Bread-Making Homonyms

I have a special treat for you today: a complete set of instructions for making bread using homonyms! This one's gonna be tasty!

Step 1: Plant a field with corn seed using an appropriate garden tool (for example, a hoe).

sow - to scatter (seed) over land, earth, etc., for growth; plant.
sew - to join or attach by stitches.
so - to the extent or degree indicated or suggested: Do not walk so fast.

maize - (chiefly in British and technical usage) corn.
maze - a confusing network of intercommunicating paths or passages; labyrinth.

hoe - a long-handled implement having a thing, flat blade usually set transversely, used to break up the surface of the ground, destroy weeds, etc.
ho - (used as a call to attract attention, sometimes specially used after a word denoting a destination): Westward ho! Land ho!

Step 2: Keep the plants healthy by supplying appropriate amounts of water and sunshine.

sun - (often initial capital letter) the star that is the central body of the solar system, around which the planets revolve and from which they receive light and heat...
son - a male child or person in relation to his parents.

rays - narrow beams of light.
raise - to move to a higher position; lift up; elevate: to raise one's hand; sleepy birds raising their heads and looking about.

Step 3: Harvest the crop at the appropriate time, then grind up the corn into flower and bag it.

flour - the finely ground, powdery foodstuff.
flower - the blossom of a plant.

meal - a coarse, unsifted powder ground from the edible seeds of any grain: wheat meal; cornmeal.
meal - the food served and eaten especially at one of the customary, regular occasions for taking food during the day, as breakfast, lunch, or supper.

sack - a large bag of strong, coarsely woven material, as for grain, potatoes, or coal.
sac - a baglike structure in an animal, plant, or fungus, as one containing fluid.

Step 4: Add water to the flour and knead it to make dough.

add - to unite or join so as to increase the number, quantity, size or importance: to add two cups of sugar; to add a postscript to her letter; to add insult to injury.
ad - advertisement.

knead - to work (dough, clay, etc.) into a uniform mixture by pressing, folding, and stretching.
need - a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation: There is no need for you to go there.

dough - flour or meal combined with water, milk, etc., in a mass for baking into bread, cake, etc.; paste of bread.
doe - the female of the deer, antelope, goat, rabbit, and certain other animals.

Step 5: Work the dough into the desired shape (for example rolls or loaves) then bake.

roll - bread roll
role - a part or character played by an actor or actress.

bread - a kind of food made of flour or meal that has been mixed with milk or water, made into a dough or batter, with or without yeast or other leavening agent, and baked.
bred - simple past tense and past participle of breed.


It's as simple as that folks. I hope you all get a chance to break bread with your friends and family this week!

break - phrase "break bread" meaning to eat a meal, especially with others. Or to smash, split, or divide into parts.
brake - a device for slowing or stopping a vehicle or other moving mechanism by the absorption or transfer of the energy of momentum, usually by means of friction.

Note: All definitions were obtained from www.dictionary.com.

The Tortoise and the Hare

I signed myself, husband, and four-year old daughter up for the Tortoise Trot next weekend. It's a one mile family fun run at the Blank Park Zoo. The zoo is honoring their tortoises that are turning 50 this year!

All this got me thinking about the classic story of the tortoise and the hare. Anybody who knows me would tell you that I'm not good at running. I've even been called the turtle when people see me run. Ok, let's be honest, I don't run, I jog really slowly. And my husband and daughter are both really fast - they're the hares in this story. But we all know how things turn out in the end, so I'm thinking my chances are pretty good for next weekend. Here's hoping!

And here's some animal homonyms for you!

hare - any rodentlike mammal of the genus Lepus, of the family Leporidae, having long ears, a divided upper lip, and long limbs adapted to leading.
hair - any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, kreatinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals.

boar - the uncastrated male swine.
bore - to form, make, or construct (a tunnel, mine, well, passage, etc.) by hollowing out, cutting through, or removing a core of material: to bore a tunnel through the Alps; to bore an oil well 3000 feet deep.


bee - any hymenopterous insect of the superfamily Apoidea, including social and solitary species of several families, as the bumblebees, honeybees, etc.
be - to exist or live.

ewe - a female sheep.
you - the pronoun of the second person singular or plural, used of the person or persons being addressed, in the nominative or objective case: You are the highest bidder. It is you who are to blame. We can't help you. This package came for you. Did she give you the book?
yew - any of several evergreen, coniferous trees and shrubs of the genera Taxus and Torreya, constituting the family Taxaceae, of the Old World, North America, and Japan, having needlelike or scalelike foilage and seeds enclosed in a fleshy aril.

doe - the female of the deer, antelope, goat, rabbit, and certain other animals.
dough - flour or meal combined with water, milk, etc., in a mass for baking into bread, cake, etc.; paste of bread.

fowl - the domestic or barnyard hen or rooster; chicken.
foul - grossly offensive to the senses; disguistingly loathsome; noisome: a foul smell.


And I have one more that you might find questionable, but I'm going to put it in here anyway...

lion - a large, usually tawny-yellow cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa and southern Asian, having a tufted tail and, in the male, a large mane.
lying - the telling of lies, or false statements; untruthfulness.

I realize that if you pronounce every letter in the word lying, it is distinct from lion. But if you say it with a bit of an accent, then they sound the same!

All definitions were obtained from www.dictionary.com.

Administrator of the Year Awards

A couple of weeks ago, School Administrators of Iowa hosted an awards ceremony and reception for Iowa's Administrators of the Year. The group of awardees included a superintendent, central office staffer, secondary principal,  secondary assistant principal, middle level principal and elementary principal. The ceremony was at our capitol building and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa's Department of Education Director Jason Glass graced us with their presence.

All this got me thinking about homonyms of course! I've got three to share with you today.

principal - the head or director of a school, or especially in England, a college.

principle - an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct: a person of good moral principles.

capitol - (often lowercase) a building occupied by a state legislature.

capital - the city or town that is the official seat of government in the country, state, etc.: Tokyo is the capital of Japan.

presence - the state or fact of being present, as with others or in a place.

presents - a thing presented as a gift; gift: Christmas presents.

All definitions were obtained from www.dictionary.com.

Homograph Alert!

I've come to the realization that it's going to take a lot more effort (and luck) to think up some homographs than it is for homophones. For example, when somebody says the word bear, you might easily think of the word bare too. They sound the same, and the similarity is easier to identify. But, if somebody says, "I lead a team of experts," it's harder to connect the word "lead" to the word "lead" (a form of metal).

So, when I started reading my first James Patterson novel this week, I was delighted when I came across a homograph! And I thought I'd share it with you:

wound - (pronounced woond) an injury, usually involving division of tissue or rupture of the integument or mucous membrane, due to external violence or some mechanical agency rather than disease.
wound - a simple past tense and past participle of wind. I wound that ball of string.

Which brings me to another homograph...

wind - (pronounced wahynd) to change direction; bend; turn; take a frequently bending course; meander: The river winds through the forest. Or to coil or twine about something: The ivy winds around the house.
wind - air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: A gentle wind blew through the valley. High winds were forecast.


So this week, you get a twofer of homographs!

All definitions were obtained from www.dictionary.com.

Food-related Homonyms

So for Mother's Day, my husband decided to get me a spice rack. I was really excited when he told me his idea, but then he couple that with, "and I know how picky you are so I want you to actually go and buy it, but I still get credit for having the idea!" I was a bit thrown off, but I figure what they hay, I'm getting a spice rack! (And in his defense, he did come with me and spend at least an hour at two different stores until I found the one I wanted.)

In case you're interested, you can see the one I got at JCPenny's website.

I picked one out that already had jars pre-filled with spices. And one of them was thyme. I think you can probably see where I'm going with this. Seeing thyme got me started thinking about other food-related homonyms for the week. Here's what I came up with:

thyme - any of numerous plants belonging to the genus Thymus, of the mint family, including the common garden herb T. vulgaris, a low subshrub having narrow, aromatic leaves used for seasoning.
time - the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.

pear - the edible fruit, typically rounded but elongated and growing smaller toward the stem, of a tree, Pyrus communis, of the rose family.
pair - two identical, similar, or corresponding things that are matched for use together: a pair of gloves; a pair of earrings.
pare - to reduce or remove by or as by cutting; diminish or decrease gradually (often followed by down): to pare down one's expenses.


(Other forms of pair and pare are also homonyms, including: paired and pared, plus pairing and paring.)

sweets - something that is sweet or causes or gives a sweet flavor, smell, or sound: candy.
suites - a connected series of rooms to be used together: a hotel suite.


wine - the fermented juice of grapes, made in many varieties, such as red, white, sweet, dry, still, and sparkling, for use as a beverage, in cooking, in religious rites, etc., and usually having an alcoholic content of 14 percent or less.
whine - to utter a low, usually nasal, complaining cry or sound, as from uneasiness, discontent, peevishness, etc.: The puppies were whining from hunger.


Speaking of wine, what good is wine without a little cheese right?

whey - a milk serum, separating as liquid from the curd after coagulation, as in cheese making.
weigh - to determine or ascertain the force that gravitation exerts upon (a person or thing) by use of a balance, scale, or other mechanical device: to weigh oneself; to weigh potatoes; to weigh gases.
way - a direction or vicinity: Look this way. We're having a drought out our way.


grate - to reduce to small particles by rubbing against a rough surface or a surface with many sharp-edged openings: to grate cheese.
great - wonderful; first-rate; very good: All this food tastes great!


Definitions were obtained from www.dictionary.com.

Horse-related Homonyms

As most of you probably know, the Kentucky Derby was last week. I was cheering for Dullahan, the horse from Iowa. He ended up getting third place, and it was a really good race. All this race-talk and horse-talk last week got me thinking about homonyms related to horses. Here's what I was able to think up:

horse - a large, solid-hoofed, herbivorous quadruped, Equus caballus, domesticated since prehistoric times, bred in a number of varieties, and used for carrying or pulling loads, for riding, and for racing.
hoarse - having a vocal tone characterized by weakness of intensity and excessive breathiness; husky: the hoarse voice of the auctioneer.

course - the track, ground, water, etc., on which a race is run, sailed, etc.: One runner fell halfway around the course.
coarse - lacking in fineness or delicacy of texture, structure, etc.: The stiff, coarse fabric irritated her skin.

gait - any of the manner in which a horse moves, as a walk, trot, canter, gallop, or rack.
gate - a movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.

neigh - to utter the cry of a horse; whinny.
nay - archaic. no (used in dissent, denial, or refusal).

mane - the long hair growing on the back of or around the neck and neighboring parts of some animals, as the horse or lion.
main - chief in size, extent, or importance; principal; leading: the company's main office; the main features of a plan.

tail - the hindmost part of an animal, especially that forming a distinct, flexible appendage to the trunk.
tale - a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story: a tale about Lincoln's dog.


rein - often, reins. a leather strip, fastened to each end of the bit of a bridle, by which the rider or driver controls a horse or other animal by pulling so as to exert pressure on the bit.
rain - water that is condensed from the aqueous vapor in the atmosphere and falls to earth in drops more that 1/50 in. (0.5 mm) in diameter.
reign - the period during which a sovereign occupies the throne.

hay - grass, clover, alfalfa, etc., cut and dried for use as forage.
hey - hello: used as a greeting.

carrot - a plant, Daucus carota, of the parsley family, having pinnately decompound leaves and umbels of small white or or yellow flowers, in its wild form a widespread, familiar weed, and in cultivation valued for its edible root.
karat - a unit for measure the fineness of gold, pure gold being 24 karats fine.

All definitions are obtained from www.dictionary.com.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog about homonyms! 

Why homonyms? About a year ago, I graduated from Kaplan University. There were a couple of classes in my degree program that were a requirement. I wasn't excited about them, I thought that they were a waste of time, and I suffered through the semester. I'm sure many of you have taken classes that made you feel the same way. In this case, my class was Writing.

One of the assignments in this class involved sharing a pair of homonyms with the class. I thought this was a waste of time and instead of trying to think of a pair of homonyms on my own, I looked online to fulfill this assignment. I had some trouble finding them, but eventually succeeded. I thought "thank goodness, one more assignment closer to end of this course!"

But, ever since that assignment pairs of homonyms have been creeping into my head. I can't explain it, but every once in awhile when I think of a word that's similar to another, I remember that class. Maybe it made more of an impression on me than I thought. So to answer the question, I'm starting a blog about homonyms for two reasons:

1.  because they keep popping into my head, and
2. to provide a list for other college students suffering through required Writing courses (and anybody else curious about homonyms, of course)!

That brings me to my next question some of you may be asking: What is a homonym? My instructor interpreted a homonym to mean words that sound the same but are spelled differently. I have since found out that this is not entirely true. Aside from homonyms, there are also homophones and homographs. Here are some definitions:

Homophone - a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as heir and air


Homograph - a word of the same written form as another but of different meaning and usually origin, whether pronounced the same way or not, as bear "to carry;support" and bear "animal" or lead "to conduct" and lead "metal"


Homonym - all-inclusive term that describes not only words that are both homophonic and homographic, but words that are either one or the other. In common parlance, then words that sound alike, look alike, or both can be called homonyms.

All definitions are obtained from www.dictionary.com.

On this blog, I'll be focusing mostly on homophones (since that was the original assignment from my instructor). But, as I run out of ideas, I may include some homographs and some pairs that are both homophones and homographs. 

First pair of homophones! So without any further ado, let's get this party started right.

Right - in conformity with fact, reason, truth, or some standard or principle; correct: the right solution; the right answer. 

Right - a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral: You have a right to say what you please. 

Rite - a formal or ceremonial act or procedure prescribed or customary in religious or other solemn use: rites of baptism; sacrificial rites. 

Right and right are both homophones and homographs, while right and rite are homophones only.

All definitions are obtained from www.dictionary.com.