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Term for when seemingly-random or loosely-related words form a unique, descriptive sentence or phrase?

English Language & Usage Asked by nofinator on June 29, 2021

Is there a term for when a series of words come together to form a unique, descriptive sentence or phrase?

A few examples I can think of:

  • XKCD comic about strong passwords: As an example of a strong but easy-to-remember password, Randall Monroe uses "correct horse battery staple", which is something that was unique, possible to imagine, and rather whimsical.
  • Guided by Voices song titles: The band Guided by Voices (and their frontman Bob Pollard, in particular) are beloved for their arcane song titles. Some examples: "The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory", "Father Sgt. Christmas Card", and "Big Chief Chinese Restaurant".
  • Early Spam Subjects: In the 2000s, a lot of spam emails had subject lines that appeared to be randomly generated and vaguely familiar to try to circumvent spam filters. (Or at least that’s my theory.) Some examples: "Baby Hungry Weakness", "Her Bridal Lace to Drink", and "Bacon Aspiration".

Perhaps there is no defined term for these creations and it’s just another example of our brains automatically processing words into something more meaningful. But I’ve always found them pleasing to read or hear. I would love to learn if there’s any kind of science or culture around them.

I’ve researched this on the Internet and this Stack Exchange but haven’t gotten a clear answer, only more examples, like using a Markov chain on the song titles above to generate more.

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