A very simple form of "reduplication" builds a new word or phrase by repeating a given word or phrase. An example of such a pattern is the word "tom tom". This is a very primitive human impulse that begins with baby talk. Words like these are sometimes called "tautonyms".
ack ack (anti-aircraft fire)
Aku Aku
antinganting (a Philippine charm or amulet)
aye-aye (a sailor's assent; a lemur)
atl atl (a primitive spear throwing stick)
BB (a small round bullet used in children's guns)
Baden Baden (a spa resort in Germany)
Bali Bali
barabara (a Siberian hut made of sod or turf)
bellabella
Berber (an indigenous people of northwest Africa)
beri beri (a nutritional disease)
Bibi (a name)
blemblem (occurs in the "Circe" section of Ulysses, and as best
we can tell, is a German slang word for "crazy")
bling-bling
bo-bo (marijuana)
bonbon (a candy)
booboo (a mistake; an minor injury)
boing boing (a tourist)
bolo bolo (a West African tree)
boola boola (a college cheer)
boomboom (a gun; the sound of falling)
Bora Bora (a South Pacific island)
bou bou (a traditional long shapeless West African dress)
bouncy bouncy (sexual intercourse)
broom-broom (a car)
buckety-buckety (cheap; inferior)
buddy buddy (friendly)
buibui (the black head-to-toe covering worn by Zanzibar women)
bulbul (a Persian bird)
caca (excrement)
can can (a dance)
cha cha (a dance)
chee-chee (mincing English, elaborate idiom)
chi chi (something exciting or thrilling)
chimachima (a South American hawk)
chin chin (a drinking toast; casual chat)
chip chip (farewell)
choo choo (baby talk for a locomotive)
chop chop (quickly, without delay)
chow chow (a Chinese dog)
Coco (a name)
coco (a palm tree)
cous cous
cush-cush (a South American relative of the yam)
dab dab (a stoker's name for sailors, who are always painting)
Dada (an art movement)
dada (a child's name for father)
daily daily (an anti-malarial pill that must be taken daily)
dap-dap (a well-dressed attractive person)
Deedee (a name)
deuce deuce (a 22 caliber pistol)
dik-dik
dindin (baby talk for "dinner")
dividivi (the curved pods of a small American tree, used for
tanning and dyeing)
dodo (a flightless, stupid, extinct bird; a person who should be
extinct)
doo doo (baby talk for "excrement")
doublet doublet (a printer's term for material that is
accidentally printed printed twice)
dub dub dub (a shortened form of the "WWW" that is part of
a World Wide Web address)
dumdum (a stupid person; a nasty bullet)
Duran Duran (a character in "Barbarella"; a flashy hair band)
dust dust (a newly promoted corporal or sergeant)
eye eye (an expression meaning "look at that!")
Fia Fia
fie fie (a person of bad character)
Fifi (a name)
floy floy (venereal disease; pizzazz)
foo-foo (a fool; an outsider)
footie-footie (footsie)
froufrou (the sound of silk rustling; excessive ornamentation)
furfur (dandruff)
gabble gabble (idle talk)
gado-gado (a Singapore dish of a cooked vegetable salad,
hardboiled egg, and peanut sauce)
gaga (infatuated)
geegee (an inferior race horse)
Gigi (a name)
girly-girly (effeminate)
gogo (enthusiastic; lively)
goody goody (an expression of delight; an overly proper person)
googoo (an imitation of baby talk)
grigri (a magical charm used to send bad luck to a rival)
grisgris (an African charm)
gru-gru (a spiny tropical palm related to the coconut palm)
guit-guit (a small brightly colored tropical bird, the honey
creeper)
haha (an imitation of the sound of laughter)
harry harry (rum)
hoho
housie housie (the British name for bingo)
housey housey (the British name for bingo)
hum-hum (a rough Indian cotton fabric)
hush hush (secret)
ilang ilang (a tree)
itai itai (cadmium poisoning disease)
jeng-jeng (something worthless)
jigjig (sexual intercourse)
Jojo (a name)
juju (a drug in a capsule)
kaba-kaba (a low, worthless person)
kabu kabu (a Nigerian motorcycle taxi)
kak-kak (a small heron of Guam)
kaka (excrement)
kavakava (the drug or "dietary supplement" kava)
kerrikerri
Khoi-Khoi (a tribe of South Africa and Namibia)
kho-kho (an Indian game of tag, using two teams of 12 people)
khus-khus (vetiver)
kie-kie (a New Zealand climbing plant)
killeekillee
knock knock (imitation of the sound of knocking)
knockie knockie (sexual intercourse)
Koko (a name)
kukukuk
lala
lablab (a tropical bean)
lapu lapu (a Philippine fish)
lau-lau (meat and fish wrapped in leaves and steamed)
lava lava (a Samoan loincloth)
lomi-lomi (a vigorous Hawaiian massage)
Lulu (a name)
mahi-mahi (an edible tropical fish)
mama (mother)
Mau Mau (a secretive group that battled for the liberation of
Kenya)
mike-mike (a millimeter)
Mimi (a name)
moko moko (a small New Zealand lizard)
mopmop (repetitious, unimaginative jazz)
murmur (a quiet low sound)
muumuu (a loose-fitting Hawaiian dress)
mymy (an aboriginal hut)
nana (childish word for "banana"; grandma)
nar-nar (overdressed, effeminate)
nebneb (the pods of the North African bablah tree)
never never (an imaginary land; a rent-to-own system)
nit nit! (a warning to keep quiet)
no no (something forbidden)
nook nook (a young aggressive devotee of acid house music)
nullah hullah (an aborigine hardwood club)
num num (a snack)
Nyae Nyae (a territory of Namibia)
o-o (a Hawaiaan bird)
the ork-orks (delirium tremens, the trembling mania endured by
drunks and druggies)
Pango Pango (the capital of American Samoa)
Pago Pago (a Pacific Island)
papa (father)
pawpaw (a wild fruit)
pee pee (to urinate)
Phi Phi (a group of islands in Thailand)
piou-piou (a French private soldier)
pip-pip (hello; goodbye)
pompom (a cheerleader's accessory)
poo poo (a childish word for excrement)
pooh-pooh (to disparage)
pretty-pretty (a knickknack)
push push (sexual intercourse)
putt putt (the sound of a motor)
quiaquia (the round scad or cigarfish; a tortoise shell rattle)
quinaquina
rah rah (the sound of cheering; enthusiasm)
ro-ro (short for "roll on, roll off", a ferry that allows cars
or trucks to drive on and off directly)
ruru (mopoke)
sakkie sakkie (a simple rhythmic Afrikaner musical style)
same old same old (nothing has changed)
sanga sanga (a tropical African tree)
sarsar (a whistling violently cold wind)
see-see (an Asiatic sand partridge)
Sen Sen
she-she (a girl or young woman)
shishi (hashish)
Sing Sing (a penitentiary in upstate New York)
so so (mediocre; undistinguished)
strumstrum
ta ta (farewell)
talkee talkee (broken or corrupted speech)
tam tam (a kind of drum or gong)
tartar (that stuff the dentist scrapes away; something of which
there is a cream)
tee tee (an Australian diving petrel; a South American squirrel
monkey; to urinate; very small)
titi (a tree of the southern US)
toa toa (an ornamental New Zealand pine)
toetoe (a tall reedlike New Zealand grass)
toitoi (a tall reedlike New Zealand grass)
tom tom (a primitive drum)
toyi toyi (a South African dance, hopping on one leg, shaking
a fist)
tsetse (a biting African fly)
tsk tsk (a sound of disapproval)
tucotuco (a South American rodent, with behavior similar
to a mole)
tum tum (baby talk for "stomach")
tutu (a ballerina's skirt)
twenty twenty (perfect eyesight)
tzing-tzing (excellent)
unk-unks (double unknowns, we don't know if they can happen, and
we don't know how to detect them if they did)
wagwag (a polishing device used by watchmakers)
wah wah (a sound made by a muted trumpet)
wawa (baby talk for "water")
Walla Walla (a city in Washington)
wee wee (to urinate)
wham-wham (candy from prison vending machines)
willy willy (a gusty wind; an Australian cyclone)
wonga-wonga (an Australian white-faced pigeon)
Woop Woop (an Australian term for a very rural town)
yatata yatata (monotonous talking)
yaw-yaw (to talk affectedly)
yaya (a gum producing tree of Panama)
yen yen (a strong craving for narcotics)
ylang ylang (a tree)
yoyo (a toy)
yuk-yuk (empty idle talk)
yum-yum (an exclamation of delight)
zero zero (extremely poor flying weather, zero ceiling and
zero visibility)
zig-zig (sexual intercourse)
zim-zim (a member of a politically oriented South African gang)
zoo zoo (the European pigeon; candy from prison vending machines)
Zsa-Zsa (a name)
zuu-zuu (candy from prison vending machines)
Orthographically disqualified:
Bubba
cuckoo
Thanks to Frank Harmon (fharmon@houston.rr.com) for blemblem.
Back to the wordplay page.