort” and “chuckle.”
Or so says Barbara Wallraff, who should know.… Read the full article
Quotes on wordplay
What writers and others say
“The writer has to take the most used, most familiar objects — nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs — ball them together and make them bounce.”
— Maya Angelou, poet, writer and educator, quoted in Smithsonian Magazine, April 2003
“Why isn’t ‘phonetic’ spelled the way it sounds?”
— The Atomic Café
“You can taste a word.”
— Pearl Bailey, American popular singer, quoted in Newsweek
“When you write, you make a sound in the reader’s head.
… Read the full articleYour brain on wordplay
We pay attention to and remember puns, alliteration
A hand shoots up in my Make Your Copy More Creative workshop.
“But,” the communicator says, “don’t you risk confusing people with wordplay?”
Well … yes, you do.… Read the full article