AUG 30, patients and maladies: BPH (benign prostatic hypertrophy)

Authors' Notes: 

-trophy: a Greek suffix, as in hypertrophy, atrophy or dystrophy, derived from trophe (nourishment)

trophy: a decorated cup or other prize, from the Greek root tropaion, a rout or victory.

  The author has had first-hand experience of these unpleasant symptoms. In fact, despite the comment in the verse, having BPH does not eliminate the chance of also having cancer. Consult your physician; they will likely do tests to ensure that cancer is not also present.

You can view these verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Nurse-Verse: Patients and their Maladies' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

AUG 29, magical palindromes: 'A man, a plan (racy, carnal) -- Paris'

You can become an expert fan of our wordplay concoction 'magical palindromes' by reviewing the explanatory material found in ancient days on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE; then, you could check how we applied this technique to 'canal palindromes' by viewing this more recent post.

 

AUG 28, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#33,#34)

You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE! 
 

AUG 27, classic palindromes: 'Zeus sees Suez', plus various canal-pals

 

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Or, should you be interested primarily in the palindromes themselves, and less concerned about their poetical ramifications, you might want to check our series of reader-submitted palindromes, starting HERE. 

AUG 26, insects: gnat repellents

Authors' Note:  For several decades, there has been a prevalent belief that a particular bath oil product had the ancillary property of repelling attacks by swarms of gnats. However, objective testing by the American organization Consumers Union has debunked a special role for this product.  

You can review Giorgio's other verses about pesty and occasionally beneficial insects, as  collected in 'Buzzwords: Verses about Insects' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

AUG 25, waterfowl: laughing gulls

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

AUG 24, American satire: miscellany of verses

 

:

We hope that you enjoyed these verses. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

AUG 23, limerick variations: verses with embedded illustrations

Authors' Note: 

pic: informal abbreviation for 'picture’

   The author has the experience of posting on his blogs (as here) and on his Facebook profile, hundreds of his OEDILF limericks that are initially framed as Power-Point slides with embedded pictures (fabric art, paintings including portraits, cell-phone-camera and web-photos) and computer-generated graphics. If the illustrations are abundant, additional slides may be used for elucidation, and are a good vehicle for displaying the 'Author's Notes'. Poetic submissions that seem particularly appropriate for this type of enhancement include verses about biography, wildlife, tourist locations, food, visual arts and recreational activities.

    

You can review our entire collection of poems on the topic of "Limerick Variations" as compiled on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.  

AUG 22, Toronto ravines: lower Don, photocollages #1-3

If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.

AUG 21, sleek Greek prefixes: APO-

Authors' Note:  Apollo in Greek mythology is the exquisitely handsome god of poetry, music, medicine and prophecy. 

Clicking HERE will introduce you to our entire collection of verses about the Greek prefixes!

AUG 20, singable satire: Tom Lehrer sings "ALLITERATIVE BINOMIALS, #2"

 PARODY SONG-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "The Elements", Tom Lehrer, 1959.

Occasional binomials show alliteration
(e.g. one and only)

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio,  2015. This song is the third of nine in the series on Word Pairs. You can find the links to the lyrics of the previous songs at the bottom of the post. 

EXPLANATION: The current effort involves a linguistic device discussed by Wikipedia as “Siamese twins” or ‘Irreversible Binomials”. These 

phrases include some of the most colorful expressions in English. There are probably a thousand binomial expressions in the English language. To enhance the singability, I have skewed my selection of binomial pairs here, to emphasize those that have alliteration of the 2 elements. 

For discussion of binomials, see the recent post HERE; there is a also an earlier post that honors our previous exploration of these intriguing expressions, and is entitled "The Allure of Word-Pairs: Alliterative Binomials (compendium)".

UKULELE and GUITAR-FRIENDLY LINK: Our whole series of songs can be found in a friendly format for ukulele (and guitar)-players on our sister blog  "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE". Click HERE to proceed to this site. 

Dungeons and dragons, dark and dank, and dear departed, do or die, 

And cliques and clans,  and kith and kin, and bag and baggage, flee and

 fly,

Head over heels, and belle and beau, Beauty and Beast, and two for tea,

And mind and matter, mine and mill, and flew through flue, the fly and flea. 

There’s vim and vigor, pain or pleasure, fast and furious, slow but sure

And watching waiting, safe or sorry, walking wounded, kill or cure

And grins and giggles, hems and haws, and his and hers, guys gals or dolls

And quake and quiver, black and blue, right wrong, St. Peters and St. Paul's. 

There’s stress and strain, and short and stout, and scratch and save, and shirts and shorts

Shoes socks, and art and artifice, and toil and trouble, tarts and tortes

And read and write, bold beautiful, and beg or borrow, this-and-thats

Moon o'er Miami, baked and battered, where or when, and heads and hats.

There's prince and pauper, prim and proper, pots and pans, and put-upon 
And drunken and disorderly, warp woof, wrack ruin, and AlAnon.
The order of paired elements - important? yes, no, may-aybe;

Be careful not to throw out the bathwater with the ba-aby.

Yet, slip and slide, not hair nor hide, the definition gets defied, 
Like 'Prejudice' before the 'Pride', so 'side by side' is classified
With home sweet home, rose is a rose, eye for an eye, and nose to nose - 
These phrases pose the gap to close that spaces poetry from prose.


There's Jack and Jill, from dusk 'til dawn, bumper to bumper, inch by inch,
And first and foremost, hand in hand, with spice and sugar, just a pinch.
"What's right is right, what's fair is fair", said more and more by Mo-other,
From sea to shining sea, if it's not one thing, it's ano-other. 

And, for those interested, here's how you find the lyrics-only-version

of the nine songs that make up this cycle. If you would like to  accompany yourself on ukulele or guitar, find relevant chord charts by following the links that will take you to the versions in our blog "Silly Songs and Satire". 

1. PAIRS, to the tune of "Words" in the style of the Beegees

...  the following songs in the style of "The Elements" by Tom Lehrer

2. ALLITERATIVE BINOMIALS, part#1

3. ALLITERATIVE BINOMIALS, part#2

4. RHYMING BINOMIALS, part#1

5. RHYMING BINOMIALS, part#2

6. A LESSON ABOUT REDUPLICATIONS

7. REDUPLICATIONS, part#1

8. REDUPLICATIONS, part#2

9. LEGALISTIC DOUBLETS, in the style of "Supercalifragilistic..." from  the musical "Mary Poppins"

AUG 19, bottom line of medical humor: Beano

Authors' Note: 

cruciferae: vegetables in the cabbage family

Aspergillus: more fully, Aspergillus niger, the species of fungus from which chemists derive alpha-galactosidase, the principal active enzyme ingredient of flatulence-suppressants.  The concept of a supplement to suppress the discomfort and gas associated with eating vegetables such as beans and cabbage was presumably proposed by Benjamin Franklin in the 1780s. In 1981, Alan Kligerman initiated research that resulted in the development of the commercial enzymatic supplement Beano® , and a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1991. 

  

You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection 'The BOTTOM LINE of MEDICAL HUMOR' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

AUG 18, poets' corner: the philosophy of limericks

 You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner".  Click HERE.

AUG 17, palinku (poetic novelty): veggies #1

 

    In this post, we are introducing a novel form of poetic wordplay, the details of which are displayed on the accompanying slide. 

  The name reflects its derivation from a European take on Japanese poetic concepts; most of us learned a smattering of haiku poetry in elementary school. But the format we are presenting today is strongly influenced by palindromes. This form of wordplay is a concoction that can be found in both English and Japanese, and has been the basis of study, wonderment and amusement by scholars and word-nerds. The very different structure of the two languages makes the incorporation of wordplay into poetry unique in each case. We were delighted to learn recently that palindromic sentences, known as kaibun are found relatively frequent in Japanese; the phenomenon is enhanced by the fact that there a fair number of single-word palindromes in the language.   

   And, just in case you have forgotten what palindromes are about in English, your blogsite hosts have arranged a serial set of brief lessons on the topic ('Political Palindromes') which you can review by clicking HERE. 

  

You can view all our "palinku" verses if you proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. (Or if you prefer, you can stay on this particular blogsite and look for the offerings for the 17th day of each month -- there are now more than 60 of these.)

AUG 16, trees: appletree (fabric art)

"Apple tree" (fabric art contributed by RCH)

You can find other examples of awesome illustrative fabric art on this blog in posts for the dates January 25, and March 19, 2020, and January 2, 2021.

  

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Uprooted Verse: 'Poems about Trees' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". 

AUG 15, commercial product: cellphones for lizards

 

Authors' Note:  The gecko, a non-threatening species of lizard imported accidentally into the United States (with range expanding in the last few decades), has entered the popular consciousness due to advertisements by GEICO (acronym for the Government Employees Insurance Co.) which feature a British-accented lizard, who gives advice on purchasing auto and other insurance.

   Voice-activated assistance (for humans) on Apple cellphones is provided by a persona known as ‘Siri’. As saurian is a synonym for reptilian, (and the suffix ‘-saur’ is well-known in regard to current and ancient lizard species), you won’t be surprised that we have developed an assistant named ‘Sauri’ for the high-tech gecko community. 

   

Our range of domestic and commercial products is somewhat limited, but you might want to review our unusual prospective gifts on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

AUG 14, wordplay maps: sister-cities anagrams (31-33)

AUG 13, wordplay maps: r-i-c anagrams #3+#4

 

You can view the entire collection of 18 wordplay maps of 'R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N-S in Canada' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.

AUG 12, commercial product: cyber-box

 

                                                                                                         final approval: #120270, Apr 2023.

Authors' Note: This verse deals with a nonsensical 'tall tale' prevalent in the author's family. Our children grew up in the 1980s in a universe in which 'remotes' (remote controllers) miraculously helped manage elements of their computerized daily lives. With its expandable dimensions and the ability to either hide or display, the Cyber Box offered a digitized but imaginary solution to logistic problems, worthy of attribution to Aladdin. Unfortunately, no one could ever find the misplaced 'remote' for the mythical device.    

AUG 11, political palindromes, MMM

From this point, you can proceed either forwards or backwards.

For FORWARD, proceed to the next set of 'POLITICAL PALINDROMES' on August 22.
For BACKWARD, return to the previous set on July 18.

OR, return to the ORIGINAL POST on this topic on June 14.

AUG 10, a brief saga (hellenophilia): the Aegean cat

Other verses discussing our appreciation of Greece and things Greek can be found on our blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE.

  

For the purpose of this blog, a 'brief saga' is defined as a poem, usually narrative, but occasionally expository, that tell its story in at least 15 lines. Most commonly, the format involves three stanzas in limerick form. Your blogging team has been presenting these concoctions at the rate of one per month, mixed in with the shorter poems, wordplay and other  intriguing stuff that we offer.  

  

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (September 2020), proceed to 'Gino's Food Intolerance'.

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (July 2020), back up to 'Broken Arrows (nuclear weapon accidents)'.  

To access all of our 'brief sagas' by the year of their creation, click on your selection below.

2020
2021
2022

2023. 

AUG 9, bi-lyrical limerick: 'liquor vs candy'

Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'bi-lyrical limericks' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE ! 

 

AUG 8, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#31,#32)

 

You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE! 

AUG 7, anagram swarm: A-VERY-STABLE-GENIUS, #18

You can review an amazing number of anagrams based on this book title on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. There are two posts to view: 

 

'A Very Stable Genius': Theme and Variations (97 anagrams),   and 

'A Very Stable Genius': additional funky anagrams.

AUG 6, cinematic guide: Inspector Clouseau's app

Authors' Note: This verse is a fantasy derived from my favorite gag in the Pink Panther films, which highlight exploits from the career of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. 

  The bumbling Inspector has major troubles in checking into hotels wherever he goes. Many scenes are set in Paris, where everyone speaks perfect English except the protagonist. Beset by a thick French accent, he has difficulty making himself understood, as when he negotiates with a hotel clerk to rent a "r~rheume" (room).

You can view our collection of verses about the cinema on our encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

AUG 5, political palindromes, LLL

From this point, you can proceed either forwards or backwards.

For FORWARD, proceed to the next set of 'POLITICAL PALINDROMES' on July 20.
For BACKWARD, return to the previous set on July 14.

OR, return to the ORIGINAL POST on this topic on May 17.

AUG 4, anagram swarm: A-VERY-STABLE-GENIUS, #17

You can review an amazing number of anagrams based on this book title on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. There are two posts to view: 

 

'A Very Stable Genius': Theme and Variations (97 anagrams),   and 

'A Very Stable Genius': additional funky anagrams.