HANKY-PANKY
Prof's "Language as Music" orations
Delved deep into (re)duplications
(A repeated morph word)—
He revealed he preferred
Hanky-panky to grads' dissertations.
Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022 OEDILF #112825
Authors' Note: Reduplications as they are best known, sometimes also called duplications, are language forms (morphs), usually for nouns, in which an element of the word is repeated with little or no change; they figure prominently among the most musical elements in English and in other languages. To this author, the more commonly used term seems redundant. Many other examples begin with the letter 'h', e.g. harum-scarum, helter-skelter, higgeldy-piggeldy, hillbilly, and hubba-hubba.
HILLBILLIES
Rednecks, okies and hicks are contented
(City slickers, out here, seem demented);
Sighed the rube, "Not unpleasant
To be classed as a peasant.
Them's a hillbilly's buddies presented!
Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022
HARUM-SCARUM
Facing foolhardy, wild degradation?
Harum-scarum's a grand duplication,
Meaning reckless or rash,
Thoughtless, slaphappy, brash,
As when madcaps trash organization.Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022
HELTER-SKELTER
Peccadilloes, full tilt, in a welter,
From such turmoil, pell-mell, you'll need shelter!
Hit-or-miss, disarray —
For more order you'll pray,
And you'll land on this word: helter-skelter.
Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022
HIGGLEDY-PIGGLEDY
A higgledy-piggledy source
Gave financial advice to a horse,
Whose investments, unstable,
Fell under the table —
Now he's filled with unbridled remorse.
Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022
Authors' Note:
Higgledy-piggledy is yet another (re)duplication relating to disorder and impetuousness whose meaning overlaps with
helter-skelter, and
harum-scarum.