From Mantropedia

A rebus (/ˈriːbəs/) is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word been might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) and the letter n. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames.

For example, in its basic form, three salmon (fish) are used to denote the surname Salmon. A more sophisticated example was the rebus of Bishop Walter Lyhart (d. 1472) of Norwich, consisting of a stag (or hart) lying down in a conventional representation of water.

The composition alludes to the name, profession or personal characteristics of the bearer, and speaks to the beholder Non verbis, sed rebus, which Latin expression signifies not by words but by things (res, rei (f), a thing, object, matter; rebus being ablative plural).

MODERN REBUS AND WORD PLAYS

A modern example of the rebus used as a form of word play is:

H + Ear = Hear, or Here. By extension, it also uses the positioning of words or parts of words in relation to each other to convey a hidden meaning, for example:

p walk ark: walk in the park. A rebus made up solely of letters (such as CU for See you) is known as a gramogram, grammagram, or letteral word. This concept is sometimes extended to include numbers (as in Q8 for Kuwait, or 8 for ate).Rebuses are sometimes used in crossword puzzles, with multiple letters or a symbol fitting into a single square.

• EAR = 👂 , BEAR=B+👂,DEAR=D+👂,FEAR=F+👂,GEAR= G+👂,HEAR = H+👂,NEAR=N+👂,PEAR=P+👂,REAR=R+👂,TEAR=T+👂,WEAR=W+👂,YEAR=Y+👂
• ACT = , BACT,FACT,PACT,
• ADD = , ADD,BAD,DAD,HAD,LAD,MAD,PAD,SAD,
• AIR = 💨, FAIR =F+💨,HAIR=H+💨,LAIR=L+💨,PAIR=P+💨,RARE=R+💨,WARE=W+💨,
• ALL = ,BALL,CALL,FALL,HALL,MALL,
• ARK = , PARK,DARK,LARK,MARK,
• EYE/I = PIE,DIE,BY,BUY,FIVE,HAI,HIGH,MY,TIE,WHY
• LAP = , CLAP,SLAP,
• NIGHT = N8,KUWAIT=Q8,FIGHT=FI8,RIGHT=R8,BRIGHT=BR8,D8=DATE,GATE=G8,HATE=H8,FATE=F8,MATE=M8,
• FINE = F9,DINE=D9,WINE=W9,SHINE=SH9,
• LIP =💋 , CLIP=C+💋,SLIP=S+💋,FLIP=F+💋,