Wordplay Exercises the Brain

Are you ready for a few mental calisthenics? Today we’ll be examining capitonyms and leveraging them as story prompts.

capitonym: a word that changes its meaning, and sometimes its pronunciation, when the first letter is capitalized.

Examples of Common Capitonyms

Can you create short stories or plot twists with any of the following?

art, Art

The art of keeping Art away from the punchbowl proved impossible. By the end of the evening, he had dribbled so much food down the front of his shirt that he looked like _­­­­­_________.

august, August

The King’s august manner decayed into frazzled exasperation during that hot day in August. Everyone expected to hear, “Off with his head,” but instead __________.

bill, Bill

The landlady pounded her fist on her tenant’s door. “Bill, if you don’t pay the utility bill, I’ll disconnect your electricity and __________.”

cat, Cat

Cat took her cat to the vet, and didn’t blink an eye when the vet told her Thomasina had swallowed a __________.

china, China

Alex [frowned, pursed his/her lips, smiled]. “The labels on the bottom of this china say Made in China. I thought you decided to buy only _________.”

cologne, Cologne

Ted grinned while he glued the Fabriqué en Cologne label onto the bottle of cologne. Nobody would ever suspect __________.

earth, Earth

Within two days of the coronal mass ejection, 95% of the earth on Earth had been rendered infertile. The planet’s fate now depended on __________.

fiat, Fiat

The fiat handed down by the Supreme Council banned the sale of Fiats [in name of region or country, for a specific period, on name of planet]. Needless to say, the manufacturer ­­­­­__________.

frank, Frank

Frank’s “frank” assessment of my work in progress made my blood boil. I faced him and __________.

hamlet, Hamlet

The actors performed Hamlet in a barn on the outskirts of the hamlet, never expecting to be seen by __________.

jersey, Jersey

He wore a New York Rangers jersey when he went to the Devils game in Newark, New Jersey. The crowd __________.

joey, Joey

Joey teased the joey until the mother kangaroo kicked him and knocked him to the ground. He vowed he would never again __________.

lee, Lee

Lee took shelter on the lee of the island and waited until the storm passed before she __________.

lent, Lent

She lent her father her pancake recipe for Shrove Tuesday — the day before Lent. Unfortunately, he misread the recipe and __________.

march, March

The __________ march was scheduled for March 15. However, nobody showed up.

mark, Mark

Mark intended to mark his students’ essays, but he ended up marking time, instead, as he watched __________.

mass, Mass

A mass of believers flowed into St. Peter’s Square for Easter Mass, but when they heard the Pope utter his first words, __________.

may, May

You may file your taxes in May, but you’ll be required to pay a penalty unless you file for an extension. Some people try to avoid the penalty by __________.

mercury, Mercury

Thermometers often contain mercury, which was associated by ancient astrologists and alchemists with the planet Mercury. I visited Mercury once, and __________.

mobile, Mobile

“We’re mobile, with mobiles at hand, on the way to Mobile, Alabama,” belted out a tuneless voice at the back of the bus. One of the students turned around and __________.

nice, Nice

“The weather in Nice is usually nice in September and October,” said the tour guide, “but __________.”

orient, Orient

Relying on sun and stars to orient the ship’s course, the pirates sailed across the ocean toward the Orient, never suspecting that __________.

polish, Polish

The Polish policeman needed to polish his boots after his grisly encounter with __________.

rainier, Rainier

It’s rainier on the coast than it is in Mt. Rainier National Park. However, that didn’t stop __________.

reading, Reading

On the train to Reading, I watched several people reading. Yeah, right. Reading their phones! They resembled __________.

titanic, Titanic

The titanic spaceship was larger than the RMS Titanic. It loomed in the evening sky, silent, __________.

turkey, Turkey

“It’s ironic that the turkey is not named after Turkey. In fact, Turkey has no native turkeys,” droned the professor, “and __________”

welsh, Welsh

“Ariana may be Welsh, but she would never welsh on a debt,” said her friend as he __________”

windows, Windows

Dad twiddled his thumbs and stared out the bay windows while Windows updated. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but I suspected __________.

woods, Woods

Woods hit the ball into the woods with a 4-wood club. The crowd __________.

More Capitonyms

Now that you’ve spent a few minutes reading this post, you’ll probably recognize new capitonyms many times daily and wonder how they ever escaped your notice.

• afghan, Afghan
• amber, Amber
• baker, Baker
• barb, Barb
• bath, Bath
• bob, Bob
• brad, Brad
• brown, Brown
• cardigan, Cardigan
• catholic, Catholic
• chase, Chase
• chesterfield, Chesterfield
• clay, Clay
• cliff, Cliff
• cook, Cook
• crystal, Crystal
• don, Don
• farmer, Farmer
• fern, Fern
• forest, Forest
• fox, Fox
• gene, Gene
• grant, Grant
• green, Green
• honey, Honey
• hope, Hope
• hunter, Hunter
• iris, Iris
• jack, Jack
• job, Job
• joy, Joy
• manila, Manila
• miller, Miller
• mosaic, Mosaic
• ottoman, Ottoman
• pacific, Pacific
• painter, Painter
• pat, Pat
• penny, Penny
• phoenix, Phoenix
• planter, Planter
• randy, Randy
• ray, Ray
• reed, Reed
• rose, Rose
• rusty, Rusty
• sandy, Sandy
• saskatoon, Saskatoon
• scotch, Scotch
• skip, Skip
• spa, Spa
• sue, Sue
• tangier, Tangier
• violet, Violet
• wade, Wade
• white, White
• wolf, Wolf

Listicles and One-Liners

Because of their nature, capitonyms create fertile opportunities for listicles and one-liners.

Sue said she’d sue when her face turned blue.

Mr. Cook can’t cook ’cause the stove is kaput.

Wade won’t wade ’cause it’s strictly forbade.