posted
When I was in 2nd grade our teacher gave us an assignment in a lesson about homonyms. We were supposed to think of two words that sound the same but mean different things. Then we were supposed to take a piece of paper, divide it in half, write the two words, one on the bottom of each half, and illustrate it in the remaining space. For instance, you might draw an umbrella and write "rain" under it, and on the other half draw a crown and write "reign". (Or a river and write "bank", and a teller's window and write "bank").
Anyway, this assignment has stuck with me ever since. Whenever I hear homonyms, I mentally divide a piece of paper and illustrate the two words side by side. I never really noticed this or when I did, I didn't really think it was strange, but this just happened a couple of days ago and it surprised me to think that this memory had shaped my thinking in this way for so long.
Incidentally, the thing that triggered this thought was the discovery of a new (to me) homonym. I walked into the tail end of a conversation between co-workers as one was saying, "and then she asked who we discussed." Being the smart-ass I am, I jumped in with "Well, sometimes you disgust me." (yeah, ha ha ) But then I spent the next 15 minutes or so illustrating this discovery in my head. I wish I had thought of that homonym back in second grade. I bet I would have really impressed Mrs. Bullington.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
OK, now I'm confused. In trying to find the right word for another thread I went to wikipedia and looked up homonym to discover that it means a word that has the same pronounciation and spelling, but a different meaning. And that a homophone is a word with the same pronounciation, but different spelling.
I'm not trying to rag on you here, I have always thought that homonym means what it means in the way you used it, and have used it all my life that way, only to discover today that I may have been wrong.
Sorry for the slight derail, good childhood memory. When I was in kindergarden we wrote our prayers on a small sheets of paper and put them in helium filled balloons (well, we put the paper in first, then the helium) and sent them up to God. Now whenever I think about praying I'm worried that some birds might get hurt in the process.
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posted
vonk - I believe that reign/rain is an example of a homophone - sounds the same, written differently. FWIW.
Posts: 2762 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
PS. Reign and Rain = Homophone. Good education. Discussed and Disgust = Pun. Dangerous addiction.
I have a similar story in regards to music and counting time. When bored I will find myself counting fours (1,2,3,4,2,2,3,4,3,2,3,4etx) to the muzak playing over an intercom.
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posted
I think homonym/homophone is a case of common usage versus technical usage. I'm positive I was taught "homonym" with the meaning "sounds the same" regardless of whether they were spelled alike or differently. Dictionary.com actually agrees with this, though they emphasize same spelling with "often" or "usually" or something. Homophone is probably technically correct. I don't know how it's taught to little kids these days.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:Originally posted by vonk: OK, now I'm confused. In trying to find the right word for another thread I went to wikipedia and looked up homonym to discover that it means a word that has the same pronounciation and spelling, but a different meaning. And that a homophone is a word with the same pronounciation, but different spelling.
I'm not trying to rag on you here, I have always thought that homonym means what it means in the way you used it, and have used it all my life that way, only to discover today that I may have been wrong.
I disagree. I think you were right all along, and that you still are. And I still use homonym that way. Homophone just sounds wrong. Like some pedant decided homonym wasn't 100% correct and had to come up with an unnecessary clarification.
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It's like new math. "If you're under 32 or went to a private school, you say 'homophone'. If you're over 32 or went to a public school, you say 'homonym'."
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posted
As Merriam-Webster confirms, homonym can be used both to mean homophone (same pronunciation, not necessarily same spelling) and homograph (same spelling, not necessarily same pronunciation).
Which is why I avoid the word -- it's unclear.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Not a childhood influence exactly, but when I was young and my parents went through the drive-thru at a fast food place, they would order, say, "two large fries." I thought that meant that there would be two really long fries in the carton.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
I had a college professor that did that for me. I know it didn't hape my whole life but it has almost constantly been with me for the last decade.
It was his break down of Plato's or Socrates - "Allegory of the Cave" I have used the underlying theme in a number of scripts and in a couple of films.
We also analyzed pink floyd's "The Wall" - At the time I had no idea that something people watched all messed up had so many religious and sociohistorical referenes in it. I have taken most of that class and put it into a film I did!
It wierd how techers and people stick with us wether we want them to or not?
Posts: 871 | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
I had a similar experience with "The Cave" too. We studied it in my very first real college class (Text and Traditions 1) where my group of freshmen had been assigned one of the college's founders, a philosophy professor who thought he WAS Plato. His drawing and explanation of the Cave stuck with me so strongly that even when sitting through lectures on the topic by two other philosophy professors, my own illustration and method of discussing it is almost a mirror of what he told me.
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Maybe it is just one of those wierd things, I guess Socrates and Plato just have that effect on people. Glad to hear I'm not the only one though.
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quote:It was his break down of Plato's or Socrates - "Allegory of the Cave" I have used the underlying theme in a number of scripts and in a couple of films.
My roomate described the Allegory of the Cave to me to help me understand a reference in a book I was reading- which then made everything make a whole lot of sense. I think it is quite a vivid concept.
Things I remember being taught.
1. How to spell "piece". My mother told me once (I remember it was in her old bedroom) that a teacher of hers once told her to spell "piece" by thinking "piece of pie" and that she never forgot it. I guess that stuck with me- because I still think "piece of pie" when I write "piece".
2. My mother again. When setting the table the "knife goes on the right". I now compliment this piece of wisdom by thinking "fork on the left."
3. Here's a classic bit of being taught completely wrong and remembering it for always: In year three our teacher told us light from the sun took eight seconds to reach the earth. I have a distinct memory of counting to eight. Of course, years later I answer the question "how long does light take..." with eight seconds only to find that my marvellous memory of counting those eight seconds was wrong. It takes eight minutes, not eight seconds.
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I still see letters and numbers as having colors: A is red, 8 is orange, 7 is green, etc. I'm almost certain that's because I had a set of colored letters and numerals as refrigerator magnets.
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) But then I spent the next 15 minutes or so illustrating this discovery in my head. I wish I had thought of that homonym back in second grade. I bet I would have really impressed Mrs. Bullington.
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