Chop-chop! That’s enough chit-chat! Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of today’s podcast which is….talking about words like chop-chop, chit-chat and nitty-gritty.
You might think that our podcast episodes are just thrown together willy-nilly, but nothing could be further from the truth. We’ll help you improve your vocabulary in this episode.
Reduplication: words that are repeated
Reduplicatives are words or phrases made by repeating or altering sounds in a word, often for emphasis, rhythm, or fun. They’re common in informal English and can be exact repetitions or slight variations.
Types of reduplicatives:
The same word is repeated.
Examples: bye-bye
Rhyming reduplication – The second word rhymes with the first.
Examples: super-duper, boogie-woogie
The vowel sound changes, usually in a specific order (often I and then A or O).
Examples: tick-tock, zig-zag, ping-pong, hip-hop
Why do we use them?
To be playful or catchy: e.g. hip-hop
To emphasise or soften meaning: e.g. a teeny-weeny bit, so-so
Some more examples
The same word is repeated
Knock-Knock – “Knock-knock!” “Who’s there?”
Yum-yum – This chocolate cake is yum-yum!
no-no – Something that is not allowed or is considered unacceptable, especially socially. Wearing trainers to a formal dinner is a big no-no.
so-so – neither very good, nor very bad. How was the restaurant? So-so. Nothing special.
choo-choo
boo-boo – a small mistake or injury
fifty-fifty
wee-wee / pee-pee – “Mummy, I need a wee-wee – stop the car!”
poo-poo – The little baby has done a messy poo-poo in his clothes after eating
pooh-pooh – dismiss an idea as silly/useless. The Prime Minister pooh-poohed the idea of giving all children free chocolate on Fridays as unnecessary and unhealthy
blah-blah(-blah)
chop-chop! – Hurry up! Get a move on!
Night-night!
Goody-goody
Bling-bling
Tut-tut!
The second word rhymes with the first.
Nitty-gritty – The most important and basic details of something. – Let’s skip the small talk and get down to the nitty-gritty of the contract.
Fuddy-duddy – Don’t be such a fuddy-duddy—just try the new app!
Namby-pamby – Everyone is always getting sentimental and crying and whining about how unlucky they are in this series. I hate it – it’s so namby-pamby
Willy-nilly – They hired people willy-nilly without checking their experience.
Hanky-panky – Grandma warned us: “No hanky-panky in my living room unless you’re married—or at least engaged in a respectful board game.”
Heebie-jeebies – feeling of fear, or creepiness. “Listening to ghost stories gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
Easy-peasy – I thought the task was easy-peasy, but it actually turned out to be quite challenging.
Hocus-pocus – Words or action without meaning to conceal the truth. The President’s latest hocus-pocus about water tap pressure is to cover the emerging financial scandal.
Teeny-weeny – I expected a teeny-weeny bathroom, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a full-size bathroom with both a shower and a bath.
Lovey-dovey – excessively romantic
Hoity-toity- arrogant or snobbish – If you’re looking for one of those white tablecloth, hoity-toity restaurants, I suggest this one.
Fancy-pantsy – high class, used ironically. We’re going shopping in Harrods then going to catch some theatre in the dearest seats – very fancy-pantsy, eh?
Higgledy-piggledy – Used to describe objects together in a disordered collection. The professor’s huge collection of books lay higgledy-piggledy around his study
Changing vowel sound
flip-flops – footwear for the beach
tip-top – the best, excellent, in great condition
tick-tock – the sound of a mechanical clock, sometimes used to indicate time running out. “We have kidnapped your son. Pay us the ransom by 8pm or we’ll kill him, tick-tock.”
chit-chat – casual conversation
riff-raff – “I’m not drinking in this pub full of riff-raff. Let’s go to the more select place over the road.”
criss-cross – intersecting lines
mishmash – A confused mixture of different things that don’t really go together – Her essay was a mishmash of unrelated ideas and random quotes.
knick-knacks – Small decorative objects that are usually not very valuable but are kept for decoration or sentimental reasons.
sing-song – When Bob’s had a few drinks, he likes nothing better than a good old sing-song round the piano with his mates
wishy-washy – Why do politicians give such wishy-washy, unsatisfactory answers to serious questions?
zig-zag – If the rabbit runs straight, it’s easy to catch. If it zig-zags, it’s more difficult
…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. Do you have any similar words in your language? If so, we’d love to hear some of them.
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In next week’s episode: South African English Vocabulary
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