{"id":8218,"date":"2021-09-30T10:30:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T14:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=8218"},"modified":"2021-09-30T09:40:24","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T13:40:24","slug":"commonly-used-english-alliterations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/commonly-used-english-alliterations\/","title":{"rendered":"Commonly Used English Alliterations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by\u00a0kparsson<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Let me tell you a secret about English speakers that many of us don\u2019t even realize. We love to speak in alliterations. We can\u2019t help it. Our language is filled with alliterative phrases that we use every day. Even for those who don\u2019t know what alliteration is.<\/p>\n

Understanding Alliteration<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I found myself the other day describing something as \u201cutterly unique.\u201d Utterly is an adverb meaning \u201cto the extreme\u201d or \u201cgreatly\u201d. Unique is an adjective meaning a one-of-a-kind thing. So, my statement was redundant. Nevertheless, I must use that phrase at least once or twice a week. That\u2019s a lot of singular sights and sounds in a year. So, I wondered why I say that phrase as often as I do. My conclusion? It\u2019s because it\u2019s alliterative.<\/p>\n

Alliteration occurs when the consonant sounds of words are repeated in their stressed syllables. Perhaps the most famous example of this in English is the old tongue-twister, \u201cPeter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.\u201d We get the term alliteration<\/em> from the Latin word littera<\/em>, meaning “letter of the alphabet”. By repeating letters and their sounds in a phrase, the words have a kind of texture to them. It gets the attention of the listeners by making whatever is being said sound more interesting. Thus, although the listeners may not be aware of it, everything with some alliteration is more memorable.<\/p>\n

Of course, alliteration is easily overdone. There\u2019s an idiom in English, \u201cA little goes a long way.\u201d That\u2019s certainly true in this case. An abundance of alliteration can annoy anyone, so stop saying sentences stuffed with silly sounds.<\/p>\n

The Best Alliterative Phrases and Their Meanings<\/strong><\/h3>\n