Syllables of Recorded Time
adapted from 101 Words I Don't Use by Paul Niquette

Copyright ©1997 by Paul Niquette.  All rights reserved.


Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last 
syllable of recorded time...
-- Macbeth

 
ords have two lengths: number of letters when written, number of syllables when spoken.
What word can be pronounced quicker by adding a syllable to it?
Abbreviations save letters. Often abbreviations save syllables. For example,...

  • IBM saves 6 syllables, same as U.S.A. But 3M saves 10 syllables.
  • TLD (Triple Letter Designator) saves 5 syllables.
  • RBI saves only 1 syllable.
  • TWA costs an extra syllable.
  • World Wide Web costs 6 syllables when abbreviated to WWW.
  • In realms of commerce, of course, TLDs do more than abbr.
  • Building big motorcycles motivated Birmingham Small Arms to become BSA.
  • Diversification into computers induced National Cash Register to become NCR.
  • For "share of mind," 3M does a whole lot better than...whatever those initials stand for.
That initialization improves Trans World is unclear to me, and Bavarian Motor Works is known to fewer than half the yuppies making payments on BMWs.
What word can be pronounced funny by taking a syllable out of it?
There are several words which have
8 letters but only 1 syllable
(strength, sleights, thoughts)...


Can you name an 8-letter word with 5 syllables?

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