Looking at Onomatopoeia and Metaphor, Simile, Collective Nouns, and my Delusional Dictionary. For definitions of those, click here to read the introductory post to the series.

This week’s words: Ding-dong, Dead, Drove, Deputy.

Onomatopoeia: Ding-dong:

The sound of bells, which can also be described onomatopoeically as a tinkle, clang, chime, or clash. I’m sure you can think of others. Have a go. But ‘ding-dong’ is also used in British English to describe a fight, usually of the verbal type, as in ‘When Barry discovered Harry had been seeing Ethel behind his back he challenged him, and the pair had a right ding-dong.’

Simile: as dead as

We want to conjure the picture of something no longer alive, something that’s passed away, something dead. ‘Poor Sybil; after the fall in interest rates reduced her income to almost nil, she was lifeless as a banker’s heart.’ Or, perhaps, dead as a politician’s promise, lifeless as an accountant’s imagination, dead as a racist’s mind. I’m sure you can think of others.         

Similes to avoid because they’re clichés?

as dead as a doornail, as dead as the dodo

Collective Nouns: drove

A drove of drivers, perhaps? Maybe a drove of do-gooders? And, since it generally describes a group of mostly docile creatures, perhaps a drove of pacifists? But the term is more commonly used to describe the following:

A drove of asses, bullock, cattle, donkeys, goat, hares, oxen, pigs, rabbits, and sheep.

Delusional Dictionary: Deputy, a person promoted in order to deflect attention from the one in charge; an individual given a title in place of a pay rise; someone who does all the actual work in place of the person who gains the rewards for it; anyone sent out to face the rage against a leader’s incompetence.

For those learning English as a language, there’s a useful guide to pronunciation here, and Facebook hosts a great group you can join here.

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