AUG 16, binomial phrases (intro): "hale and hearty"

Authors' Note:   A binomial pair, phrase, or expression, is a language element consisting of a pair of words that are used in a fixed order as an idiom. The two members of the pair are the same part of speech, are semantically related, often near-synonyms or antonyms, and are most commonly joined by and, or or; they often play a role as clichés. The term irreversible binomial was presumably coined and extensively discussed by American philologist Yakov Malkiel in 1954. The most catchy of these phrases are alliterative, as hale and hearty, or rhyming, as in health and wealth or haste makes waste.

Parody-song reminiscence about binomial phrases and some other word-pair entities:

 

 To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and check the post  'Grandpa Greg's Advanced Grammar: Binomial Expressions'. Click HERE ! 

There is also an entire collection of lyrics to patter songs, somewhat older material, dedicated to various kinds of word-pairs, binomials in particular, that provides more didactic material and an extensive series of examples, and allows you to sing these expressions for your own enjoyment, or for that of others around you. Click HERE !

AUG 15, reptiles: beneficial snakes

Authors' Note: 

‘The Palmetto State’: South Carolina

plenum: from the Latin for ‘full’, a deliberative meeting of a body in which all members are present, contrasted with quorum

plenumous: ad hoc neologism indicating the importance of the issue at hand

Your contributions to the BPSS, tax-free, will help us in our efforts to counter anti-social behavior in South Carolina (the palmetto state) by the following: 

eastern diamondback, timber/canebrake and pygmy rattlesnakes,

copperheads, 

cottonmouths,

coral snakes.

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

AUG 14, wordplay maps: American Scramble-towns, 19,20

Who would ever have guessed? It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams (letter scrambles) is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that property to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation. 

 

Forward to U.S.A. map #21 (final American version)

Back up to U.S.A. map #17

AUG 13, to clot or not: anti-coagulant drugs

 

You can view these verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'To Clot, or Not to Clot' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

AUG 12, portraits of couples: trumpeter swans

Enjoy an illustrated poem about the trumpeter swan, Cygnus buccinator, by clicking HERE.

You can view this sample from our portfolio of 'Couples' portraits in a wider context on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE. 

AUG 11, life in Palindrome Valley: bidirectional pen (souvenirs)

You can review other illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the collection 'Life in Palindrome Valley' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

AUG 10, a brief saga (savoir-faire): French denial

 

 You can review other verses on this topic in a wider context on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Check the post 'Vers Francais: Savoir-Faire' 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 (September 2021), proceed to 'the Cormorant Rookery'.

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (July 2021), back up to 'Radiation Exposure'.

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

2020
2021
2022
2023.

AUG 9, humorists' scurrilous talk: 'the F-word'

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!

AUG 8, STD-poetry: weighing anchor (primary syphilis)

Authors' Note: 

weigh anchor: opposite of 'drop anchor', a naval expression for the last step taken in preparation before the ship leaves port 

The symptoms of primary syphilis most often involve genital skin lesions, or chancres, that appear an average of three weeks after contracting the disease, caused by Gram-negative bacteria in the spiroch(a)ete family. Some patients, however, will remain without symptoms until the later stages of the disease develop insidiously.  

You can review verses on this topic in a wider context in a post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" by proceeding to 'Ruination, Rumination and Reminiscence: STD-Poetry'. Click HERE. 

AUG 7, variant Nantucket limericks: sibling ribaldry

You can review our entire collection of spoof verses based on the iconic Nantucket limericks on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense' by clicking HERE.

 

AUG 6, garden intruders: deer fencing

Authors' Note:

specs: frequently used jargon for specifications

  The specs for deer fencing, also known as deer fence, agricultural fencing or deer exclusion fencing, include a height of eight feet (250 cm), with no sharp protuberances that might injure the deer.

Readers, you are fortunate to have available all our poetic comments on creatures (animal and vegetable), devoted to subverting your gardening plans. To view this collection our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense", click HERE!

AUG 5, bi-lyrical limerick: 'go/went'

 

The original limerick:

Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'bi-lyrical limericks' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE ! (Or, if you prefer, you could look over this stuff on Giorgio's Facebook photo-albums.) 

AUG 4, excursion: Niagara River hiking expedition

Toronto transit, train and bus required to reach destination 

near-empty zipline park

AUG 3, bottom line of medical humor: anorectal disorders (proctology)

Authors' Note: In North America, many proctologists now prefer to be known (professionally) as 'colorectal surgeons'. 

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 2, numbers: twins (2)

 You can review our cumulated nonsense about numbers by clicking HERE.

Related photo:

pas-de-deux,
National Ballet of Canada,
Harbourfront, Toronto,

AUG 1, Canadiana: Kim Jong Un's imaginary visit

Authors' Note:  There is no satisfactory explanation for the similarity of the words encumber and cucumber.

   Kim Jong Un, third successive member of his family's ruling dynasty, became leader of North Korea in 2011. He has since garnered world attention by his blustering role in his country's programs to develop missiles and nuclear weapons; the latter are widely known informally as nukes.

   In the northern Canadian territories (Northwest Territory, Nunavut and the Yukon), the soil is poor in organic components and prone to salinity and permafrost. Cucumbers, known informally as cukes, must be imported into the Yukon from crops grown further south. The reader may well agree that these territories should remain nuke-free as well as cuke-free.

You can review poems, pictures and diverse nonsense related to Canada on the post "Canadiana" on our full-service blog  "Edifying Nonsense".

JUL 30, humorists' scurrilous talk: 'the dick'

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!

JUL 29, waterfowl: wood storks

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'. (Or, if you prefer, you can view them on Facebook in Giorgio's photo-albums).

JUL 28, doctors and their practices: Pete the orthopod

Authors' Note: 

orthopod: a casual name for the orthopedic surgeon (surgical bone specialist)

For many sites in the upper and lower limbs where trauma has resulted in fracture with angulation or rotation of the fragments, surgical treatment ('ORIF, or open Reduction, Internal Fixation') has become the standard of treatment.

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!

JUL 27, insects: deer-and horse- flies

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.

JUL 26, Toronto ravines; Glen Stewart Ravine (poem and photocollages #1-#2)

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

 

JUL 25, funny bones: comminuted fracture

Authors' Note: Modern orthopedic treatment of displaced limb fractures often attains the aims of stability and appropriate alignment through the surgical technique of internal fixation. Injured limbs have then undergone the dual trauma of both the original injury and the surgical correction. But, with all the parts back in place and correctly aligned, the patient can work with a physiotherapist to regain range-of-motion, muscle agility and strength. 

You can view verses on this topic in a wider context by proceeding to the post 'Breaking News: FUNNY BONES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE! 

JUL 24, magical palindromes: 'Leon's as selfless as Eva''

 

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.

JUL 23, scopes of medicine: fiberoptic laryngoscopy

Authors' Note:  

ENT: medical specialty involving health and disorders of the ear, nose and throat; also referred to as otolaryngology.

   Failure of the body's GE junction can sometimes result in symptoms of inflammation in the throat (hoarseness, cough), rather than the more typical symptom of heartburn related to the esophagus.

   Diagnosis is simple in modern times, as most specialists can perform flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy as part of the outpatient examination. In more obvious cases, 'free' (unprovoked) reflux of stomach contents can actually be viewed during the examination.

   

You can view a collection of verses on this topic  by proceeding to 'Inner Enlightenment: The Scopes of Modern Medicine' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

JUL 22, death and the afterlife: cardiac arrest

Authors' Note:   Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is the major cause of sudden otherwise-unexplained death.  This emergency demands chest compression as well as other resuscitative maneuvers by trained lay standers-by, ambulance workers and emergency room staff. Unfortunately, the ultimate success rate of such resuscitative measures in this setting remains quite low. 

 You can review more poems about 'Death and the Afterlife' in context ('death and the afterlife') on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!