Onomatopoeia are words that imitate the sound they represent. A popular one is ZIP. Can't you just hear the zipper slide moving up the teeth?
Some more common examples include:
Here are some that I like and are not so common:
Follow this link to hear sounds and brainstorm the word (onomatopoeia) to which it might belong.
http://interactives.mped.org/preview_mg.aspx?id=736&title=
Here is a video made by a college student that has just words, sounds, and pictures. What? No report, memo, or proposal? No 500 word essay? That's right...
Here's an example of poetry using onomatopoeia. Be gentle.
Zippers zing through shifting splashes of colored coats.
Yet crackling gasps and sighs patter through the room.
Careful, don't! Says mom.
...clatter, clang, and dash.
This tumultuous time is simply an entry
to trudge to school through depths of snow.
Now mom says it's time to go.
Okay, so it's not my best work...but you get the picutre.
Thinking so carefully about the words we're using, how they sound, feel, and the pictures that they conjure, brings us to a new level of awareness. It breaks us out of our mental pathways, and that can bring out innovative thinking that creates a new future.
Here are some ideas for ways to bring onomatopoeia back into your life:
The benefits can pay off in returns in innovation and energy toward problem solving.