Almost onomatopoeia

[StillStunned]

Slink
Sleet
Fuming

 

[BeechLeaf]

Sound symbolism is the propensity for certain sound groups to occur in multiple words that have similar meanings:

glance, glint, glide, glitter, glean - gentle movement, often of light (so also glare)
bash, dash, flash, crash, splash - rough, fast movement (some such as 'splash' may be onomatopoeic)
flutter, flick, flip - bordering on the etymological group flee, fly, flow

Oh, and the diminutive -le helps a lot too: nibble, dabble, nuzzle, fiddle...

 

[NotWise]

If it was just "sizz" it would be onomatopoetic, but the "le" had to come along and ruin it.

Per etymology online, sizzle originated from "sizzen" which was "imitative" (onomatopoeic).

Also per same source, sizzle is a trending word. I blame marketing more than porn.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Splat, Whiz, Boom and Yip

Gurgling

I'd consider most of these to be onomatopoeia, excepting maybe "whiz".

If you played a non-English-speaking listener recordings of the other four words and the matching sounds, and asked them to pick which words sounded most like which sounds, I'd expect them to get most if not all correct.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Woof and Meow

 

[anthrodisiac]

Growl. Shriek. Grunt. Bark. But I'm listening to Jinjer and have been practicing metal vocals for almost an hour,* so that might've put me in the mood for it.

*And have made some wonderful fucking progress in the last couple days

 

[AlexBailey]

Suck
Slick
Slip
Spank

 

[AlexBailey]

Granola

​

Onomatopoeia?

Okay.

 

[StillStunned]

Onomatopoeia?

Okay.

The thread is about words that *aren't* onomatopoeias.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Frippery
Dredge
Raucous
Jiggle

 

[AlexBailey]

The thread is about words that *aren't* onomatopoeias.

It’s about words that are almost onomatopoeias.

I’d just never thought about the “sound of granola” before.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

Fizzle

"Fizz" rises, "le" falls. It fizzles.

 

[SkyBubble]

There are some words that just seem so right for what they refer to, without being onomatopoeiac like cuckoo or sizzle. Can you think of any?

Here are my first offerings

smegma - what got me thinking about this

glass - just so smooth and sharp at the same time

I tossed "fuzzy" around for a while. I decided it bordered on onomotapoeiac, even though there's no sound involved.

Ding is an onomatopoeia for the sound of a bell.

 

[SkyBubble]

I've always thought of sizzle as an onomatopoeia

Yes. Try making the sound of a sizzle and you get sizzle.

 

[SkyBubble]

I’d just never thought about the “sound of granola” before.

The bowl is alive
With the sound of granola

(Apologies to Oscar Hammerstein)

 

[SkyBubble]

Woof and Meow

I think my cat would agree. Sometimes she tries to imitate human sounds.

 

[AG31]

Woof and Meow

I think those are close to real onomatopoeia.

 

[AG31]

gloomy, fuss

 

[spiralholly]

Slough
jitter
rise

 

[AlexBailey]

Cattywampus

 

[StillStunned]

"Bite". Just saying the word is almost like taking a bite.

Not an onomatopoeia, or even a "sound" word, but "fuck" is an almost perfect swear word. You can drag out the F for as long as you want, with your face screwed up, and then you get the short, sharp "-uck", with a close-mouthed vowel and ending on a guttural. It's the word you want when you stub your toe in the dark, or your lottery ticket is off by two numbers, or the cat tries to climb up your bare leg while you're holding a cup of coffee.