Sunday 10 March 2019

Reduplication-based idioms 3

The words used below can be found in Wiktionary at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_reduplications

Ex. I Unscramble the letters of the following idioms, collocations or slang words. How are they pronounced?
a. yoko-kopsoy   b. yintt-itgrty   c. gygip wyggi   d. ttperi-pttaer   e. gurger burgeg   f. eh idas ehs dias   g. ylsli Bylil   h. opipssll   i. eetny-eenyw   j. arew nad arte

Ex. II Fill in the gaps in the following sentences using the phrases from Exercise I.

1. The haunted house at the funfair was ............................ .
2. The student claimed Dr Jones had treated her unfairly, and Dr Jones claimed she hadn't come to his examination. ............................ - you can't really tell who was right.
3. Do you want to sleep with the blue bunny or with the pink ...............................?
4. I like it when a lecturer explains the ............................ instead of making a long introduction to the topic. In this way I know when to take notes.
5. On our holiday in Scotland we spent all days listening to the ............................. of rain on the windows instead of sunbathing.
6. Let's not invite Jane's boyfriend. He's a nasty ........................... who swears, drinks beer and talks about his rugby team all the time.
7. The writer's first essays were described as .......................... . That did not discourage him, however.
8. The machine isn't broken. Just push the red button, you .......................... .
9. The tourist took out a .......................... smartphone out of her pocket and started taking pictures. At first I thought that wasn't even a real phone.
10. Every car is subject to fair ................................. no matter how carefully you drive.
 

KEY
I. a. ooky-spooky, b. nitty-gritty, c. piggy wiggy, d. pitter-patter, e. rugger bugger, f. he said she said, g. silly Billy, h. slipslop, i. teeny weeny, j. wear and tear
a. /'uːki-ˈspuːki/, b. /ˈnɪti-ˈgrɪti/, c. /ˈpɪgi wɪgi/, d. /ˈpɪtə-ˈpætə/,e. /ˈrʌgə ˈbʌgə/, f. /hi sed ʃi sed/, g. /ˈsɪli ˈbɪli/, h. /ˈslɪpslɒp/, i. /'tiːni 'wːni/, j. /weər_ənd teə/ (linking /r/)
II. 1a, 2f 3c, 4b, 5d, 6e, 7h, 8g, 9i, 10j

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