How many names can we come up with that are homophones for a verb or object (or even both?)
For instance:
Pat is a person’s name, and also an action, and also an object (a pat of butter)
Russell works for a person and action (Rustle like a gentle shaking)
Art could be a Person and an Object (not a great fit for a verb.)
I thought of this when considering how people approach building a PAO or PO or PA list for numbers or cards. In a traditional PAO approach there is ONE of the three elements (usually the Person) that directly associates with the number or card. Then the other elements associate with that person. This necessitates a double conversion step when learning and initially using the system: See the number 57, associate it with a person/character like a “LuKe” skywalker, associate Luke with “swordfighting” and “lightsaber.” So to get from 57 to the object, the flow chart is 57 → Luke → Lightsaber… 2 conversion steps. With enough practice, you can learn to go directly from 57 to Lightsaber without having to recall Luke in between, but in the early stages of the system, this is difficult.
If you build your list entirely on Major (or some other direct number to sound or letter system) for all elements, like 57 = “LuKe” / “LiCK” / “LoCK” then while you have a benefit of being able to read every element directly from the number, you still have to learn three different words for each and the challenge during learning is that there is no pre-existing association between the elements themselves that will give you a clue.
If you could build a list with dual or triple meaning words, you could “read” the single word and it would apply to any element.
You could see 91 and read it as PaT, and you’ve got whatever type of element you need. Compare that to “PeTe” / “PaT” / “PoT”… your brain when it sees 91 (PT) needs to consider the context of whether its a Person or Action or Object and then fill in the vowel sound appropriately to get you to the correct element.
Not sure if this homophone system is practical, in the sense that I’m skeptical that we can find names that apply to all 100 two-digit numbers, especially if trying to constrain ourselves to structures generated via a specific system like Major, but it might be fun to give it a try. Maybe we can at least find single-digit matches to help make learning the initial phonetic assignments easier for beginners?
Anyways, if you want to join in, please reply with some options!
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, but having the three things belonging together feeling-wise seems more efficient to me for the direction number > … (and it’s the hardest direction for me).