Alliteration: Make It Memorable

Why repeated sounds and letters make all the difference.

Here it is – the first in a bitesize brigade of literary devices that underpin everything we say; and everything we do.

The all action device to lead from the front?

Enter stage left: alliteration.

Alliteration – a literary device that sounds like the new NASA project sent to explore Echo91B# (totally made-up star system; amazing how a few letters and numbers align with usual NASA names) but is actually one of the most powerful writing/reading devices you can use.

It increases your chances of convincing; makes your speech and written word more memorable; and gives music to words usually too afraid to sing.

A device we learn in school, predominantly for poetry, and then dump when we leave at sixteen – it is consecutive words beginning with the same letter or the repeated sound within closely connected words.

“Thick as Thieves”

Old proverb

Dictionary.com list two points:

• the commencement of two or more stressed syllables of a word group either with the same consonant sound or sound group (consonantal alliteration ), as in from stem to stern, or with a vowel sound that may differ from syllable to syllable (vocalic alliteration ), as in each to all.
• the commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter, as in apt alliteration’s artful aid.

Being alliterative makes the ordinary read ring and the simple sound mellifluous. It gives oomph. It carries the writing or speech forward; generates rhythm; and can be used to accentuate the parts you want to be remembered.

Make It Memorable

Why are so many phrases, that literally, don’t make sense, so damn memorable?

You guessed it at the back: alliteration.

‘Cost a Pretty Penny’

No matter the object or service in question, a penny doesn’t buy a lot – no matter how pretty it is. Equally, if the penny was ugly, it’s currency value would stay the same. This saying also doubles-up with another literary device called assonance (more on that in next week’s bitesize literary device), which is the echo of repeated vowels. So, it’s actually an alliterative, assonantal phrase.

‘Thick as Thieves’

Literally, when did being a thief correspond to being thick. Surely, a slender thief would be conducive to a skilled and successful one – I imagine hopping over secure fences carrying an extra eighty stone is both unrealistic, and ever so weighty. And, more weight means less loot means less lavish meals with a less easy life. Again, there’s assonance here (usually, alliteration and assonance go hand in hand) as well as consonance, which is – you guessed it – the echo of consonant sounds.

‘Daredevil’

There’s a bridge ten minutes away, but they jumped the ten-foot brook anyway – what a daredevil. Can anyone be a literal devil? First, we have to ask the question whether the devil exists and then whether they would show in something small as a dare? But it sticks, we all know what is meant when someone’s a ‘daredevil’, but we barely bat an eyelid.

Hundreds of sayings stand the test of time (see what I did there?) precisely because they’re alliterative.

Cool as a cucumber. Copycat. Jump for joy. Add insult to injury. And so many more…

Alliteration is assuring, all-giving; and is all over the place.

“Alliterations have always been an important aspect of poetry/ But a recent study suggests that this literary technique is useful not only for poetry but also for memory”

From Association for Pyschological Science, click here for site

Make it Market-able

“Maybe It’s Maybelline”

Slogan owned by L’Oreal

Want something that sticks in the mind of potential customers, then alliteration is your all-convincing colleague. It’s no surprise then that ad agencies, copywriters, content writers and marketers know all too well the allure of a great, grasping line. Or, for that matter, a commanding company name.

Take this list of well-known slogans that, on the surface, appear unconvincing, but are actually seeding in your unconscious to take full bloom later on down the line:

• Maybe She’s Born with It, Maybe It’s Maybelline (Maybelline)
• Good Food, Good Life (Nestle)
• Melts in your mouth, not in your hands (M&M’s)
• Have a break, have a Kit Kat (Kit Kat by Nestle)

There are a few other literary devices that are working away behind the scenes here, like rhyme, assonance, consonance, suggested qualities given to the consumer if they buy the product; puns; all give weight to the slogan.

But, the foundation it sits securely on? Alliteration.

And doesn’t it sing.

Make it Musical

“Cus I’m freeeeee, freeeee falllll-in’

Tom Petty

Music eh, where would we be without it?

And where would music be without alliteration. Loads of song titles and lyrics rely on the sticking power of alliteration. It emphasizes words the song-writers wish to be heard at the most emotive part of the song.

The list of alliterative songs is countless (maybe someone has counted them, but I’m yet to find that persevering person), but here are a few:

• Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice
• Bad Blood, Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar
• Lush Life, Zara Larsson
• Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits

Make it End

Easy at the back, this alliterative tour has come to an end. Possibly far too much alliteration for one rapid read (sorry), but I wanted to get the message across.

Incidentally, and seeing has you asked, too much alliteration is called paroemion. So, when in your next debate derby; throw that at someone when they spit alliterative phrases your way.

‘appy alliterating (honestly Mitch, take it easy).

By Mitchell Wood @ mitchellwood@hotmail.co.uk

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