Kangaroo word a word that contains its antonym; for example: "covert" carries "overt", "animosity" carries "amity". Some compilers require that the letters of the joey word not be consecutive within the kangaroo word, or that the kangaroo and joey words must be etymologically unrelated. Kangaroo words were originally popularized as a word game by Ben O'Dell in an article for "The American Magazine", volume 151, during the 1950s. This was later reprinted in "the Reader's Digest". Kangaroo word A kangaroo word is a word that contains letters of another word, in order, with the same meaning. For example: the word "masculine" contains
Word play Word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonetic mix-ups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, double entendres, and telling character names (such as in the play "The Importance of Being Earnest", "Ernest" being a given name that sounds exactly like the adjective "earnest"). Word play is quite common in oral cultures as a method of reinforcing meaning.