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Exercise #555: Word Play
Posted 1/24/14
Today’s exercise comes from Sue L, though she probably doesn’t remember suggesting it, that suggestion happened so long ago.
She wrote, “The idea of false splitting a word - e.g. a stigmatism instead of astigmatism, going to see Attle instead of going to Seattle - fascinates me. A play on words, or a misunderstanding, which can be very funny or confusing, depending on how it's used. When I was a child, my parents invited an overseas visitor to come with us to a scenic spot called Lesmurdie. She asked if he would be home. Who? Les Murdie, of course!”
My own most memorable was likely from a Saturday Night Live skit, where the driver of a car says, “What’s that in the road a head?”
For this exercise, include a “false splitting” in your SUB, and see what funny or confusing misunderstanding you can get out of it.
Critiquers, you might choose to answer these questions for critiquing the piece:
* Did you catch any spelling errors or other standard proofreading items? If so, note them for the author.
* Did you find the falsely split word worked in this piece? Why or why not?
Word limit: 1200
Please use the subject line:
SUB: Exercise #555/yourname
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