Awful addictions to Alliterations.

“Billions of bilious blue barnacles and ten thousand thundering typhoons!"

The above line sounds familiar?Yes, that is how Captain Haddock, from 'Tintin' comic book series,swears.This insult is one such example of a literary device called an alliteration.For the uninitiated, alliteration is the repetition of a particular sound in a sentence or a phrase.The  words do not necessarily start with the same letter, but it seems like a lot of the time it does.Alliterations are commonly used in tongue twisters(remember "she sells sea shells by the sea shore"), advertisements, poetry, comics and news headlines. 

So why do people use alliterations? It gives them a personal pleasure to pronounce phonetically. If used in the right way, it can alternatively attract and annoy the reader. It may distract the reader from the main content but the reader will surely love a laugh or two when the content is too serious for comfort. This reminds me of an article I read long time ago. It was posted in 'The Telegraph' website. The article was titled,

Awful author addicted to alliteration achieves acclaim again

(Here is a link if you're interested- The Telegraph)

It was just an innocent article about a British author. The title made the biggest impact and it lured me into reading that article. Alliterations are usually used in newspapers to catch the readers' attention. There is something about the human brain which gets attracted to creative use of words. Be it tongue twisters, puns, onomatopoeia, they always catch the readers' attention. These are some clever tricks in the English language used by writers to attract more readers, to fascinate them and to entertain them with words. 

Many popular writers have used alliterative words or phrases in their books. My personal favorite is in Harry Potter. The founders of the four houses in Hogwarts are Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Luna Lovegood is a living(fictional person) who has an alliterated name.  Moreover, there is a character named Moaning Myrtle who is a ghost in the girls' bathroom. Robert Frost's poem Acquainted with the Night has the following line of alliteration : "I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet." Another one, I had this poem in my english textbook in high school. It was called "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky" and "the furrow followed free..." were two lines which helped them make up a lot of questions for the exam. Many classics have been titled using alliterations. A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, Great Gatsby, The BiBle(see internal alliteration).

Brands have used alliterations to promote their products. Some famous names are:

Coca-Cola,Paypal,  BestBuy, American Airlines, Dunkin' Donuts, BlackBerry, Keloggs Chocos(not sure if it qualifies).Many video game titles have alliterations. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Two Thrones. League of Legends. Alliterations in popular comics/cartoons:Beetle Bailey, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Spongebob Squarepants. Stan Lee(a comic book writer)  has stated that he used alliteration extensively when naming his superhero characters because such names stand out and are more memorable. For example, Scott Summers, Peter Parker, Sue Storm, Reed Richards, Matt Murdock, Bruce Banner and many more.

Some people say that Alliterations seem to offend people. From what I have observed, people never notice these repetitions in sentences. That is because people literally don't read between the lines. Most of them read superficially just for the information conveyed in the text. Only a few appreciate the art and science of writing. Those who do that can spot these subtle tools used in the text.Sometimes, writers intentionally mask information by using such tools. Only the clever ones can decipher professional writing styles. As the world famous detective frequently quotes,"You always see my dear Watson but you never observe!"

Humorists and comedians seldom use alliterations, but when it is used, it has to tickle your funny bone. There are some cases where  alliterations in titles  have gone horribly wrong(just like the title of this post.) This gives an impression to the reader that the writer is desperate for attention. In some cases, it shows that the writer is a novice and is still learning(take me for example.) 

Usage of alliterations can get annoying. Just like how I overused the word "Alliteration" in this post, overuse of alliterations(not again!) can anger some readers. There are isolated cases where the reader jumps off a building after reading a text decorated with Al..(never mind). (If you are one of them, stop reading right now and seek help!) Of course, the writer is not responsible for the consequences. He is just expressing his thoughts and illustrating them with literary tools. 

Hopefully, I haven't bored you with my mediocre monologue.This is my first post. I know I have used an awful lot of alliterations and my aimless article annoys you. I have just juggled some words with my opinions about the English language.So to relieve you of this mental torture, I'll leave you with the following quote,

"The men of my islands are all a bit mad," William said proudly.” ― Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose.