MAY 19, wordplay maps: American Scramble-towns 17,18

 LINKS: 

Forward to USA map #19

Back to USA map #15

Let's skip all this stuff and get on to the Canadian version, eh? 

MAY 18, defining opinion: hormone

Authors' Note: The biologic term hormone includes blood-borne "messenger molecules" such as adrenaline, insulin, cortisol, prolactin, melatonin, androgens and estrogens, as well as those with more easily discerned names such as thyroid hormone, growth hormone and anti-diuretic hormone.

The reader might be surprised to learn that a sober scientific journal "Hormones and Behavior" has been editing and publishing scientific papers in this field for over 50 years.

Our blogpost "Defining Opinion" on the topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" shows a selection of similar verses submitted to OEDILF (the online Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form). You can see all of these on one visit by clicking HERE.

MAY 17, palinku (poetic novelty): hats

   In this post, we will continue with a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by the rather arbitrary European conventions for versions of  Japanese-style haiku poetry, this new form is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its classic Japanese analogue, this concoction does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence in English (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards). Also, the authors concede that the typical themes of Japanes poetry cannot be incorporated easily in this new format.   

  To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome (generally occupying one of the three lines of the poem) has been color-coded. 

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.)

MAY 16, dental feelings (sentimental verse): root canals

You can review the collection of illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the post 'Dental Feelings' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

       

MAY 15, bi-lyrical limerick: 'Syrian refugees (Canada)'

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

MAY 14, poetic Panama palindrome parody: 'a cat, a hat''

 You can review the whole collection of our illustrated verses on this topic  by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Panama palindrome parodies' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

And, if you are interested in seeing innumerable examples of spoofy palindrome variants on wordplay locales, you could embark on a journey through a collection of  blogposts entitled 'Tourists' Palindromic Guides: The Americas, #1 -#4'. All that's needed is to click on the link.

MAY 13, doctors and their practices: the decaying nuclear physician

Authors' Note: The new high-tech modality PET entails 'coincidence imaging' with positron emitters, such as fluorine-18, unusual drugs that give off two gamma-rays simultaneously in exactly opposite direction with each radiodecay event. In contrast, older technology with standard radiolabels, often designated by the initialism 'SPECT' (single-photon emission computed tomography) was used by imaging  specialists such as our protagonist 'Dr. Specter'. 

You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection 'DOCTORS and their PRACTICES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

MAY 12, Canadiana: spelling

Authors' Note:

centre: word-form used for 'population hubs' in the majority of English-speaking countries, exactly equivalent to the American center

traveller: ditto (American = traveler)

   The American visitors were not quite correct. We Canucks, if we were so motivated, would "practise pre-empting dissenters". But, as Canadians are inherently mannerly, few among us would ever consider such a response, eh? 

You can review poems, photos and diverse nonsense related to Canada by proceeding to "Canadiana" a post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

MAY 11, English literature survey course: Hamlet's "fardels""

Authors' Note: 

bard: archaic term for a Celtic poet or wandering minstrel, currently applied primarily to the ‘Bard of Avon’, i.e. William Shakespeare

bodkin: a pointed instrument or pin, with archaic use to indicate a stiletto or other dagger

A question asked in Hamlet's most famous soliloquy is … 

 "Who would fardels bear?" 

Fardel is derived from fardeau, the French word for “burden”.

You can review the entire curriculum for our 'English Classics Survey Course' at "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.

 

MAY 10, a brief saga (toxic vignettes) : methylated spirits (wood alcohol, methanol)

Authors' Note:  This tragic story is typical of events from Prohibition times in the U.S.A., but might still occur today.

Several different chemicals, 'denaturants', primarily toxic solvents, have been used by manufacturers to comply with regulations by taxation authorities and prevent the drinking of industrial ethanol. Frequently the latter is called 'methylated spirits', owing to the addition of the most commonly used denaturant, methanol, which is indistinguishable in appearance from ethanol, but routinely induces a life-threatening metabolic acidosis. The mixture may also be labelled as 'wood alcohol’ or ‘methyl hydrate’. Drinking denatured alcohol can still result in death or blindness in persons seeking an untaxed surrogate for consumer alcohol.

Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking 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, constituting a single submission to the online humor site 'Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form'. On the OEDILF site, rigorous standards for content and format proceed in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year. 

  Generally, OEDILF has not been enormously welcoming of multi-verse submissions, but Giorgio Coniglio has persisted, and the OEDILF number for each accepted multiverse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. 

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (June 2021), proceed to 'Clothes Moths' (holesome verse).

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga'(April 2021), back up to 'Glock-toting Phyllis' (bipolar illness).

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

2020
2021
2022
2023.

MAY 9, pandemic poetry: Mother's Day

 You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Pandemic Poetry' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

MAY 8, old world palindromes #21 and #22

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  You can view the entire collection of 'Old World Palindromes' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense";  start by clicking here. 

MAY 7, wordplay maps: r-i-c anagrams #17+#18

 

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.

MAY 6, diagnostic imaging: AC for SPECT ('conventional nuclear imaging')

Authors' Note:  Absorption of rays by body tissues complicates the interpretation of medical imaging with nuclear techniques. ‘Hybrid' scanners combine the nuclear camera with a CT x-ray unit that provides maps of attenuation; this technique for correction of attenuation (known to workers in the field as A.C.), makes the nuclear scan more accurate in the detection of various lesions, in particular, abnormalities in blood flow to the heart muscle, and studies of deeply-located tumors, e.g. somatostatin scans.

   The combination of the two scanners (nuclear and X-ray CT) has been given the puzzling name “SPECT-CT”. 

 

 You can review all our verses on this intriguing topic by proceeding to a post on 'Edifying Nonsense' entitled 'Selected Topics in Diagnostic Imaging'. Click HERE!

MAY 5, poetic Panama palindrome parody: 'a girl ... Riga'

You can review the whole collection of our illustrated verses on this topic  by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Panama palindrome parodies' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

And, if you are interested in seeing innumerable examples of spoofy palindrome variants on wordplay maps, you could embark on a journey through a collection of  blogposts entitled 'Tourists' Palindromic Guides: The Americas, #1 -#4'. All that's needed is to click on the link.

MAY 4, waterfowl: anhingas

 

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'.

Also, you might want to note an interesting illustration of a pair of anhingas derived from Audubon's work found on the cover of "The Birds of America"  - see the post of January 31. 

links to any other date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, and select (by clicking) the month of your choice from 2020 through 2022. 

MAY 3, sleek Greek prefixes: EU-

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

MAY 2, birdlore: eaglets

You can view an encyclopedic collection of illustrated poems on this topic by proceeding to the post 'Poems about BIRDLIFE' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

MAY 1, etymology: 'George', 'Giorgio'

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Giorgio Coniglio!

For fans of etymology, we have three blogposts with collections of verses about word-origins such as the one above on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". You can start to review some of this intriguing material by clicking HERE, and then following the links!

APR 30, poems of Nuclear Medicine: 'SPECTiloquy'

 

APR 29, spineless verse (invertebrates): ghost crabs

READING MORE WIDELY:

You can find all our illustrated verses about various 'INVERTEBRATES' , as compiled on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE. But, in fact, we had hived off verses about INSECTS, and they are gathered in separate blogposts, that you can get into HERE. So, follow these links, and enjoy.

APR 28, American satire: 'twitter-ban'

A plea dated December 2020:

 

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

APR 27, culinary verse: "peel 'em 'n' eat 'em shrimp"

Find the collection of illustrated poems dealing with these issues on the post 'Culinary Verse' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

APR 26, classic palindrome: Panama canal ('a man, a plan, a canal -- Panama')

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Or, if you are interested in the palindromes themselves, and less so in their poetical ramifications, you might want to check a post HERE.

(Ed note:) This particular verse set off a collection entitled 'Panama Palindrome Parodies'. You can enjoy this assemblage of illustrated verses by clicking HERE.)

APR 25, humorists' scurrilous talk: 'the fart'

EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post! 

The collection of informative verses dealing with 'HUMORISTS' SCURRILOUS TALK' can be found by proceeding to our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

APR 24, wordplay; American Scramble-towns 15,16

 

LINKS: 

Forward to U.S.A. map #17

Back to U.S.A. map #13

Let's skip all this stuff and get on to the Canadian version, eh? 

APR 23, reptiles: green anoles

 

You can review photos and illustrated herpetologic verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Verses about Reptiles' (don't worry! no snake-photos)' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.