Word Play Flashcards
The thunder would not peace at my bidding
Athimeria
Using a word as another part of speech than usual
“Marriage is a fine institution, but I’m not ready for an institution”
Double entendre
Something with a double meaning
“Battle sweat”
Blood
Kenning
Two-word phrase (base word & determinant)
“We live in assimilation”
“We live in a simulation”
Malapropism
Replacement of the correct word with a similar one
“The last syllable of recorded time”
“The end of time”
Metalepsis
Using an idiom in a new/surprising way
“Parting is such sweet sorrow”
Oxymoron
Contradiction of juxtaposed opposites
No one made killer apparel like Dame Noon.
Palindrome
Reads the same forwards and backwards
.nooN emaD ekil lerappa rellik edam eno oN
“Is there anything that mankind can’t accomplish? We’ve been to the moon, eradicated polio, and made grapes that taste like cotton candy.”
Paraprosdokian
Diversion from expected sentence ending
Bromance
Bro + romance
Portmanteau
The combination of two words
He delivered me a blushing crow
He delivered me a crushing blow
Spoonerism
Swapping successive word beginnings
Let’s burn that bridge when we come to it
Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it + Burning bridges
Dundrearyism/Malaphor
Merging of two idioms