American Accent Training

( Pronunciation Pairs )

 back pack (a knapsack)

 big wig (an important person)
 boob tube (early slang for television)
 boogie-woogie (a dance with a distinctive beat in the bass)
 boo hoo (to cry, usually with a loud noise)
 bow wow (the bark of a dog)
 boy toy (an adult fascination object, male-oriented, like a fast car or speed boat)
 brain drain (the emmigration of educated professionals to another geographic area)
 chitter chatter (chatter)
 chit chat (small talk, about the weather, or other impersonal trivial subject)
 clickety-clackety (the sound a train makes on the tracks)
 clip-clop (the sound of a horse's hooves)
 Coca Cola (a brand name soft drink)
 cop-shop (a police station)
 criss-cross (a kind of word-search puzzle)
 CV (short for curriculum vitae, a resume)
 dilly-dally (to do something slowly, waste time)
 ding-dong (the sound of the doorbell)
 fan-tan (a Chinese game)
 fat cat (someone who is rich and spoiled)
 fender bender (a minor car accident)
 fiddle faddle (an expression of exasperation)
 flim-flam (a deceitful move or comment)
 flip flop (in Canada, a thong-style sandal)
 Foxy-Loxy (a character from a children's story, Chicken Little)
 fuddy-duddy (a person who is too set in their ways, too strict)
 fuzzy wuzzy (from a children's rhyme, Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair)
 Georgie Porgie (from a children's nursey rhyme, Georgie Porgie)
 handy-dandy (used as an adjective to make fun of the usefulness of some new innovative item)
 hanky-panky (some secret activity, like a secret love affair)
 harum-scarum (reckless)
 hell's bells (an expletive)
 Henny-Penny (a character from a children's story, Chicken Little)
 heyday (the boom time or height of success for an idea, fashion, business, town)
 hickory-dickory (from a children's nurservy rhyme, Hickory-dickory-dock, the mouse ran up the
clock)
 hi-fi (abbreviation of high fidelity, from the electronics industry)
 higgledy-piggledy (from a child's nursery rhyme, Higgledy-piggledy, my fat hen)
 hip hop (a style of modern dance)
 hippety-hoppety (the way a bunny jumps)
 hobo (a tramp, in the Dirty Thirties in North American, hobos travelled by jumping into empty
boxcars on trains)
 hocus pocus (some tricky move in magic)
 Holy Moly! (an expression of surprise, somewhat outdated)
 hoity-toity (prim and proper, upper class)
 Hong Kong (a place)
 honky tonky (in the 1920's, a piano bar, also abbreviated honky tonk)
 hodge podge (or hotch potch, a mixed-up mess, also specifically a recipe for garden vegetables
cooked with milk)
 hot pot (an electric pot to heat water to almost boiling)
 how now (part of children's nursery expression, How now, brown cow?)
 hubble-bubble (a hookah, a water pipe, also an uproar)
 Humpty Dumpty (an egg character from a nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall)
 Huncamunca (tragic heroine)
 hurdy gurdy (a hand organ played on street corners in the 1800's)
 hurly-burly (noisy confusion)
 jibber-jabber (fast talk, meaningless)
 jingle-jangle (the sound of keys or coins clinking, or bells ringing)
 King Kong (gorilla in movies)
 Kit Kat (a candy bar)
 knick-knack (small trinket or ornament to display on a shelf or wall)
 kowtow (from Chinese, to submit to, defer to)
 lovey-dovey (mushy, an expression making fun of affection)
 Mayday (distress signal)
 mish-mash (a mess, a hash)
 mumbo jumbo (a confusion of words thought to invoke magical power)
 namby-pamby (too sheltered, weak)
 night light (a low wattage light left on at night in a child's bedroom)
 nit wit (a stupid person)
 no go (a cliche for a refusal of permission)
 no show (someone who fails to show up when and where they promised to)
 Pall Mall (a brand of cigarettes)
 payday (the day employees receive their paychecks)
 pell-mell (fast, without thought, as in he ran pell-mell through the halls)
 picnic (an informal meal outdoors)
 Piggly Wiggly (a supermarket chain in the U.S.A.)
 ping pong (table tennis, a game)
 pinky-winky (child's expression for the little finger)
 pitter-patter (the sound of cat's feet, or rain on the roof)
 polo (a game)
 pot shot (a low blow at someone, on the off chance it will hurt them)
 pow-wow (a North American First Nations meeting)
 rag bag (literally the bag where rags are kept)
 razzle-dazzle (special effects designed to impress)
 rick-rack (a trim for clothing, in the shape of a zig-zag)
 riff-raff (low class people)
 rinky dinky (trashy)
 roly poly (to be fat, also a pillbug who curls into a ball)
 rootin' tootin' (outdated cartoon expression that intensifies a statement)
 sci fi (abbreviation for the literary genre, science fiction)
 seesaw (a teeter-totter, playground equipment)
 shilly-shally (to be indecisive)
 shipshape (neat, tidy)
 singsong (a chanting rhythm and tone)
 splish-splash (sounds made by a child stomping in a mud puddle)
 superduper (outdated slang for something that is new and innovative)
 T.B. (tuberculosis)
 teensy-weensy (also teeny-weeny, both mean tiny)
 teepee (North American First Nations tent)
 teeter-totter (see see-saw above)
 telltale (obvious)
 Tex-Mex (texas mexican food)
 tick-tock (the sound a clock makes as it ticks)
 Tic-Tac (a breath mint)
 tip-top (best, usually used with "shape" as in "he's in tip-top shape")
 tittle-tattle (gossip, tell on someone)
 Turkey-Lurkey (character in children's story, Chicken Litte)
 TV (television)
 youhoo (loud greeting to get someone's attention)
 walkie-talkie (a two-way radio)
 wheeler-dealer (someone who makes dishonest deals, usually quickly)
 wibbly-wobbly (wiggles under stress)
 wiggle-waggle (a child's term for the way a dog's tail moves)
 willy-nilly (here, there and everywhere)
 whing-ding (a party)
 wishy-washy (weak, unclear)
 wonton (Chinese dough pocket, with savory filling)
 zig-zag (back and forth in straight lines, like VVVVVVV)