JAN 30, singable satire: "BABEL-TALKY", multilingual Jabberwocky

 

PASTICHE with SONG-LYRICS

ORIGINAL POEM: "Jabberwocky" was included in Lewis Carroll's  children's novel "Through the Looking Glass" in 1871, although he had published a short variation of it much earlier as "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry"
SETTING TO MUSIC: Donovan, 1971.

TRANSLATION INTO OTHER LANGUAGES: Renditions of the classic nonsense poem in various languages can be found in a collection of translations into 29 other languages on the web, although the site appears to have been inactive recently.
COLLATION: Giorgio Coniglio 2014, updated 2016.

To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "BABEL-TALKY" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

A major tip of the hat to Mike Simmons and John Colosetti for helping find usable ukelele chords.

BABEL-TALKY

 (to the the tune of "Jabberwocky" - Donovan)

(ANGLO-SAXON - Lewis Carroll, 1855)

'Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves

Did gyre and gymble in ye wabe.

All mimsy were ye borogoves,

And ye mome raths outgrabe.

(GERMAN - Robert Scott)

"Bewahre doch vor Jammerwoch!

Die Zähne knirschen, Krallen kratzen!

Bewahr' vor JubJub-Vogel, vor

Frumiösen Banderschnatchen.   

(ITALIAN - Adriana Crespi)

Afferò quello la sua vorpi da lama

A lungo il manson nemico cercò

Cosí sostò presso l'albero Touton

E riflettendo alquanto dimorò.  

(FRENCH - Frank Warrin)

Pendant qu'il pense, tout uffusé,

Le Jaseroque, à l'oeil flambant,

Vient sifflant par le bois tullegeais,

Et burbule en venant.    

(JAPANESE - Tim Matheson)

Ichi, ni! Ichi, ni! mattaku kanzen ni 

Sakisakiken wa kusukusu waratta  

Shanoshi nokoshi kubi wo mochi

Ikiyouyou to koke kaetta 

(HEBREW - Ahaton Amir)

"Af ketalto, et hapiton?

Achabkecha, yaldi hatzach!

Ho yom-tzilha! Yabah! yabah!"

B'chedvato  patzach. 

(PORTUGUESE - Augusto de Campos)

Era briluz. as lesmolisas touvas

roldavam e reviam nos gramilvos:

Estavam mimsicais as pintalouvas,

E os mommiratos davam grilvos.

(RUSSIAN - E. Orlova and O. Demurova)

Varkalos'. Khivikie shor'ki
Pyryalis' po nave,

I khryukotali zelyuki
Kak myumziki v move.

(SPANISH  - E. Alvarez-Buylla)

Era el briño, y los logrosos

Giraban y mangaban en al panal:

Tan debrable los bogrosos,

Y aún los rantopos salgabran.

(ARABIC - W. Al-Mahdi)

Jarâdhilu l-wâbi dhuhâ

Tadarbahat tadarbuhâ

Mufarfirun tanahnaha
Wa tâ'iru  l-burburi fahâ.

(CLASSIC - Lewis Carroll, 1871)

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

JAN 29, old world palindromes #9 and #10

JAN 28, etymology: 'horse'

For fans of etymology, we have two blogposts on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" that summarize our poems about the origin of some English words. You can start to review some of this intriguing material by clicking HERE, and then following the links!

JAN 27, wordplay maps; American Scramble-towns, 13

 

LINKS to other nonsense in this series: 

Forward to the first Canadian map.

Forward to the next American map (14).

Back up to the first American map.

JAN 26, anagram swarm: 'ELECTION FRAUD' contest: other submissions, #2

Continuing from the posts of January 16, January 18, January 20, 

January 22, and January 24.

As we wrap up this topic, we note here a few submissions in the National Contest that were quite clever from a wordplay perspective, but not relevant to the topic at hand. These include ...

FLUORINE CADET; INTRODUCE FLEA; CAROTENE FLUID;

TUNDRA ICE-FLOE; FURNACE TOILED; FINE-CUT ORDEAL;

INCUR FLEET ADO; FERAL DOE TUNIC; FINE CORAL DUET;

ERUDITE FALCON; ADIEU TORN CLEF; FLORA INDUCTEE;

FEED LATINO CUR; COULDN'T FAERIE? FAINTER OLD CUE;

ELFIN EDUCATOR; ARTFUL CODEINE; DECENT FOUL AIR;

UNDO AFTER LICE; CIAO, TENDER FLU; FLORENCE AUDIT;

TRUE FAN, "LIE, DOC." ECO-LAIDEN TURF;

DO INFLATE CURE; TRIFLE ACNE DUO; RED ELF AUCTION;

CAT: DOUR FELINE; URL://DEFECATION; CAN'T FIELD EURO;

FIE, RUNTED COLA! RODENT-FLEA I.C.U.; FAUCI, DO RELENT.

(for entries themed more in keeping with the topic, see the post of January 20.)

JAN 25, targeted palindromes, "A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL -- PANAMA" (A)

 

 

You have reached the "Submitted Palindromes" thread on the blog "Daily Edifying Nonsense", a light literary entity that emanates through the blogosphere daily (almost), i.e. 30 times per month.

  On the 25th of each month you will find a slide-filling group of palindromic phrases submitted to the editors by a panel of 7 palindromists. These folks have all been working on this project since January 2020. The personal profiles for each of these contributors are displayed in panels published here at the start of things, and then, we have asked them to provide (palindromically, of course) their views on one of the iconic items in the classic literature, starting with "A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama", continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in monthly random piles (a phrase that you might recognize as an anagram of the word p-a-l-i-n-d-r-o-m-e-s).

You can access this delightful entertainment right here by entering submitted palindromes in one of the two search bars at the top of this post and scrolling downwards through the wordplay posts that you will discover, OR, just follow the links indicated above. 

Devotees of palindromic wordplay can further explore limericks and other short verses about the classic palindromes (and quite a few recent concoctions) that are randomly scattered on this blog after September 2000, or collected into grouped postings on our more scholarly blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- start HERE.  

JAN 24, American satire: freedom-from-Trump day

Authors' Note:  Here's a reprise from a post published in November, now illustrated with Barry Blitt's cartoon-cover for this week's New Yorker, (A Weight Lifted) ...

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find dozens more on this topic in 7 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

  

JAN 23, handbook of micro-nutrients: zinc deficiency and anosmia

Authors' Note:  Patients who have suffered a loss of sense of smell (anosmia) are known as anosmics. Rarely, this sensory disorder along with manifestations in other body functions can be attributed to a marked deficiency of dietary zinc. Whether zinc supplements can help with recovery in well-fed anosmics remains unresolved. The metallic element osmium, which has no known biologic role, is named for the stench emitted by its poisonous tetroxide derivative.

You can find our incipient collection of verse related to micro-nutrients, i.e. trace minerals and vitamins on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE. 

JAN 22, anagram swarm: 'ELECTION FRAUD' contest: other submissions, #1

 Continuing from previous posts

Here are a few other imaginative entries for the National Anagram Contest ...

FORNICATE DUEL;     ADORE FIT UNCLE;     RECITAL DONE - FU! 

ONE LURID FACET;    COULD IRAN FÊTE?    TOUCAN FIELDER;

FONDUE ARTICLE;     EDUCATE FOR NIL;     IN 'ACUTE' FOLDER;

A FECUND TOILER;    I.O.U. FACT LENDER;  DOCENT FAILURE;

ULTRA-FINE COED;   DETOUR IF CLEAN;      ENTICE FUR-LOAD; 

DO INFLATE CURE;   RE CUE, "DON'T FAIL!" OFTEN LURED C.I.A. 

JAN 21, classic palindrome: 'drawn onward'

a) Reprise of material posted on January 21 in previous years ...

2020: American satire,First Term on theRange (wordplay/parody lyrics)

2021: classic palindromes, Drawn onward. (illustrated poem)
2022: limerick variations, singable limericks (illustrated poem) 
2023: creative anachronism, dawning of history (illustrated poem)

b) Today's Offering (Jan 21, 2024):

Authors' Note: 

patsy: slang for 'sucker' or 'gullible person'

Dem: American short-form for 'Democrats', referring either generally to adherents of the political party, or to elected officials

Don: short-form for 'Donald'; a respectful term of address for a Spanish or Italian nobleman; a leader of the Italian Cosa Nostra

D.C.: District of Columbia, often used in casual references to the American capital city, Washington

   This poem was written just after the publically broadcast hearings of the Intelligence Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in the first impeachment of Donald Trump in November, 2019.

   Are we not drawn onward to new era? also represents a classic palindrome.

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'. 

JAN 20, singable satire: Tom Lehrer sings "REDUPLICATIONS L to Z"

 

PARODY SONG-LYRICS

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

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2015. This song is the eighth 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:

 For a discussion of reduplications on an earlier post on this blogsite, click HERE. The current post also honours our previous venture of Feb 15, 2017 entitled 'Abracadabra' to 'Zoom-zoom': possibly the world's largest compendium of reduplications'.  

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. 

Many of these words and phrases have fascinating stories of their origin and subsequent use; the hotlinks highlight those with instructive or amusing information available on the web.

There’s lazy Daisy, loosey-goosey, Ling Ling, and lickety-split
And lovey-dovey, legal eagle, mellow yellow, and nitwit,
And mumbo-jumbo, muck-a-muck, Mau Mau, Bony Moronie
And Mai Tai, mole hole, nitty-gritty, phony (fake)--baloney.

There’s namby-pamby, no-no, ooey-gooey, okey-doke, ping pong,
And pom-pom, palsy-walsy, pasty faced, slap-happy, singalong
And pow-wow, pitter-patter, pooper-scooper, plain Jane, and pell-mell
And poo-poo (scat), pooh-pooh (reject), and pupu (snack); how can you tell?

There’s quick fix, quack-quack, razzle-dazzle, rail trail, ragtag, ring-aling
And razzmattaz, and rumble-tumble, Roger dodger, and Sing Sing.
And ready Freddy, rollick-frolic, “fuddle-duddle” (P. Trudeau)
And roly-poly, rinky-dink and super-duper, or so-so.

There’s shock jock, sure cure, snip-snap, sci-fi, smartcart, shipshape, stunning gun,
And silly billy, speed read, shilly-shally, squish-squash, stumblebum,
And shady lady, seesaw, space race, Star Wars, snail mail, PigglyWig’
And tutti-frutti, tittle-tattle, tiki, tip-top, thing’majig.

There’s teeter-totter, tootsie-wootsie, teentsie-weentsie, and tee-tee
And tom-toms drumming, tartar, tum-tum, tattle-tale, uh-huh, TV
And tubby-wubby, wishy-washy, willy-nilly, woman’s womb
And walkie-talkie, wingding, yo-yo, yoo-hoo! zig-zag and zoom-zoom.

Ta-Dah !!!

Press enter or click to view image in full size

Many of these words and phrases have fascinating stories of their origin and subsequent use; the hotlinks highlight those with instructive or amusing information available on the web, as follows:

Ling Ling, lickety-split, mellow yellow, nitwit, muck-a-muck, Mau Mau, mumbo-jumbo, Bony Moronie, Mai Tai, nitty-gritty, phony-balo-oney, namby-pamby, okey-doke, pom-pom, pow-wow, pell-mell, Roger dodger, Sing Sing, “fuddle-duddle”, roly-poly, rinky-dink,shock jock, sci-fi, stun gun, shady lady, seesaw, space race, tutti-frutti, , tiki, teeter-totter, tom-toms tartar, ,willy-nilly, walkie-talkie, yo-yo, zig-zag and zoom-zoom.

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"