CHRISTINE BURGMER

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Echo words

ECHO WORDS

Echo words (also known as double or rhyming words) are new words that are formed by repeating a word or a section of a word (for example, bye-bye or bonbon), by adding a consonant (for example, airy-fairy) or by slightly changing a vowel (for example pitter-patter).

Here is a list of echo words that you might read or hear or even want to use yourself!

Repeating echo words

aye-aye an expression used by seamen meaning ‘yes’bang-bang the sound of a gunberi beri a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin Bbling-bling flashy, glitzy; flashy jewellerybonbon a sweetbooboo a stupid mistakebye-bye goodbyecancan a fast dancecha-cha or cha-cha-cha a South American dancechin chin a drinking toastchoo-choo baby talk for a trainchow chow a breed of medium-sized dogscoco a palm treecouscous a North African dish made of crushed and steamed semolinadada an informal term for ‘father’dindin baby talk for ‘dinner’dodo a large extinct bird that could not fly; a stupid persondumdum a soft-nosed bullet that expands on impact and causes large and serious

woundsgaga silly, crazy; confused; completely infatuatedgee-gee a child’s word for ‘horse’go-go a style of dancing to pop musicgoody-goody affectedly sweet or good; a person who behaves well to please people in

authoritygoo-goo amorous or lovinghaha an imitation of the sound of laughter; an instance of amusementho ho an imitation of the sound of laughter and also used to show surprishousey housey an informal name for bingohush-hush secret; confidentialknock knock imitation of the sound of knockingmama mothermurmur a quiet low sound; a mutterNana a child’s word for ‘grandmother’ or ‘nanny’never-never an informal word for ‘hire purchase’

Christine Burgmer - English Language and Communication Trainer - phone 02266 1635 - www.english-trainer.de 1

never-never land an imaginary landnight night an informal way to say ‘goodnight’no-no something unacceptable or impermissible; a faux paspapa fatherpawpaw papayapompom a small woollen ball; a ball of fluffy material; a small button-like flowerpooh-pooh to express contempt aboutrah rah ardently enthusiasticso-so neither good nor bad; averageta-ta an informal goodbyetartar a hard yellowish substance that forms on teethtom-tom a long narrow drumtsetse an African fly whose bite is poisonoustum tum baby talk for ‘stomach’; a dish made in the West Indestutu a short skirt worn by ballerinastut-tut to express annoyance or impatience; an exclamation of disapproval or

surpriseyoyo a toyyum-yum an exclamation used to show that you think something tastes goodwin-win an arrangement in which all parties benefit

Rhyming echo words

airy-fairy insubstantial or impractical; unrealisticargy-bargy a verbal disputearty-farty affectedly artisticbackpack a rucksackbigwig a very important personboohoo to cry or sobboogie-woogie a style of piano jazz using blues harmoniesbow-wow a child’s word for ‘dog’, an imitation of the bark of a dogchick flick a film that particularly appeals to womenchock-a-block squeezed together; completely filledeasy-peasy very easyflower power a counterculture of young people in the US during the 60s and 70sfreebie/freebee an article or service that is freefuddy-duddy an old-fashioned, fussy personhanky-panky mischievous behaviour; casual sexual relationsheebie-jeebies a feeling of uneasiness or nervousnesshelter-skelter hurried or disorganisedhi-fi high-quality sound-producing equipmenthiggledy-piggledy in a muddle; in utter confusion, topsy-turvyhocus-pocus a trick performed by a magician; contrived nonsensehodgepodge a jumble; a mixture of dissimilar ingredientshoity-toity arrogant or haughtyhurly-burly great noise and activity; commotion

Christine Burgmer - English Language and Communication Trainer - phone 02266 1635 - www.english-trainer.de 2

hurry-scurry to move with undue hurry and confusionitsy-bitsy very smalljet set rich and fashionable people who travel widely for pleasurelovey-dovey making a sentimental or showy display of affectionmumbo-jumbo meaningless language; nonsensenamby-pamby insipid, sentimental, weaknight-light a small, dim light left on at nightnitty-gritty the basic facts of a matterno-go not functioning properly or in suitable condition for proceedingokey-dokey OKpayday the day on which employees receive their moneypie-eyed drunkplain Jane basic or simple; a plain-looking personpowwow a talk or meetingprime time the time between 7 and 11 p.m. when the largest TV audience is availablerazzle-dazzle excitement; noisy or showy fuss or activitysci-fi science fictionsnail mail the conventional post – as opposed to e-mailsuperduper marvellous, greatwilly-nilly without order or plan; haphazardvoodoo a religion practised in Caribbean countries; a charm, spell or curse

Vowel change echo words

chit-chat light, informal conversationclip clop the sound of horse’s hoovescriss-cross a pattern of lines which cross each otherdilly-dally to dawdle or to waste time; to postpone what one should be doingding-dong the sound of a bell; to ringflim-flam to deceive or trick somebodyflip-flop a simple rubber sandal; a backward somersault; a decision to reverse an

earlier decisionhee-haw the sound of a donkeyhip-hop rap music; an urban youth cultureknick-knack a small ornament or trinketmishmash a hodgepodge; a confused mixtureping-pong a game similar to table tennispitter-patter a series of rapid tapping soundsriff-raff a rabble; a mob; persons of the lowest class of a communityseesaw a piece of wood balanced in the middle so that two people seated on each

end can ride up and downshilly-shally to procrastinate; to hesitateticktock the ticking sound made by a clocktiptop of the highest quality or condition; superb, excellenttittle-tattle trivial talk; petty gossipzigzag a line or course which has sharp turns in alternating directionswishy-washy thin and watery; weak in willpower, courage or vitality

Christine Burgmer - English Language and Communication Trainer - phone 02266 1635 - www.english-trainer.de 3