Onomatopoeia in the Morning

 

onomatopoeia - noun - formation of a word associated with a sound (Google). 

                                Bam! Crash! Zap! Boom! Thump! Wack! Tick-tick-tick! 

When you just happen to live in between two construction sites (old homes being razed to accommodate new McMansions)–and not by choice–you experience an alarm clock of onomatopoeia daily around 7 a.m. when you least want to hear it: Bam! Crash! Zap! Boom! Thump! Wack! Tick-tick-tick! There is nothing quite like dueling demolitions, but that's not the point; onomatopoeia is. In my opinion, onomatopoeia is one of the the most interesting words in English. Some 16th-century Greek, who might have been in my situation or something like it, came up with onomatopolia or "word-making," which eventually segued into onomatopoeia (Google). Neither is easy to remember or spell but fun as long as you are just imagining cacophony on paper and not in the middle of it in actuality.

Onomatopoeia is quite common in spoken as well as written language. Most of us use it to enhance descriptions intentionally or unintentionally. For instance, right now, I am inches away from phoning the local police to alert them of the noise ordinance violation coming from across the street. (In this town, people are only permitted to create sound pollution between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.) I'm guessing if I really dramatize the string of highly vocal verbiage aforementioned, the police will either get the message and contact the guilty party, the construction company, or think I've lost my mind entirely, placate me in the moment, hang up, and then do absolutely nothing. I'm thinking that since the latter requires virtually no effort at all except for the hanging up part, it might be the better choice of options. 

I'm guessing that those of you who live in cities think nothing of the discord that surrounds you because somewhere down the line, you have become inured to all of the din. Even the pitter-patter (a great example of onomatopoeia) of the rain goes unnoticed or is merely drowned out by man-made competition. 

What is positive to note at this juncture (the closing paragraph of this somewhat disguised rant) is that not all onomatopoeia is a reflection of hubbub. "Pitter-patter" (just used) is, like light precipitation, kind of innocuous, rhythmic. A world without any of it, good or bad, would be incomplete, hollow. Still, at 6:45 a.m., I prefer the buzz of the electric alarm clock to the boom, boom, boom of multiple hammers on two-by-fours. I think you get my drift. 

#word-to-words, #spilled thoughts, #vocabulary, #good advice, #personal essay, #vocabulary