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paronomasia

(par-uh-no-MAY-zhuh) Pronunciation Sound Clip

noun: A play on words, especially a pun.

[From Latin, from Greek, from paronomazein, to call by a slight name-change; para-, beside + onomazein, to name.]

"Paronomasia
Having fun
Is the measure of pleasure
And so the pun
Is the pleasure I treasure.
But the trouble is,
Others at me scoff --
For what turns me on
Turns all of them off."
Lakenan Barnes; Pepper... And Salt; The Wall Street Journal; Mar 10, 1986.

This week's theme: Words from AWAD archives

X-Bonus

I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power that can move the world. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

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