"I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance." --Wesley Snipes

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Onomatopoeia vs. Alliteration

Teaching freshman composition to a class of international students this summer has made me hypersensitive to matters of grammar, spelling, and general usage.

Yesterday, on Molto Mario, Mario Batali said "onomatopoeia" when he meant "alliteration." He made a pasta sauce with pancetta and parsnips, and then said his choice to use these particular ingredients was driven by his love for onomatopoeia. He was merely being alliterative.

6 comments:

Reen said...

Unless he some how thinks parsnips make a snipping sound when you cut them? Or that the "s" and "t" sounds in "pancetta" mimic the popping of frying bacon.

Then he wouldn't be inaccurate so much as incomplete, as he would love both alliteration and onomatopoeia. Of course, he could just love onomatopoeia, while being willing to "take or leave" alliteration.

This is the problem with my mind. It refuses to stop working.

traumenomenon said...

Alton Brown would never make such an obvious gaffe.

Anthony Robinson said...

No. Alton would not make such a gaffe. Alton would also know that there's no "s" sound in "pancetta."

Reen said...

"ch" then? A thousand pardons...

shanna said...

mario does have a literature degree from rutgers, however. very literary is the man and at least he knows a poetic device when he sees one, even if he misnames it. i love that show. it's a wonder how he packs so much regional info into each 30-min episode.

Anthony Robinson said...

I did not know that Mario had a lit degree. Kudos to Mario, even if he gets his literary devices wrong. The other day he had the Gyllenhaals on his show. And John Pizzarelli.