Hello, I'm Alice from Fujian, China. Could you tell me why English people say 'see you later, alligator' or 'in a while, crocodile'. Are there some other sentences like that in English? Thank you.
Alice, Fujian, China
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Diarmuid and Feifei look at how the animal kingdom plays its part in the English language.
This week we have a question about some funny phrases in English.
The key thing about these phrases is that they rhyme.
In English words that have the same or similar sound can be said to rhyme.
See you later, alligator... or do I mean crocodile?
Here are some examples of words in English that rhyme:
- bed – head
- blue – you
- hello – yellow
- plastic – fantastic
- coffee - toffee
- jacket - packet
Do you have a question about the English language?
Then email us at chinaelt@bbc.co.uk
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If we like your question, we may well make a programme about it.
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人气排行
