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Want to get published? Here's your chance to get recognized. Click to learn more! Sponsored by Penguin Putnam Publishing. http://www.insidesessions.com/promos/promowriting.asp?rid=749 *************************************************************** The Word of the Day for January 22 is: paronomasia \pair-uh-no-MAY-zhee-uh or pair-ah-nuh-MAY-zhee-uh\ (noun) : a play on words : pun Example sentence: Humorists claim that Harry Truman offered the delightful paronomasia "Missouri loves company" when he invited a friend to join him in Independence, Missouri for a home-cooked meal. Did you know? Puns (essentially, humorous uses of words to suggest more than one interpretation) have their share of critics as well as fans. Coleridge, for example, called puns "the lowest form of wit." "Paronomasia," which derives from a Greek verb meaning "to call with a slight change of name," can simply be a synonym of "pun." But it can also be used, somewhat playfully, to suggest an uncontrollable urge to make puns (as if it were a dread disease, rather than harmless word play). For example, in the July 6, 1980 _New York Times_, William Safire announced, "an epidemic of paronomasia has raced around the world." And on January 1, 1989, Jerry Kobrin of _The Orange County Register_ resolved to seek treatment "for a near-terminal case of paronomasia." ---------------- Brought to you by Merriam-Webster, Inc. http://www.Merriam-Webster.com ---------------- Subscribe or unsubscribe to Word of the Day via the Web at: http://www.Merriam-Webster.com/service/subinst.htm To join the list via e-mail, send a blank e-mail to: mw-wod-subscribe-request@listserv.webster.m-w.com To leave the list via e-mail, send a blank e-mail to: mw-wod-signoff-request@listserv.webster.m-w.com Questions about your subscription? Write to: mw-wod-request@listserv.webster.m-w.com Questions or comments about the Word of the Day? Write to: word@Merriam-Webster.com © 2002 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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