I like words.  I write about slang.  And so I headed down the tip-top rabbit hole with gusto.  And then found this rabbit hole within the rabbit hole.

It is hard to convey how far off the mark I am getting.  What I have done here is to construct a list of words and terms formed by reduplication and found images that illustrate the word/term.   So, in other words, what I have done is to get very lost.

Ground Control is trying to figure out how to get me back down.  For the time being, though, I have immersed myself in the destructive element, chased what it is I love, and made this collection.

Reduplication is our lesson today.  Here is an easy way to think of reduplication:

There is an entire dictionary of reduplicated words, compiled by Henry Benjamin Wheatley in 1866.

I ordered it – many, many reduplications of another time and place, unknown to us.  Josef Hladky wrote the nifty Notes on Republicative Words in English which I am reading.  I expect more words to add to this post.

There are different types of reduplication – exact or copy reduplication (often children’s vocabulary), rhyming reduplication, ablaut redupliction (vowel variation from first word to second word, usually high to low), and the Yiddish shm/schm- reduplication.  I don’t go all-out on the Yiddish shm- reduplication.  One example:

Now for the rhyming, exact/copy, and ablaut.  I include foreign terms that we use, a few nicknames, rhyming compounds, and more.  I am not getting into contrastive focus replication either.  Some day, somewhere else.

This is not a rigorous analysis of reduplication, it is fun with words.

There are many many many of them.   I have taken the rude words, the adult-theme reduplciations and put them somewhere else, leaving these fit for the entire family.  As the great Ed Sullivan would say,  what a show we have tonight!

 ab fab

abracadabra

AC/DC

ack-ack

ag bag

airfare

airy-fairy

alright, uptight, and out of sight

ants in pants

argy-bargy

Arnie’s Army

artsy farsty

AT-AT

aye-aye

backpack

backtrack

bag and tag

balls to the wall

Bamm-Bamm

bandstand

bang bang

Barmy’s Army

bb

beat feet

bedhead

bedspread

Bee-Gee’s

beep-beep

bee’s knees

beriberi

better dead than red

bibbidi bobbidi boo

big dig

big wig

bird nerd

black jack

blah blah

bling bling

blow and go

blue flu

blue’s clues

bobo

BOGO

bolo

bonbon

boo-boo

boob tube

boogie woogie

boo-hoo

boolah boolah

Bott’s dots

bouncy bouncy

boy toy

bow wow

bozo

brain drain

bric-a-brac

buddy-buddy

bunch punch

butt hut

bye-bye

can-can

Care Bear

cash for trash

cha-cha

chalk talk

cheat sheet

chick flick

chill pill

Chilly Billy

Chilly Willy

chip chop

chit chat

Chitter Chatters

Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang

chock-a-block

choo-choo

chop chop

chop shop

chow-chow

chubby hubby

chug-a-lug

chug-chug

Chunky Monkey

clap trap

click clack

clip-clop

clumbsome

or

cookbook

cook the books

coulda, woulda, shoulda

cop shop

couscous

cox box

cray cray

creature feature

crinkum-crankum

crisscross

crop top

cuchi-cuchi

cuff and stuff

culture vulture

dash for cash

deadhead

Delhi belly

dik-dik

dilly dally

din-din

dingaling

ding dong

ditch witch

dodo

dojo

double trouble

dream team

dum-dum

dykes on bikes

Easy peasy

eency weency

eenie meenie

eighter from decatur

even steven

eye spy

fab lab

fag hag

fag tag

fall ball

fat cat

fat hat

fe-fi-fo-fum

fe-fe-fi-fi-fo-fo-fum

fender bender

fiddle faddle

fight night

fitbit

fight or flight

flapjack

Flavor Flav

fleet feet

fleet wekk

flim flam

flim flam man

flip flop

Flo Jo

Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail

flower power

Flub-a-Dub

flyby

foo-foo

Foxy Loxy

freaks and geeks

frou frou

fro yo

frozen Chosin

fuddy duddy

Fungo Mungo

funky monkey

funny money

fun run

fuzzy wuzzy

ga ga

gal pal

gender bender

Gigi

gnip gnop

gobble gobble

god squad

go-go

goody goody

goofy Newfie

goo-goo

green jeans

green machine

ground pounder

gruesome twosome

ha-ha

handy Andy

handy dandy

hanky panky

happy clap

hari-kari

harum scraum

haw-haw

heebie jeebies

hell’s bells

helter skelter

herky jerky

he-she

Heckle and Jeckle

heyday

hickety dickety

hickory dickory

hi fi

higgledy piggly

hi-ho

hip hop

hippie-dippy

hippity-hop

hippity hoppity

hob nob

hobo

hocus pocus

hodge podge

ho-ho-ho

hoi polloi

hoity toity

hokey pokey

holy moley

honey bunny

hoochie coochie

hoochie coochie dance

hoolah boolah

hotch potch

hot shot

hot spot

hotsy totsy

hot to trot

house mouse

hubba-hubba

hubble bubble

hub bub

Huey, Dewey and Louie

hugger-mugger

hula-hula

hullabaloo

hully gully

humdrum

Humpty Dumpty

hurdy gurdy

hurly burly

hurry scurry

hush-hush

inky dinky

in like Flynn

I Spy

It’s It

itsy bitsy

itty bitty

jack mack

jaw-jaw

jeepers creepers

jelly belly

jibber jabber

jib-jab

jim-jams

jingle-jangle

Joe Blow

Joe Schmo

John-John

Jo-Jo

or

Joy Boy

kissin’ cousins

kissy-kissy

kit kat

killer diller

King Kong

kiwi

knick knack

knock-knock

Koko

Lair of the Bear

la-la

lazy Daisy

Lazy Mazy

legal beagle

legal eagle

lick ‘n’ stick

light, bright, and damned near white

Lite Brite

Little Joe from Kokomo

lock, stock and barrel

Lo-Do (Denver)

logo

Lolo Jones

loosie goosey

lovey dovey

lucky duck

Lulu

maitai

mama

mates’ rates

Mauii Wowie

Mau-Mau (noun)

Mau-Mau (verb)

maul ball

May Day

meals on wheels

mellow yellow

mishmash

mish mosh

mish, mosh and mogo

mod squad

mojo

MOMA

money honey

mop top

muckety-muck

Muddy buddies

multi culti

mumbo jumbo

Mushu

muumuu

namby pamby

Nanu-Nanu

naysayer

near beer

 never ever

never-never

night light

night night

niminy piminy chits

nit wit

nitty gritty

No-Do (Omaha)

no go

no no

no show

num-nums

odie-dodie

oily-oily oxen free

oeey goeey

oh-oh

okey dokey

ooh la-la

palsy-walsy

papa

papa oo mow mow

party hearty

pawpaw

pay day

pedal to the metal

pee-pee

peewee

peg leg

pell mell

picnic

Piggly-Wiggly

ping pong

pish posh

pitter patter

pity party

plain Jane

Pogo

pogo stick

polo

pom-pom

pooh pooh

pooper scooper

po-po

pot shot

pow wow

Provo

putt-putt

quacker backer

quirky Berkeley

rag bag

raggle taggle

ragin’ Cajun

rag tag

rah-rah

razzle dazzle

razzmataz

ready steady

redhead

reet, petite and gone

regal beagle

repo depot

repple depple

rib rub

riff raff

righty tighty

ring-a-ding

ring a ling

rinky dink

riprap

rootin’ tootin’

roly-poly

rope-a-dope

rub-a-dub-dub

rude food

rumble in the jungle

rumpy pump

same same

same old same old

say hey

sci fi

see saw

seven from heaven

shake n’ bake

Sha-Na-Na

shilly shally

ship shape

shock jock

short-shorts

Silly Billy

single digit midget

Sing Sing

sing-song

Skinny Minnie

slap happy

Slim and Slam

slimjim

slip, slap and slop

slow mo

slug bug

small ball

snail mail

sneak peak

snip snap

snow-blower

Soho (London)

solo

so-so

spiro gyro

splish splash

Spruce Goose

squeegee

stinky pinky

stranger danger

street beat

study buddy

stun gun

sump pump

super duper

swag bag

sweet meat

sweet treat

take and bake

talkie-talkie

teeny tiny

teeny weeny

teepee (tipi)

teeter-totter

Tex-Mex

Thrilla in Manilla

thunder from down under

tickle the pickle

tick tack toe

tick tock

ticky tack

tidy whitey

tie dye

tighty whities

Tiki

tingaling

titbit

tit for tat

tittle-tattle

tom-tom

too cool for school

tootie fruity

toot toot

Toto

town clown

trance dance

tramp stamp

treadhead

true blues

turn and burn

tussie-mussie

tutu

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

tweet-tweet

Two buck Chuck

tyke bike

Vini, vidi, vici.

voodoo

wabi sabi

wacky tobaccy

waka waka waka

wake ‘n bake

wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey

walkie talkie

walk the walk and talk the talk

wall ball

Walla Walla

Wavy Gravy

wawa

or

wawa

or

wawa

waylaid

waylay

wear and tear

weeble wobble

wee-wee

wee, wee Marie

wham bam

wheeler-dealer

whiskey frisky

white flight

whoo hoo

wifi

wigwag

or

wigway

willy nilly

wing ding

or

wing ding

or

wing ding

winky dinky

wishy washy

wooly bully

word nerd

yada-yada

yakety-yak

yard guard

ya-ya

ya-ya’s

yin yang

yolo

yo-yo

yoo-hoo

zig zag

zoo crew

zoo doo

zoot suit

Zsa-Zsa

Zulu

\When I went into my friend’s “study,” he was sorting through a new album collecction that Gabby had sent him.

My God.  Gabby doesn’t know when to say no.  And this was just the very beginning.  If you want to see the whole first carton, take a look.  I would have been stuck going through all of them but happily we came to this:

He slipped the record out of the sleeve and dropped the needle on “Satan’s Jewel Crown.”  What a song!

As we marveled at the beauty of the song I gave him this reduplication page to read.  He was impressed.  His exact words were: