Oronym

An oronym (a type of homophone, also called a continunym or a slice-o-nym) is a pair of phrases which share a similar relationship as the homophonic, in that they differ in meaning and spelling, yet share a similar pronunciation. Continunyms share a similar chain of consonant and vowel sounds, however they are composed of words that are cut at different points in the phonetic strings, hence the name slice-o-nym. Examples include "an ice cream" and "a nice cream"; "mint spy" and "mince pie"; "ice cream" and "I scream"; "stuffy nose" and "stuff he knows". ^[1]

This particular '-onym', oronym, was invented by Gyles Brandreth and first published in his book The Joy of Lex (1980). This term also featured in the BBC programme Never Mind the Full Stops, which also featured Brandreth as a guest.

Mad Gab is a team oronym solving game.

Please note a totally different meaning in other language, whereas the oronymXXX has a topological meaning.

Examples

More examples of continunyms (oronyms):

• "grape ants" (grey pants)
• "cleaning's tough" (cleaning stuff)

Several examples appear in music, such as:

• David Bowie's album title Aladdin Sane = (A lad insane).^[2]
• Miles Davis' album title Milestones = (Miles' Tones)
• Bill Evans' song title Peri's Scope = (Periscope)

Accent-based Examples

American comedian Jeff Foxworthy frequently uses oronyms in his Appalachian routine. Notable examples include, "Initiate: My wife ate two sandwiches, initiate (and then she ate) a bag o' tater chips." and "Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise (Man, there is) a lot of people here tonight."

Here are more comedic examples of continunyms (oronyms) that depend on being pronounced in a particular accent:

• "spice" (space) in an Australian accent:

"Spice. The final frontier. So much flavour! ... Space on the other hand is completely devoid of flavour."

• "Caesar salad" (Scissor salad) in an Italian accent:

Customer: "I'd like a Caesar salad.

Italian waiter: "Sir! Are you sure you want the Scissor salad? You'll cut your mouth!"

References