Amuse-bouche:

I started a war, saw a pole, and it was all in Warsaw, Poland.

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Today’s Wonderful Word: “knickknack.”

Definition: a small, worthless object, usually used as decoration.

Alternate spelling: “knick-knack.”

Etymology: a reduplication of “knack,” meaning “an ingenious device, toy, trinket” (1530s); from a specialized sense of “knack” which means “stratagem, trick” (1570s). Perhaps from or related to a Low German word meaning “a sharp sounding blow.”

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If you’re stuck on last Saturday’s riddle, this explanation of heteronyms may help you out. Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently.

In English, the stress (or emphasis) of a syllable can change the entire meaning of a word. We often emphasize the first syllable of a noun or adjective that has two syllables. For example, the first syllable of “table” is emphasized. /TA-ble/ It’s the same with adjectives such as “SIL-ly” and “FUN-ny.”

On the other hand, for two-syllable verbs, we often emphasize the second syllable. For example, we say “re-LAX” instead of the other way around. For nouns, adjectives, and/or verbs that are spelled exactly the same, determining which syllable to stress can be full of stress. That is, until you get the hang of it. 

Here’s a list of some of English’s common heteronyms. Each word below is a noun or adjective when the first syllable is emphasized and a verb when the second is emphasized. (You will see in some example sentences that I may use one of various nouns or adjectives, sometimes more than 2 syllables long after modification, which are related to the base noun listed.)

• Contract
  • The muscles in my hand contracted as I signed the contract.
• Permit
  • They will not permit me to request another permit.
• Conduct
  • Don’t have poor conduct in the auditorium, especially when the conductor is present.
• Discount
  • I wouldn’t discount the store’s public opinion; they give excellent discounts.
• Present
  • Here you go! I present to you this magnificent present.
• Suspect
  • Act naturally! I know we just robbed a bank and you’re probably the prime suspects, but so far, they haven’t suspected me.
• Conflict
  • We share conflicting views on the conflict abroad.
• Produce
  • He produced a folded shopping bag from his pocket while we were in the produce section.
• Record
  • For the record, I’ve never recorded my own music before.
• Content
  • How can you be content streaming such silly content?
• Object
  • He objects to having objects repeatedly thrown at him.
• Wind
  • How did I wind up lying here on the ground? Oh, that’s right, the wind knocked me over.
• Contest
  • They contested the judge’s response, though it ended up being no contest.
• Contrast
  • Compare and contrast these two images. One has high contrast while the other does not.
• Convict
  • The convict was convicted of several crimes.
• Insult
  • I’ve had enough of your insults. Quit insulting me.
• Perfect
  • She finally perfected her painting after buying the perfect paintbrush.
• Upset
  • I was upset to see the upset in the first round of the tournament.

Other cases

• Combine
• Decrease
• Protest
• Defect
• Rebel
• Extract
• Misprint
• Reject
• Export
• Import

Special cases

• Minute
  • (Note: This sentence contains a noun / adjective heteronym pair.)
  • Spend a minute observing the minute ants.
• Read
  • (Note: This sentence contains the same verb pronounced differently to distinguish the present from the past tense.)
  • She’s reading the second book in the series, but she hasn’t read the first one yet.
• Excuse
  • (Note: The emphasis doesn’t change between the two versions of “excuse.” However, the pronunciation of the “s” goes from voiced /z/ in the verb form to unvoiced /s/ in the noun form.)
  • Please excuse me; I know this is my millionth excuse.

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Answer to Saturday’s riddle:

1. heel, heal, he’ll
2. bald, balled, bawled 
3. sense, scents, cents
4. seas, seize, sees