A list of two-word phrases

Question

For my fascination for two-word phrases that ryhme, such as hunky-dory, topsy-turvy, namby-pamby, willy-nilly, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky etc., I'm looking for a list that contains most of them. Any one know(s) where I might find such a list online?

PS: I've come accross many Americans who omit the 's' in "anyone know(s) where I could find one?". Is that an elision of "(does) anyone know...", technically? If not, is that correct English?

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[nq:1]For my fascination for two-word phrases that ryhme, such as hunky-dory, topsy-turvy, namby-pamby, *****-nilly, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky etc., I'm looking for ... know(s) where I could find one?". Is that an elision of "(does)anyone know...", technically? If not, is that correct English?[/nq]
Second question first: You are right in thinking that "anyone know" is a shortened version of "does anyone know.." It can be said either way (with "does" or without) in a question and still be considered correct in informal or colloquial American English. Speaking more formally, the "does" would most likely need to be included.
I can't think of any question in which "anyone knows" would be correct (unless it's a reference to the phrase itself).

The following are correct for statements:
Anyone knows that water is wet.
Anyone should (must, has to, ought to) know that water is wet.

First question: I can't provide a source, but I hope someone else will be able to. In the meantime, I have a question for you and the group: Are "hunky-dory" and "topsy-turvy" considered true rhymes for you? (They're not "rhymes" for me.)
Maria Conlon
A very great part of the mischiefs that vex this world arises from words. (Edmund Burke)

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They don't rhyme in sound, but they 'rhyme' in rhythm, if that makes any sense.

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[nq:2]I have a question for you and the group: Are "hunky-dory" and "topsy-turvy" considered true rhymesfor you? (They're not "rhymes" for me.)[/nq]
[nq:1]They don't rhyme in sound, but they 'rhyme' in rhythm, if thatmakes any sense.[/nq]
Yes, it does. I almost said something similar, but decided to wait and see if anyone else came up with a description. (And you did.)

Maria Conlon

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[nq:1]For my fascination for two-word phrases that ryhme, such as hunky-dory, topsy-turvy,[/nq]
???
[nq:1]namby-pamby, *****-nilly, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky etc., I'm looking for a list that contains most of them. Any one know(s) where I might find such a list online?[/nq]
I don't know where you might find one online, but the children's book Superdupers! by Marvin Terban consists of a list of these. That book is where I learned the words "hoity-toity" and "hoi polloi".
[nq:1]PS: I've come accross many Americans who omit the 's' in "anyone know(s) where I could find one?". Is that an elision of "(does) anyone know...", technically?[/nq]
It is. In fact, "Anyone knows where I could find one?" is not correct English.
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom

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[nq:1]For my fascination for two-word phrases that ryhme, such as hunky-dory, topsy-turvy, namby-pamby, *****-nilly, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky etc., I'm looking for a list that contains most of them. Any one know(s) where I might find such a list online?[/nq]
No. I can tell you where you can find such a list on paper, though. These reduplicative compounds are called 'freezes', and they are dealt with in a famous and fascinating paper by Bill Cooper and Haj Ross:

Cooper, William E. & John R. Ross (1975). World order. In R. E. Grossman, L. J. San, & T. J. Vance (eds.), Papers from the Parasession on Functionalism, 63-111. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
[nq:1]PS: I've come across many Americans who omit the 's' in "anyone know(s) where I could find one?". Is that an elision of "(does) anyone know...", technically? If not, is that correct English?[/nq]
This is a result of deleting the (predictable, to native English speakers) initial 'Does' of the question. This is a very common phenomenon in English. 30 years ago I had the pleasure of supervising a dissertation on this topic by Randy Thrasher. Here are some other examples of the phenomenon:
(1.16) Gotta go now.
(1.17) See you next Tuesday.
(1.18) Too bad about old Charlie.
(1.19) No need to get upset about it.
(1.20) Been in Ann Arbor long?
(1.21) Ever get a chance to use your Dogrib?
(1.22) Ever get to Japan, look me up.
(1.23) Good thing we didn't run into anybody we know. (1.24) Last person I expected to meet was John.
(1.25) Wife wants to go to the mountains this year.

(all from p.5 of Thrasher, Randolph H. Jr. 1974. "Shouldn't Ignore These Strings: A Study of Conversational Deletion", Ph.D Dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)

From time to time I have to remind my colleagues of the existence of this dissertation, when they rediscover the phenomenon and call it something else. Here's a recent reminder, with pointers and discussion:

http://linguistlist.org/issues/10/10-985.html
-John Lawler http://www.umich.edu/~jlawler U Michigan Linguistics Dept "Because in our brief lives, we catch so little of the vastness of history, we tend too much to think of language as being solid as a dictionary, with granite-like permanence, rather than as the rampant restless sea of metaphor that it is." Julian Jaynes

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[nq:1]For my fascination for two-word phrases that ryhme, such as hunky-dory, topsy-turvy, namby-pamby, *****-nilly, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky etc., I'm looking for a list that contains most of them. Any one know(s) where I might find such a list online?[/nq]
Hal Schiffman has a good list here:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/echoword/echodata.html

These are from responses to a query he posted on the Linguist List about echo-word reduplication .

Googling also turns up:
http://www.trussel.com/flipflop.htm
http://www.bartleby.com/81/14185.html
http://canalphotos.net/reduplicatives.htm
http://orion.math.iastate.edu/burkardt/wordplay/itty bitty.html

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[nq:1]For my fascination for two-word phrases that ryhme, such as hunky-dory, topsy-turvy, namby-pamby, *****-nilly, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky etc., I'm looking for a list that contains most of them. Any one know(s) where I might find such a list online?[/nq]
I copied the string of examples you gave, pasted it into Google, and got five hits. At least two of them appear to be exactly the sort of list you want.

Best Donna Richoux

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[nq:1]For my fascination for two-word phrases that ryhme, such as hunky-dory, topsy-turvy, namby-pamby, *****-nilly, hocus-pocus, hanky-panky etc., I'm looking for a list that contains most of them. Any one know(s) where I might find such a list online?[/nq]
Neither hunky-dory nor topsy-turvy rhyme in any dialect I'm aware of.

Google for, say, the 2nd line of text above, and all the hits are lists of such words.
[nq:1]PS: I've come accross many Americans who omit the 's' in "anyone know(s) where I could find one?". Is that an elision of "(does) anyone know...", technically? If not, is that correct English?[/nq]
It's fine in conversational/spoken English. With the 's' it looks/sounds quite wrong to me.
Eliding the first word (or two) of a question is fairly common - although I couldn't tell you what rules govern which ones can be omitted. Know what I mean?

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Quite right. Many of these doublets have alliteration or assonance, but not rhyme.

Rob Bannister

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[nq:1](1.22) Ever get to Japan, look me up.[/nq]
Or, ObAUE, "Buy one, get one free".

Evan Kirshenbaum + HP Laboratories >It is one thing to be mistaken; it is
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 >quite another to be willfullyPalo Alto, CA 94304 >ignorant

(650)857-7572
http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

A list of two-word phrases

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