Say It A Different Way – Consciously

I have been listening to a series by Alistair Begg in which they advertised a book called “The Hole In Our Holiness.”  As I heard that title stated by the announcer, I thought about the fact that there was a conscious attempt to frame the contents of the book!

Why would they someone like Kevin De Young purposefully title the book that way?  Surely there was a lot of time and thought which went into the book, not to mention money by the publisher.  The reason is unmistakable!  It was because they believed that the title matters!  The phrasing of the title was wittingly designed in a way which . . . .

caught the listener’s interests and attention, and

made it memorable.  

Both were true in my experience since it obviously caught my attention enough to address it here, and I still remember the title.  I never had to say to myself, “What was the title of that series?”  I clearly remember it after several days!

The phrase was created by using a literary device called “homophones.”  There are various names for various literary devices . . . .

• homophones
• homonyms
• onomatopoeia
• homophones
• rhyme
• homographs
• alliteration
• heteronyms
• capitonyms

 

Homophones are words that sound alike but are not at all the same in meaning.  Obviously, the word “holes” is not at all connected to “holiness.”  Nevertheless, it catches the listener because there is a “sound alike.”

How about . . . .

Abel & able — “Abel had a brother who wasn’t able to please the Lord.”

or

acclamation & acclimation — “There are times when acclamation will require acclimation.”

or

aloud & allowed — “You are not allowed to say that aloud. — Psalm 73:15 / Job 27:4”

 

What other words are homophones?  Here are a few in the “A” category, as well as a link to a pdf file which contains MANY others.

• absence absents
• accepter acceptor
• accidence accidents
• acclamation acclimation
• ad add
• adds ads
• aid aide
• adherence adherents
• adolescence adolescents
• adulteress adulterous
• adventuress adventurous
• ai aye eye I
• ail ale
• air aire are ayre ere eyre heir
• aisle I’ll isle
• ait ate eight
• allowed aloud
• allusion elusion illusion
• alms arms
• altar alter
• ant aunt
• ante anti auntie
• appose oppose
• arc ark
• aren’t aunt
• ascent assent
• assistance assistants
• attendance attendants
• aught ought
• aural oral
• away aweigh
• awe oar or ore
• axes axis
• ayes eyes

 

If you are looking . . . .

• to frame a Big Idea
• to create a sermon title
• to construct a repeatable phrase

. . . . some of these homophones may work for you!