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alliteration

By Richard Nordquist, About.com

Definition:

The repetition of an initial consonant sound. Adjective: alliterative. See also:

Etymology:

From the Latin, "putting letters together"

Examples and Observations:

  • "You'll never put a better bit of butter on your knife."
    (advertising slogan for Country Life butter)


  • "The soul selects her own society."
    (Emily Dickinson)


  • "Forget the most obvious problem with collegiate calorie counting, that studying Kierkegaard or Conrad after a dinner of seitan and soy chips would render even robust stomachs seasick, sometimes outright ill. And I won’t harp on the clear link between vigorous salad consumption and sulkiness."
    (Marisha Pessl, "Seize the Weight," The New York Times, Oct. 6, 2006)


  • "In a somer seson, whan soft was the sonne . . ."
    (William Langland, Piers Plowman, 14th century)


  • "The sibilant sermons of the snake as she discoursed upon the disposition of my sinner's soul seemed ceaseless."
    (Gregory Kirschling, The Gargoyle, 2008)


  • "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
    (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)


  • "The daily diary of the American dream."
    (slogan of The Wall Street Journal)


  • "Pompey Pipped at the Post as Pippo Pounces"
    (sports headline, Daily Express, Nov. 28, 2008)


  • "Alliteration, or front rhyme, has been traditionally more acceptable in prose than end-rhyme but both do the same thing--capitalize on chance. . . . This powerful glue can connect elements without logical relationship."
    (Richard Lanham, Analyzing Prose, Continuum, 2003)


  • "A moist young moon hung above the mist of a neighboring meadow."
    (Vladimir Nabokov, Conclusive Evidence)


  • "Guinness is good for you."
    (advertising slogan)


  • "Good men are gruff and grumpy, cranky, crabbed, and cross."
    (Clement Freud)


  • "My style is public negotiations for parity, rather than private negotiations for position."
    (Jesse Jackson)
Pronunciation: ah-lit-err-RAY-shun
Also Known As: head rhyme, initial rhyme, front rhyme

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