It occurred to me during a conversation online the other day, that there is such a thing as visual onomatopoeia. And this makes me very excited. You see, usually words like SLAM! and SMACK! and BAM! and DANNY GLOVER! are known as onomatopoeia, or, for those of you who didn't graduate 3rd grade, words that sound the same as what they mean. That's probably not the dictionary definition (I looked, something about words formed from the sound that they make...which is basically the same thing only it doesn't give enough credit to the words), but it's what we're working with. "Is DOUCHEBAG onomatopoeia, Witz?" Whoah, ok, I here ya Reader, let's keep moving.
Visual onomatopoeia, as I am deciding it, is, therefore, when a word LOOKS like its meaning. I think this is very exciting. For example:
OGLING
is visual onomatopoeia. According to dictionary.com means "to look at amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently." We all know that it really means "to stare at ones boobs or buttocks." To ogle. Clearly, OGGLING, esp if you spell it incorrectly like I originally did, looks exactly like boobs or buttocks. Visual onomatopoeia. Incidentally, BOOBS is another one. Hehe, yeah it is.
What are some others? Hammock has the \____/ letter formation, so that's sweet. MORMAN feels very dead on, though I couldn't tell you why. SNAKES could be one. How do I know? There's no manual for this sort of thing, no wikipedia...I don't think. But I'm glad it's here now-- it makes life way more interesting and titillating (there's one).
To conclude, I would just like to say that no matter how much you enjoyed or did not enjoy this post, I bet none of you saw "visual onomatopoeia" coming. And I think that says something. After 78 posts, I can still pull something like this out for you all.
Thought of some more examples? Post them in the comments!
Ogle This,
Witz
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8 comments:
What's a Morman?
I did a graphics assignment about this one! More to do with pronounciation, I photographed people pronouncing certain words or made the pages work in a way that communicated the word, like joy is a short word with a sharp beginning and the 'Y' sound causes you to smile, and I made a page that was flutter which also incorporated the word 'flirt' in which i cut the page into strips so that it fluttered as you turned it. Glint, glisten glitter and gleam are also perfect examples which were really nicely described in a Terry Pratchet book, if things make a sound the sound would be this: Glint is a sharp deflection of light which is reflected in the sharpness of the word, glisten is moister and implies something slippery and oily because of the noise S and T make together, glitter is busier with the contrast of constonants and gleam is clean and sounds extended - does that make any sense?
One word: bed.
I really like when people are expressing their opinion and thought. So I like the way you are writing
It is useful to try everything in practice anyway and I like that here it's always possible to find something new. :)
How about "tea bagging" in the colloquial sense, which is a perfect description of the act??
google image search visual onomatopoeias. Really not amazing that you realised this.
You know? Emoticons kind of straddle the line ...
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