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Using words to make a noise

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MANY of YOU may have noticed that words make noises. Some words actually do sound a bit like their meaning.

Did you hear the brakes of that car screeching on the wet road surface? The sound of the verb 'to screech' sounds like the action it is describing. Can you hear the clatter of dishes in the kitchen? Don't you think that 'clatter' sounds like the noise of dishes being banged together?

Look at the 10 sentences below. They all contain the word 'noise'. But this is a bit of a boring word and it tells us nothing at all about the sound that is being made. Can you replace the word 'noise' with a more descriptive word? Here is an example:

I can hear the noise of a bell in the distance.

I can hear the clang of a bell in the distance.

'Clang' is a much more interesting and descriptive word than plain old 'noise'. The 'clang' of a bell sounds like the sound the bell is making if you use your imagination a bit.

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