Alliteration is using the starting vowel or consonant repeatedly throughout a phrase. Alliteration in poetry is pleasing to the ear and emphasizes the Words in which it occurs.
Examples
- Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are alliteration because they both start with the letter "M".
- Scattering seagulls, daring dolphins, balanced banana, playful platypus, solemn Santa, juvenile Jack Frost, slumbering Sandman, marvelous Mother Nature, tired Tooth-Fairy
- In ''The Highwayman'' Alfred Noyes used the hard ''K'' sound to suggest the hard sound of a horse's hooves. "Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn yard."
- A more famous example is the first couple sentences of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita: "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta; the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
- Another famous example of alliteration of the last 50 years was delivered by Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixon's first vice-president. Agnew told a San Diego audience in 1970 that "we have more than our share of nattering nabobs of negativism." Before he sat down, he also referred to "pusillanimous pussyfooters," "vicars of vacillation," and "the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history."
Tongue-Twister Alliteration
There are several examples of sentences that are mostly alliteration.
-- Peter Piper Picked A Peck of Pickled Peppers!
-- Mary marveled at the magnificent monument.
Alliteration Pairs
For example: a busy bee, click clack, dipsy-doodle, flea-flicker, hem and haw, jumping jacks, money maker, naughty but nice, pitter patter, rough rider, slip 'n slide, trick or treat, wishy-washy.
When used with a deft touch, such as in the phrase "clean coal," you create a memorable phrase without anyone really noticing the alliteration. By definition, though, it's hard to come up with examples of things nobody notices.
