Ouch!

"Ouch" is an oft used word that stands on its own but by adding leading consonants to it, we can make some interesting words. Here are the most common of them.

• Couch: A piece of furniture for sitting or lying on.
• Pouch: A small bag.
• Touch: To come into contact with.
• Grouch: A bad-tempered person.
• Slouch: To sit or stand with a drooping posture.
• Crouch: To lower one's body close to the ground.
• Vouch: To guarantee or affirm.

Of course the odd man out here is "touch" that doesn't rhyme with the other "ouch" words. That's what makes English so difficult to pronounce. Let's look at works associated with this "odd man out".

An old favourite TV series of mine

Single-Word Terms

• Touchy: Sensitive or easily offended.
• Untouched: Not touched or altered; remaining in its original state.
• Retouched: Improved or corrected by making small changes, often referring to images.
• Intouch: In communication or contact with someone.

Phrases

• Touch up: To make small improvements or corrections to something.
• Touch down: To land, especially an aircraft or spacecraft.
• Untouchable: Someone or something that cannot be touched or harmed, often implying great power or importance.

Let's not forget our Indonesian. Here are the same words tranlated into Indonesian:

Single Words

• Touchy: Mudah tersinggung (mudah = easily, tersinggung = offended)
• Untouched: Tidak tersentuh (tidak = not, tersentuh = touched)
• Retouched: Diperbaiki (diperbaiki = improved)
• Intouch: Berhubungan (berhubungan = connected)

Phrases

• Touch up: Memperbaiki sedikit (memperbaiki = improve, sedikit = little)
• Touch down: Mendarat (mendarat = land)
• Untouchable: Tak tersentuh (tak = not, tersentuh = touched)

Consonant Pairing with the Letter L

It struck me just now how many words starting with the letter "l" can be made into new words by prefixing the letter "b". I've also added other words formed by adding other consonants such as "c", "s", "f", "g" and "p". Let's look at some examples (in some cases the spelling will change slightly):

• lame --> blame --> claim --> flame
• limp --> blimp --> climp --> glimp
• light --> blight --> slight --> flight --> plight
• last --> blast
• lend --> blend
• lob --> blob --> slob --> glob
• lock --> block --> clock --> flock --> glock
• loop --> bloop --> sloop
• lush --> blush --> slush --> flush --> plush
• loom --> bloom --> gloom --> plume
• leak --> bleak --> sleek
• lank --> blank --> clank --> flank --> plank
• link --> blink --> clink --> plink
• lack --> black --> slack --> clack --> flack
• leach --> bleach
• low --> blow --> slow --> glow --> plow
• limey --> blimey --> slimy
• laze --> blaze --> glaze
• lithe --> blithe
• land --> bland --> gland
• lot --> blot --> slot --> plot
• leap --> bleep --> sleep
• lake --> Blake --> flake
• leery --> bleary
• log --> blog --> slog --> flog