Dear Friends:
Wordplay (e.g., using the language to provoke thought) is a recreational sport that builds a great deal of mind power. Some types of expressions which truly employ wordplay are oxymoron (which we played with yesterday), paradoxes (where two thoughts expressed within a sentence are self-negating), bizarre metaphors (exaggerated comparisons -- which tend to be humorous or particularly memorable) and alliterations (where the first consonant sounds of of several words in a row are the same for enhanced emphasis). Some examples of these last three types of wordplay follow.
Your mission (should you choose to accept it), is to think of at least three additional examples of your own to add to my little collection in each category. This is a wonderful distraction when you are waiting in the dentist's office, being audited by the IRS, or watching your sister-in-law's slide show of her family's trip to a water park.
PARADOXES
1. I am a pathological liar -- if you can believe that.
2. I must have told you five million times not to exaggerate.
3. You are every woman in the world to me. (with apologies to the 70's group, Air Supply)
4. We worked 25 hours per day to get the budget prepared.5. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
BIZARRE METAPHORS
1. He ran like a bat out of hell.
2. The State's Attorney had all the morality of a frequently-relocated priest.
3. She was every bit as pure as the yellow snow.
4. Dad had a smile which could curdle milk.
5. Cousin Phil was an undertaker who made a living while everyone else died.
ALLITERATIONS
1. Pusillanimous peons for peace.
2. Weary and wasted wanderers.
3. Fabrications about his fast and furious fencing with foes.
4. Whispering words of warmth.
5. Methods to mitigate madness.
Have fun with these. By the way, if you come up with some truly great ones, please post them as comments to this blog. I'll give you credit and recognition if we use them in the future.
Faithfully,
Douglas Castle
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