A. solidly-written Tautonyms.
(In this list, strict alphabetical order is sometimes ignored in order to permit uninflected forms to appear before their inflected variants. The asterisked words were all previously noted in Jeff Grant's Nov. 2008 Word Ways article, "Accidental Tautonyms.")ablesables
addlesaddles
addlersaddlers
alesales
amplesamples
ankleranlder
aperaper
arksarks
augersaugers
aursaurs
azorazor
cabscabs
cadscads
Calderscalders
camscams
carnpscamps
camperscampers
canscans*
cannerscanners
capeseapes*
Carscars
carescares
carerscarers
carpscarps
Catherscathers
centscents
centerscenters
coldscolds
conescones
coopscoops*
cooperscoopers
copescopes
coperscopers
eopingscopings
corescores
corerscorers
comerscomers
Cotscots
COWSCOWS
cowlscowls
cragscrags
crapescrapes
crapscraps
crapperscrappers
crawlerscrawlers
crawlingscrawlings
creakscreaks
creakingscreakings
creamingscreamings
creedscreeds
crewscrews*
crimperscrimpers
Cubascubas
cuffscuffs*
cufferscuffers
cuffingscuftings
cuttlerscuttlers
deedee*
eatseats
eaterseaters
eatingseatings
eclipseclips
ectorector
edgesedges
educerseducers
electionselections
electorselectors
Euroneuron
ewersewers
extradextrad*
hackleshackles
hackshacks*
hackershackers
hadshads
haftshafts
haftershafters
hagshags*
hakeshakes
hammershammers
hamshams
hameshames
hardshards
haringsharings
harpsharps
harpersharpers
havenshavens
hayshays
hearershearers
heathersheathers
heathsheaths
heaversheavers
hellershellers
hellshells
hemichemic
herdsherds
hillshills
hipships*
hippershippers
hittershitters
hiveshives
hockshocks
hockershockers
hoeshoes
holesholes
hootshoots
hootershooters
hootingshootings
hopshops*
hoppershoppers
homshoms
hovelshovels
huntshunts
huntershunters
huntingshuntings
hushershushers
hushingshushings
icklesickles
idlingsidlings
ilksilks
impsimps
Indowindow
inksinks
inkersinkers
insins
innersirmers
inningsinnings
intersinters*
kidskids*
kidderskidders
killskills*
killingskillings
ldnskins
kipperskippers
labslabs
lackslacks*
laggerslaggers
Lakerslakers
lammerslammers
lammingslammings
lapperslappers
lappingslappings
lasherslashers
lashingslashings
lateslates
laterslaters
latherslathers
lathererslatherers
latterslatters
laughterslaughters
laverslavers
lavingslavings
layerslayers
ledsleds
ledgesledges
ledgersledgers
lickslicks
lickerslickers
lickingslickings
lightslights
lighterslighters
lightingslightings
limeslimes*
limerslimers
lipperslippers
lipslips*
litslits
litterslitters
liverslivers
lobslobs
lobberslobbers
logslogs
loggingsloggings
loopsloops
loppersloppers
lothsloths
loughsloughs
lowerslowers
lowingslowings
lowdownslowdowns
lugslugs
luggersluggers
luggingsluggings
lumberslumbers
lumperslumpers
martsmarts
mattersmatters
meltersmelters
meltingsmeltings
milesmiles
mitersmiters
mocksmocks
mockersmockers
motherersmotherers
moochersmoochers
muggersmuggers
nagsnags
naggersnaggers
naggingsnaggings
nailsnails
napsnaps
nappersnappers
nappingsnappings
narksnarks
nicksnicks
nickersnickers
nippersnippers
nippingsnippings
nitsnits
nobsnobs
nonanona*
nooksnooks
notsnots
nubsnubs
nubbingsnubbings
oddersodders
oftsofts
oilsoils
oilersoilers
oilingsoilings
oresorcs
otorotor
ottersotters
pacespaces
pacerspacers
pacingspacings
panspans*
pannerspanners
parersparers
paringsparings
parksparks
parkersparkers
parkingsparkings
patespates
pattererspatterers
pawnspawns
pawnerspawners
pawningspawnings
payerspayers
pearspears
peckspecks
peckerspeckers
peepee
peculatorspeculators
pendingspendings
pewspews
picespices
pikespikes
pikerspikers
pilespiles
pillspills
pinspins
pinnerspinners
pinespines
pitspits
plattersplatters
playersplayers
poonspoons
poorspoors
porespores
portsports*
portersporters
potspots*
potterspotters
pottingspottings
poutingspoutings
pratsprats
prayersprayers
prayingsprayings
prigsprigs
printsprints*
printingsprintings
punkspunks
puttersputters
putteringsputterings
quadsquads
quidsquids
quintsquints
quiresquires
quirtsquirts
quirtersquirters
reprep*
retterette*
tabstabs
tabberstabbers
tablestables
tablerstablers
tabletable*
tackstacks
tackerstackers
taggerstaggers
takeoutstakeouts
takerstakers
talkstalks
talkerstalkers
talkingstalkings
tallstalls
tampstamps
tartstarts
teamsteams
teedsteeds
temstems
ticksticks*
tickerstickers
tickingstickings
ticklersticklers
tiffstiffs
tillerstillers
tillingstillings
tiltstilts
tinkerstinkers
tinterstinters
tintingstintings
tipplerstipplers
tonestones*
tonerstoners
toolstools
topperstoppers
toppingstoppings
towerstowers
towingstowings
trainstrains
trainerstrainers
trainings/rainings
trapstraps
trapperstrappers
trappingstrappings
trikestrikes*
trikerstrikers
trikingstrikings
tripestripes
tripperstrippers
trollstrolls
trumpetstrumpets
tubstubs
tuffstuffs*
turnblestumbles
tumblerstumblers
ubicubic
umpsumps
undersunders*
uppersuppers*
urgesurges
urgingsurgings
waddlerswaddlers
wainswains
wallowswallows
wallowerswallowers
wallowingswallowings
wanswans
warmswarms
washingswashings
watcherswatchers
wearerswearers
wearingswearings
weepersweepers
weepingsweepings
willingswillings
wingswings*
wingerswingers
wipeswipes
wiperswipers
wipingswipings
wisherswishers
witcherswitchers
witchingswitchings
woonswoons
wordswords*
wordersworders
woundswounds
B. Hyphenated Tautonyms
abbe-dabbed
age-rager
aide-raider
ain't-saints
almoner-salmoners
Angle-dangled
co-decode
ducat-educate
eigne-deigned
eigne-reigner
erne-demed
ice-diced
Ouse-doused
Ouse-rouser
owl-yowly
pa-spas
pier-spiers
Pepsi-apepsia
raft-ingrafting
rain-ingraining
Ross-ingrossing
scape-escapee
scurriers-currier
slavers-laver
slobbers-lobber
squirters-quirter
strollers-troller
taxi-ataxia
then-Athena
uke-duked
Ulf-ingulfing
ur-church
C. Tautonymic Phrases
Tautonymic phrases, which are nearly always "accidental" in nature, are a fascinating tribe. In the sampling of this engaging genre that follows, the sample is divided into four categories: general phrases, anthroponomic phrases, affix-enabled phrases, and short tautonymic sentences.
1. General Phrases
ace racer
ampler samplers
a lay, a la Malayalam
a star dastard
bay abaya
caring scarings
cat scats
chilling schillings
colder scolders
coot scoots
cute scutes
dappled apple
dewed ewe
diced ice
dim, aged image
drilled rille
edited it
educing seducings
elude deluded
enate senates
ever severs
gauntleting aunt let in
hearing shearings
hooting "Shootings!"
Iberian Siberians
icily Sicily's
idle sidles
i.e., died
ill sills
insect-sin sects
inverse sin-verses
irenic sirenics
lake slakes
lapel ape
limps in, glimpsing
lither slithers
liver slivers
low-down slowdowns
lusher slushers
mash-up smashups
milk-warm ilk-war
nob snobs
often softens
oft-good softgoods
older solders
OPEC kopeck
Our sours
Ouse souses
palling spallings
peck specks
pending spendings
pie spies
pindling spindlings
pink spinks
pit-fire spitfires
Pope epopee
pout spouts
"Putterer!" sputterers
putter sputters
quint squints
rawer awe
Sarawak's Arawak
Saudi's Audi
sauger's auger
Saxon's axon
scabs' cab
scamps' camp
scants cant
Scars car
scents cent
SCOITIS corn
scorners' comer
Scot quean's cotquea
scraps crap
scrawls "Crawl!"
screams "Cream!"
screed's creed
scrimper's crimper
scuffs cuff
scuffer's tufter
sears ear
sedges' edge
sedition's edition
seducer's educer
selector's elector
sender's ender
sending's ending
sentry's entry
shad's had
shakes hake
shankers hanker
shard's hard
shares hare
shatters hatter
shingle's hingle
shows how
shuns Hun
shusher's husher
shuts hut
Siberia's Iberia
a sinning's inning
sire's ire
skidder's kidder
skink's kink
skins kin
skipper's kipper
skirtless kirtles
slammer's lammer
slasher's lasher
slathers lather
slaughters laughter
sledger's ledger
slices lice
slitter's litter
slob's lob
sloth's loth
slowpoke's low poke
slugs lug
slugger's lugger
smelter's melter
smites mite
smiter's miter
smockers' mocker
smotherer's motherer
snags nag
snook's nook
soaks oak
sodium's odium
Spain's pain
spanner's panner
spatters' patter
spears pear
spikes pike
spoke's poke
spontoons' pontoon
spore's pore
sprat's prat
sprinter's printer
squad's quad
squid's quid
squill's quill
squire's quire
squirt's quirt
stag's tag
staggers tagger
starrer's tarrer
steals teal
steams team
stickler's tickler
stingless tingles
Stones' tone
straits trait
stumbler's tumbler
swaddler's waddler
swager's wager
swallow's wallow
swayback's way back
swell's well
swilling's willing
swine's wine
swordplay's wordplay
tabling stablings
tale stales
taller stallers
tarter starters
tick sticks
toning stonings
took stooks
tray strays
tripling striplings
tun stuns
tutter stutters
Tyrian Styrians
uluant Sulu ants
unburst sunbursts
unset sunsets
wagger swaggers
warmer swarmers
wee tweet
yeasty East
2. Anthroponomic Phrases
A gift to wordplay from lexicographers is the useful word anthroponomy, "a branch of onomastics that consists of the study of personal names." Short anthroponomic tautonymic phrases tend to be either characterizers ("doled Ole") or possession-noters ("Diana's Indiana sin"):
gaming Amin
gelding Eldin
hardish Ardis
Sally's ally
sap Ron's apron
Sargent's argent
Saxe's axe
Schiller's chiller
hartish Artis
hellish Ellis
hennish Ennis
Shakespear's* hake-spear
Shaw's "Haw!"
Sheppard's heppard
lamed Alameda
randier Andie
rangier Angie
Sid's id
silly Ria's Illyria
Skip's kip
Sloan's loan
rasher Ashe
readier Eadie
ringer Inge
smart Ian's Martian
Speke's peke
Spike's pike
Spence's pence
Rio-diner Iodine
rover Ove
Smyma's Myma
Spook's pock
Stan's tan
Stanfield's tan
field
Swen's wen
* One of several known spellings of his name
3. Affix-Enabled Phrases
"Hi! I'm Mick in Gimmicking here at the G's-R-Us Emporium, and I'd like to invite you to bring the missus and come on down to G's-R-Us and meet me and some of our other friendly staff, such as ... Arden in Gardening, Inger in Gingering, her kin in Gherkining, Ladd in Gladding, Nash in Gnashing, old Smith in Goldsmithing, Oral in Goraling (mind the gorals, they're testy), Raft in Grafting, Ray in Graying, Rip in Griping, "String" in G-Stringing and many more, including (if you're the dilatory type) our congenial collections gum, Unsel in Gunseling!
"And just between us, while you're on the premises, you really ought to take a peek at the ... ash in Gashing, asp in Gasping, ass in Gassing, "ear" shift in Gearshifting, host in Ghosting, lass in Glassing, lobal fish in Global Fishing, lory in Glorying, loss in Glossing, offer in Goffering, old brick in Goldbricking, rat in Grating, rout in Grouting, "rifling" room in Griffin-Grooming, rift in Grifting, rump in Grumping, runt in Grunting, umbo in Gumboing and--the rest of our merchandise always looks a lot better after you've seen it--utter slop in Gutter-Sloping!
"And if you've brought the kids along, why, there' s plenty here to keeep them entertained! If nothing else, they can...lean in Gleaning, low in Glowing, listen in Glistening for a slight in Gaslighting, litter in Glittering, loom in Glooming, lower in Glowering, rant in Granting, rap Nel in Grapneling, rasp in Grasping, row in Growing, ravel in Gravel--" [Click!]
Notice, in the foregoing, the profusion of --ing suffixes; --ing, like a number of other affixes, can be exploited to generate an entire family of tautonymic phrases. Here are some other examples of such affix-enabled tautonymic phrase (and sometimes sentence) families:
ad--
sad diction's addiction
sad dresser's addresser
sad mission's admission
sad mixture's admixture
sad option's adoption
sad verb's adverb
dis--
Is charge discharged?
Is courage discouraged?
Is gorge disgorged?
Is "like" disliked?
Is tribute distributed?
Is Em Bodie disembodied?
ex--
expert sex perts
extant sextants
sex-changer's exchanger
sex-citation's excitation
sex-poses expose
sex-tract's extract
--ism: Oral is moralism. Ental is mentalism. Old, avian, is Moldavianism! A "niche" is Manicheism?
--ist: At: Error is terrorist. Reason is treasonist. Hither is thitherist. Ravi sat-- he is, Travis, a theist!
Both with and without a preceding apostrophe, the suffix --s seems endlessly productive of tautonymic words, phrases and sentences; as may have been noticed, in fact, the great majority of the examples cited in this article employ it. Here are some slightly longer [-s]-enabled tautograms:
A do-sa-do's a dos-a-dos.
"Do ... as pirates may do!" aspirates May.
Hiding, izzards hid in gizzards.
Lacedaemonian simps, lace daemon Ian's imps!
Now goggle ... snowgoggles! peculation speculations
"Proximate's" approximate, sap!
sin-tractability's intractability
Sir, rationality's irrationality!
Sir, religion's irreligion!
Sir, responsibility's irresponsibility!
strikebreakers' trike-breaker
("Sunder stands, understand?")
trike-breaking strikebreakings
U.S. pension suspensions
witch-back switchbacks
4. Short Tautonymic Sentences
One might define "short" tautonymic sentences as those that consist of a single parent word or phrase plus one or more smaller words that were dissected from it, with nothing more added.
Add in gadding.
Allie dallied.
Amble, rambler!
Andy is handyish ...
Angles sang less?
Anita's amanita, Sam!
Ankles sank less.
"Annotate!" Dan notated.
"Antidote, Dan?" Ti doted.
"Apostle rap," ostler?
Apperceive rap, perceiver!
Apt, O raptor!
Ashe dashed.
Carve scarves?
Dante "loped," antelope?
Den raged, enrage.
Den silaged ensilage.
Di eddied.
Diluted, I lute.
Diseased is ease.
Dispraised is praise.
Eat heath!
Educe, reducer!
Egress, O regressor!
Eject, O rejector!
Elapse, relapser!
Evolve, revolver!
Evulse, revulser!
Hammer shammers!
Hank shanks.
Hark--sharks!
Have shaves.
Heave sheaves.
Herein, she reins.
Hi, Ohio!
Hough thought.
Humph, ump!
I am Siam's!
Ignore "signores."
Incur sin, curs!
Ireland, sir--elands?
Isabelle is a belle!
Is Grace disgraced?
Is Honore dishonored?
I've dived.
Kate skates?
Laps elapse.
Lass, work in glassworking.
Lumber slumbers.
Nip, pet, snippets.
No piano, Pia?
Obscure, Rob's curer ...
Ob sobs!
Opinion so pinions!
Oregano, Regan?
"Overcharge!" Dover charged
Oviedo vied.
O, we're dowered?.
Palls appall, sap!
Parents apparent, sap?
Peals appeal, sap!
Pears "appear," sap?
Portions apportion, sap!
Poses appose, sap!
Praises appraise, sap!
Prizes apprize, sap!
Probate approbate, sap!
Remit, eremite!
Rob later, oblate!
Rout rager outrage!
Sad Aden's a den.
"Sad"--age's adage?
Saddling's addling.
Sad duces adduce.
Sad judges adjudge.
Sad ministers administer.
Sad verse's adverse.
Satire's afire!
Sages age.
Sailing's ailing.
Sap aches, Apache!
Sap an age's apanage!
Saturn's a turn.
Scarsdale's cars, Dale?
Scurvy's curvy.
Seven's even?
Sex acts exact.
Sexists exist.
Sex or cists, exorcist?
Sheldon's held on.
Sherman's her man!
Sherwood's "her" wood?
She's he?
Shipmates hip, mate?
Shovers hover.
Shun Gary's Hungary.
Sin-flames inflame.
Sin-snares insnare.
Sin's in!
Sinter cessors, intercessor!
Sinter lopers, interloper!
Sir, Ma's "Irma."
Slacking's lacking?
Slagging's lagging.
Slingers linger.
Slogans, Logan?
Smelts melt?
Smews mew?
Smolts molt?
Snicks nick!
Snowdrifts now drift.
So dense's Odense!
So lives Olive.
Sonya's on ya!
Spatterdocks patter dock.
Spotters potter.
Staking's taking.
Stalks talk?
Stampers tamper.
Strumpets trumpet.
Tingles sting less.
Tinkles stink less.
Unedible dun Ed I ... bled.
Us, hush?
"Val" is medievalism, Edie!
Yearly, earl.
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| |
| Publication: | Word Ways |
|---|---|
| Article Type: | List |
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Aug 1, 2009 |
| Words: | 1832 |
| Previous Article: | More accidental tautonyms. |
| Next Article: | Kickshaws. |
| Topics: | |