Rhyming reduplications are words comprised of two parts (usually
hyphenated) which rhyme.
Classic
examples are mish-mash, hodgepodge, helter-skelter, mumbo-jumbo, nitty-gritty,
willy-nilly, helter-skelter, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky, higgledy-piggledy, rumpy-pumpy,
topsy-turvy, shilly-shally, raggle-taggle, namby-pamby, fuddy-duddy and the
more recent chick-flick. And, of course, who can forget Brian Hyland’s “Itsy bitsy, teenie weenie yellow polka dot
bikini” of 1960?
Occasionally the words are written separately but on their own
are meaningless such as pell mell.
