Speak Easy: Siamese Twin Words
All the English words in this Speak Easy puzzle are «Siamese Twin Words» or «Irreversible Binomials», in other words a pair or grouping of words used together and joined by either «and» or «or» and in which the order of the words cannot be inversed. Many of these phrases are rhythmic or alliterative making them catchy. Some word combinations have become so widely used that their meanings surpass the meaning of the constituent words and are thus inseparable and permanent parts of the English lexicon. Many of them are also clichés, thus should be used with caution. Some of them translated to French by another set of Siamese Twins. Please make a comment below if you know what the equivalent French linguistic term is!
The Speak Easy Puzzle was a popular feature in the FUSAC magazine for more than 25 years. Readers liked them so much they would cut them out and save the whole collection. It is widely used by teachers of English and French as well. Because they were so popular we combined them into a lively book illustrated with watercolors. This Spring Speak Easy Puzzle is one of 150 puzzles in a 3 volume collection which is available exclusively at Bill & Rosa’s Book Room or by email : BRBookRoom@gmail.com
There are more sample Speak Easy Puzzles on our website.
The term Siamese Twin Words was first used as a linguistics term by H. W. Fowler, a renowned lexicographer who worked on A Dictionary of Modern English Usage in 1926. As a regular word the term comes from the most famous cojoined (the current and politically correct term) twins Chang and Eng Bunker who were born in Siam in 1811.They two brothers travelled to the United States, became citizens, married two sisters and fathered a total of twenty two children and lived 63 years triomphing over extraordinary odds and predjudice!
Read this Daily Mail summary of their lives.
