Onomatopoeia. -- Its roots are Greek, meaning “word making.” This seldom spoken figure of speech imitates the sound of what it’s describing. Listen to yourself saying these verbal Crayolas: bang, coo, oink, meow, roar, chirp, soothe, crash, pop, boom, beep, bow-wow, choo-choo, fizz, hiccup, moo, screech, splash, toot and zap.