Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
ring-a-ding	Camomile_Tea	12/29/07
Hi. What is this "a" in the middle, that is giving a nice rhythm to the word? I see the kind of "a"a lot (in toy names and such) but I can't come up with any other examples at the moment. Hope you'll understand what I'm asking. :) Happy Holidays!
Answered By		Answered On
Schoolmarm		12/31/07
Hi, CT. That's all it does. It gives rhythm to the word. It's onomatopoetic, meaning it creates the sound of something. In this case, it's supposed to sound like an old-fashioned telephone ringing. The sound can also be described as "ring-a-ling". But "ring-a-ding" took on a life of its own in the 40's and 50's as a way of saying something was super-special. A man might look at a beautiful woman and say, "Ring-a-ding-DING!", meaning "Wow! She really rings my bell!" Happy Holidays to you, too!

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