How to Make Your Own Homonym Dictionary
Alan Cooper's famous homonym dictionary was begun when he was very young, and he's been collecting words that sound alike ever since, creating a script that allows him to automatically format and post his homonyms online as he finds them. You and your friends can create your own homonym list to help with writing and for pure entertainment.
Personalized homonym dictionaries will always be popular because people love word games. As you learn other languages, you'll find that English words often sound almost exactly like words in foreign languages. They're usually called "false friends," but there's nothing false about how amusing they are.
The Joy of Homonyms
Hunting for homonyms often has very humorous results. Homonyms are two words that look and sound alike but have entirely different meanings; thus, the laughable results are limited only to your own imagination. Language, when you're paying attention, is extremely entertaining, and when you're hunting for funny combinations of homonyms everything anyone says is enthralling.
Constructing your own dictionary of homonyms helps you keep them straight so that you don't stumble on the same pitfalls that everyone else does. They're, there, and their will become very easy to distinguish. Its and It's will become clearly differentiated. Two, to, and too will be simple to keep straight. A homonym dictionary can free your mind from the lineal constructs inherent to coherent writing that sometimes stifle creativity. Homonyms are lateral movements through vocabulary that stretch the imagination. Think of it as yoga for lexicographers, wordsmiths, and writers at all stages.
Making a Dictionary of Homonyms
- With friends or alone, compile your homonymic lexicon.
- Listen to what people are saying and how certain words can be understood other than how they were meant to be.
- Consult rhyming dictionaries and other reference material.
- Compile your findings online or in a bound edition.
Since words and their meanings are in a constant state of flux, homonyms are always appearing. When neologisms enter English, the most dynamic language in the world, some are bound to sound and look like the tried and true, providing your homonym dictionary a never-ending deluge of material.