# Is there a word that describes when a word sounds like what it means? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594 "2006-04-06T16:05:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/21 "2006-04-06T18:07:03Z")
Though onomatapoic often refers to sound, the suggestion does not have to be related to sound. I see spiky as being onomatapoic, since though s is smoothe, k and y are very spiky and the p has a pointy lower end to it as well. Ooozing just ooooozes along on all those O’s. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/22 "2006-04-06T18:07:20Z")
**Brain Wreck** : Many, many thanks. For further (and quite interesting reading) see [our old friend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_symbolism) Mr. Wiki. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/23 "2006-04-06T18:09:40Z")
Whatever we decide that word we’re looking for is, I hope to god it ends in _ **-age** _. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/24 "2006-04-06T18:15:55Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Whatever we decide that word we’re looking for is, I hope to god it ends in _ **-age** _. Not - **GRY**? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/25 "2006-04-06T18:19:55Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Though onomatapoic often refers to sound, the suggestion does not have to be related to sound. > I see spiky as being onomatapoic, since though s is smoothe, k and y are very spiky and the p has a pointy lower end to it as well. > Ooozing just ooooozes along on all those O’s. These are _phenomimes_. If you want to go with the broader folk usage of onomatopoeia I’m not going to try to correct you, but you should understand at least that there’s a most-suitable word for what you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/26 "2006-04-06T18:34:36Z")
> [@Brain Wreck](#): > > These are _phenomimes_. If you want to go with the broader folk usage of onomatopoeia I’m not going to try to correct you, but you should understand at least that there’s a most-suitable word for what you’re talking about. But phenomimes is a specialist word that doesn’t seem to have gotten into many dictionaries yet. So though phenomimes and psychomimes may be validly used in a paper on linguistics they have yet to gain the status of words valid in general usage. That said you are equally correct to try and introduce them to a broader group and like blogging and podcasting it could hopefully become a word that can be used safely outside its otherwise limited sphere. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/27 "2006-04-07T00:15:17Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > Anyway, their made-up verb is a combination of “flake” and “fink,” and is defined as such. To me, flink sounds like it means _exactly_ that. So, in a roundabout way, what’s the word for THAT phenomenon? Um, I’ve been using the word ‘FLink’ since around 1995 as a conflation of ‘Fake’ or ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Link’. I make and sell what I call ‘FLink’ cards, being cards which appear to have been linked to other cards or other objects in an impossible or magical way, without any cuts or joins, without seams or adhesive. They have been exhibited in art galleries and used in ‘motivational’ training courses as study objects. And **Corner Case’s** contribution above was superb. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/28 "2006-04-07T02:04:25Z")
> [@Brain Wreck](#): > > 1. Merely combining a word, linguistically speaking, is not a portmanteau but rather a blend. Using “portmanteau” interchangeably with “blend” is a folk usage. But everybody and their brother does it, so it is rather a pointless battle to make this distinction. However, we should keep it in mind. So are you saying that “portmanteau” has a different meaning in linguistics? If so, what is the real meaning of the word? Or are you saying that it’s not actually part of linguists’ jargon at all? I want to use that word more often in everyday conversation because it’s cool, but I don’t want to appear like an ignorant ass when I do it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/29 "2006-04-07T11:56:17Z")
> [@Mbossa](#): > > So are you saying that “portmanteau” has a different meaning in linguistics? If so, what is the real meaning of the word? Or are you saying that it’s not actually part of linguists’ jargon at all? I want to use that word more often in everyday conversation because it’s cool, but I don’t want to appear like an ignorant ass when I do it. The difference is subtle; it’s just a single word that takes the place of two grammatical words, and it need not be a blend of both words. For example, the french _au_ is a stand-in for _a le_ (to the). It doesn’t represent a fusion of the concept or a blend of the words, it is just one word in the place of two. However, everyone and their brother now uses _portmanteau_ for “blend”, so I don’t know if you can even call it a mistake at this point. Words are losing their specific meaning right and left; you can’t complain about it without being called a dirty prescriptivist. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/30 "2006-04-07T13:08:12Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Onomatopoeic Portmanteau. Band name! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/31 "2006-04-08T05:49:15Z")
> [@Brain Wreck](#): > > However, everyone and their brother now uses _portmanteau_ for “blend”, so I don’t know if you can even call it a mistake at this point. Words are losing their specific meaning right and left; you can’t complain about it without being called a dirty prescriptivist. This has to be one of the silliest complaints I’ve ever heard. I hate to break this to you, but the “blend” meaning of _portmaneau word_ predates this other technical meaning (that few other than linguists have even heard of and I never heard before this) by a long ways. Go reread your Lewis Carroll. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/32 "2006-04-08T07:28:40Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > Which, I’m almost willing to **except** , it doesn’t. Accept. Accept accept accept. Accept. For a thread about words, I would’ve expected this to be picked up sooner. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/33 "2006-04-08T09:23:56Z")
snap, crackle, pop! ---
**Author:** ![Milkandcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Milkandcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milkandcheese)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/34 "2006-04-08T13:48:51Z")
Now that that has all been cleared up, I just thought I would post my favorite blend: slitch I came across that word in a Heinlein novel, where it was used as a durogatory term for a female. There didn’t seem to be any way to get the meaning wrong on that one. I have tried to use it in conversation with people that hadn’t read the book, and not one has ever had to ask what it meant. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/35 "2006-04-08T13:54:57Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > This has to be one of the silliest complaints I’ve ever heard. > > I hate to break this to you, but the “blend” meaning of _portmaneau word_ predates this other technical meaning (that few other than linguists have even heard of and I never heard before this) by a long ways. Go reread your Lewis Carroll. A portmanteau may or may not also be a blend. Carroll’s original usage was both a portmanteau and a blend. Not all blends are portmanteaux. Please don’t dispute something just because a number of people including yourself may not have heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/36 "2006-04-08T16:42:17Z")
> [@Milkandcheese](#): > > slitch > > I came across that word in a Heinlein novel, where it was used as a durogatory term for a female. Just what the vocabulary needed. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![audreyayn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@audreyayn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audreyayn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594/37 "2006-04-09T00:16:11Z")
I called my last novella Ragabout Che. I intended a ragabout to be a sort of disreputable vagrant/outsider. When googling it to make sure it wasn’t a word, I found someone else had used it in a story, apparently the same way. “…bought a knife from a ragabout…” Googling it again, there’s another: “…Charlene can’t really use a ragabout father as an excuse…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-that-describes-when-a-word-sounds-like-what-it-means/351594.md?page=1)