Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Writing Blogs -> Daily Writing Tips

Legal Writing

: Daily Writing Tips

Reduplicatives And Their Meanings

By Sharon

After my recent post on reduplicatives, Jaguar asked for definitions of the terms in the post. Of course, now I’m wishing that I hadn’t included quite so many examples, but here goes:

Repeating reduplicatives:

ack-ack - anti aircraft fire
aye-aye - yes (often used by seamen)
bang-bang - sound of a gun
beriberi - disease caused by vitamin B deficiency
bonbon - a sweet
boo-boo - a blunder
bye-bye - goodbye
cha-cha - Latin ballroom dance
choo-choo - train, or sound of the train
chop chop - quickly (from pidgin English)
froufrou - elaborate (usually of a dress)
goody goody - someone virtuous or smug
ha-ha - the sound of laughter
hush hush - confidential
muumuu - loose, bright Hawaiian dress
night-night - goodnight
no-no - forbidden
papa - father
pawpaw - papaya

Rhyming reduplicatives:

airy-fairy - unrealistic; light and delicate
argy-bargy - verbal dispute
artsy-fartsy - pretentiously artistic (also arty-farty)
boo hoo - crying sound
boogie-woogie - piano jazz style
bow-wow - the sound of a dog
easy-peasy - very easy
fuddy-duddy - conservative or dull person
hanky-panky - suspicious behaviour
heebie-jeebies - nervousness
helter-skelter - haphazard
higgledy-piggledy - muddled
hocus-pocus - trickery; a magician’s incantation
hodge-podge - a confused mixture
hoity-toity - haughty
itsy-bitsy - tiny
jeepers creepers - exclamation of surprise
mumbo-jumbo - derogatory reference to a religious or spiritual ritual
namby-pamby - feeble, weak
nitty gritty - the facts
okey-dokey - OK
super-duper - very pleasing
willy-nilly - whether it’s wanted or not

Vowel change reduplicatives:

chit-chat - gossipy talk
clip clop - sound of a horse’s hooves
criss-cross - a pattern of lines that cross each other
dilly-dally - to loiter
ding-dong - the sound of a bell
flim-flam - foolishness
flip-flop - this has several meanings, including a backward somersaut and a sandal with a piece between the toes
hip-hop - type of music
knick-knack - trinket
mish-mash - a confused mixture
ping pong - table tennis
pitter-patter - a light, tapping sound
riff-raff - rabble; people who are worthless
riprap - broken stones on water used to protect riverbanks
see-saw - a piece of wood with a central balance which allows it to move up and down
shilly-shally - to hesitate
tick tock - sound of a clock
tittle-tattle - chat, gossip
zigzag - sharp turns in alterating directions

Phew! That took some doing. The definitions are from the Collins English Dictionary, and I’ve tried to stick to the most common ones. Enjoy1

Sponsor: Monetize your traffic! Join Neverblue Ads and access 1000's of high quality, high converting offers.

---

Partner: MakeUseOf.com Amazing Websites and Tools you Never Knew About

Full post as published by Daily Writing Tips on May 07, 2008 (boomark / email).