*The Rule of Ablautreduplication* Why `tock-tick' does not sound right to your ears?   Ever wondered why we say : tick-tock, not tock-tick, or mish-mash not mash-mish King Kong, not Kong King...? Turns out it is one of the unwritten rules of English that native speakers know without knowing! The rule, explains a BBC article, is: “If there are three words then the order has to go... I, A, O. If there are two words then the first is I and the second is either A or O." Mish-mash, Chit-chat, Dilly-dally, hilly-shally , Tip-top, Hip-hop, Flip-flop, Tic-tac, Sing-song, King Kong, Ping-pong.“ There's another unwritten rule at work in the name Little Red Riding Hood, says the article. “Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: Opinion - Size - Age -Shape - Colour -Origin - Material -Purpose - Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest... you'll sound like a maniac.“ That explains why we say “little green men“ not “green little men,“ But “Big Bad Wolf “ sounds like a gross violation of the “opinion (bad)-size (big) noun (wolf)“ order. It won't, though, if you recall the first rule about the I-A-O order...!! Got it..? That rule seems inviolable: “All four of a horse's feet make exactly the same sound. But we always, always say clip-clop, never clop-clip.“ This rule even has a Technical Name...! If you care to Know it... the Rule of Ablautreduplication! But then... Life is Simpler, Knowing that we Know the Rule... Without Knowing It...