SEP 19, photo-collage: great egrets at a Toronto pond

Not too bad for cell-phone photos, eh?

(A few selected still pics will be posted in a month or so.) 

 

SEP 18, lexicon of word-pairs: repetitive binomials I to O

 Giorgio's lexicon of binomials (repetitive, echoic)

Quite a few repetitive ('echoic') binomials have been highlighted in short verses by the authors:  

You can easily find all of these on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE, and following the links. 

SEP 17, palinku (poetic novelty): reliable transport

 You can readily 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.)

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

SEP 16, chemical states (and provinces): eastern U.S.

 

 You can view the collection of posts on this topic with this link to our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- click HERE.

SEP 15, exemplification: Donald Duck's malarkey

Authors' Note: The term malarkey for "nonsense" is likely of Greek origin, but does not appear to related to mallard ducks.

 To review our whole collection of "exemplary exemplifications", click HERE. 

SEP 14, cinematic guide: gainless (M*A*S*H theme-song)

Authors' Note: Director Robert Altman had initially requested music for a single scene in the 1970 movie M*A*S*H; in keeping with the plot, this was to be "the stupidest song ever written". Having difficulty in completing the lyricist's task himself, Altman called on his 14-year-old son, who presumably finished the job in a few minutes. The music for "Suicide is Painless" went on to become highly popular as the principal theme for the movie and the TV series; the lyrics are not widely known, but earned the junior Altman large sums in royalties.

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

SEP 13, pill-poppin' poem: simethicone for abdominal bloating

Authors' Note: Simethicone (simeticone), a silicon-based product, is the active ingredient in most current over-the-counter remedies to relieve abdominal distension and gaseous bloating. With coalescence of the offending small bubbles, the gas is dispersed by flatulence and belching.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Pharmaceutical (pill-poppin') Poems' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

SEP 12, lexicon of word-pairs: echoic binomials E to H

Giorgio's lexicon of word-pairs (repetitive or 'echoic' binomials)

Quite a few repetitive ('echoic') binomials have been highlighted in short verses by the authors:  

You can easily find all of these on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE, and following the links. 

SEP 11, dental feelings (sentimental verse): amalgam

 

Authors' Note:  Although standard dental amalgam is an alloy of mercury and silver, routine removal of these fillings is not routinely recommended. Ask your dentist.

SEP 10, a brief saga (medical statistics): clinical trial -- a gram of prevention

 

Authors' Note: The conclusion of this imaginary placebo-controlled trial of magic in the prevention and treatment of ILLS can be stated as follows:

Parenteral administration of a low dose (1 gram) was found uniformly effective in prevention. For oral treatment of later established cases, the dosage requirement was found to be higher by a factor of 16 times (95% confidence interval: 9 — 25).
The above conclusion could, with inherent limitations of proportionality, be converted back to older units (as spoofed on the OEDILF site by Giri): "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

You can review a collection of related poems about clinical trials and clinical statistics by advancing to the blog "Edifying Nonsense" where you can find "A Limerick-Based Handbook on Medical Testing". 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, 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 are involved in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year. 

 There are now over 40 of these lengthier bits of doggerel featured at OEDILF in Giorgio's "Author's Showcase". The OEDILF number for each accepted multiverse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. We have been blog-publishing these poetic adventures here monthly since January 2020.

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (October 2023), proceed to ... 'Creep', and its verbal variants. 

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (August 2023), back up to 'Herbicides'.

SEP 9, higher connections: haredim

 

Authors' note: 

(khah-ray-DEEM)

Various groups of strictly Orthodox or haredi (khah-RAY-dee) Jews represent an expanding demographic in Israel, assembling in particular neighborhoods (such as the suburbs of Jerusalem) where they carry out their lifestyle, rejecting and disdaining the secular environment, preferring a world characterized by observance of laws derived from the Torah (Bible). Their traditional dress reflects the groups' roots in 19th century Ashkenazi religious communities in eastern Europe. The name (the plural noun form) originates from a biblical reference to those who tremble at the word of God.

With large families (averaging 7 children per woman), these groups made up 4% of Israeli citizens in 1980, and 13% in 2021.

SEP 8, poetic non-sequitur: Edmond Hoyle

Authors' Note: 

according to Hoyle: an idiom alluding to Edmond Hoyle's books as the ultimate authority on the rules of social games, particularly cardgames such as whist

There are few verifiable details of the early life of Edmond Hoyle (1672–1769). As a tutor in parlour games, he published A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist at the age of 70. Other books of rules followed, primarily involving card games, but also chess and probability theory. Hoyle died at age 97 in London, England, prior to the popularization of today's most common games such as poker and contract bridge. 

Our collection of "Non-Sequiturs" on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains an admittedly bizarre assortment of nonsensical odds-and-ends, that don't quite fit into other topic-based offerings. But should you want to review the entire collection, click HERE.

SEP 7, defining opinion: hourly

 

Authors' Note:   As the hour is one of the most commonly used measure of time, fitting well with the time-frame of daily human activities, it is used more often in a general than in a scientific or precise sense. Examples of this usage include the appointed hour and happy hour. The derived adverb hourly shares this attribute.

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.

SEP 6, lexicon of word-pairs: echoic binomials A to D

 

 Giorgio's lexicon of word-pairs (repetitive or 'echoic' binomials)

Quite a few repetitive ('echoic') binomials have been highlighted in short verses by the authors:  

You can easily find all of these on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE, and following the links. 

SEP 5, Submitted Palindromes: C, targeted at "A SANTA LIVED AS A DEVIL AT NASA"'

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. Their profiles are indicated 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", and continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in 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 all of this delightful entertainment 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. 

SEP 4, photo-collage (Toronto oases): Toronto Islands

SEP 3, Toronto ravines: Brickworks, floating islands (poem)

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

SEP 2, terminal (poetic) exclamation: OY, GEVALT!

 

Authors' Note: 

trombenyk: Yiddish for a ne'er-do-well, often a braggart

oy, gevalt (oy-guh-VAHLT): phrase borrowed from Yiddish; an exclamation expressing shock, surprise or disapproval

You can review our collection of poems on the topic of "Terminal Exclamation (Limerick Variations)" as it evolves on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE. 

SEP 1, mammalian wildlife: upsetting gnus

Authors' Note: Two major species of gnu (genus Connochaetes) are found in Africa — the black wildebeest (C. gnou) and the blue wildebeest (C. taurinus). The blue species is somewhat larger, and their horns are of different configuration; other differences are minor. The two species overlap in their range, but there is no other recorded instance of animosity or prejudice deriving from these differentiating traits.

This verse, with a completely apocryphal story, was inspired by Workshop's depressing, a brief poem published at OEDILF, the online collaborative poetry site ending with the phrase "really terrible gnus".

DOGGEREL-WRITING

A doggerel-writer, a keener,

By mean peers was judged coarse and obscener:

("From this site, you are banished!")

Wrote some winners, then vanished —

He'd committed a gross misdemeanour.

Here's our hope: We'll now cope, much serener.

Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2023

Authors' Note:  We are talking here about an open-forum collaborative website, so  the reader will realize that there are only a few opportunities for misdemeanourship. A major one was apparently undertaken by the prolific writer in question, but he did leave behind some great five-liners, including this author's favorite — (originally published under the title 'depressing'). 

WORKING AT ZOOS

The work is depressing at zoos,
So I often go home with the blues.
And it's getting more bleak;
For example, last week,
We received really terrible gnus.

 Workshop

AUG 30, singable satire: The Funniversary Song

 SINGABLE LIMERICK-LIKE LYRICS 

ORIGINAL SONG: Any old limerick verses can be sung to "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here. However we have undertaken the onerous task  of bringing you other melodies for singing limericks, as per the post "Novel Melodies for Singing Limericks". 

So, for this baby, we will exploit the melody of the verses for "The Anniversary Song". Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin originally had adapted the music (the score had been published in the U.S. in 1896) and wrote lyrics in 1946 to the 1880 composition "Waves of the Danube" by prolific Romanian composer Ion Ivanovici; his music had won a prize at the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris. The Jolson adaptation has been recorded by Dina Shore, Rosemary Clooney, Guy Lombardo, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Franks Sinatra, Pat Boone, Bing Crosby etc. 

LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio, 2017-2018. Two of the verses have been published at the OEDILF website (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form); the entry number for the OEDILF version is noted at the bottom of the chord-chart slides.
Readers should note that (i) each verse of the original song can accpomodate two limerick verses, (ii) the bridge has been adapted from the original Ivanovici-Jolson tune, and is NOT a limerick.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, August 2018. 

THE FUNNIVERSARY SONG 

(to a tune inspired by the verses of of Al Jolson's "The Anniversary Song", a.k.a. "Waves of the Danube")

In that room, bride and groom entered marriage
(Forty guests, kith and kin, came 'by carriage');
Formal garb and corsage
Adorned former garage.
It's our 'ballroom' (some Brits call it 'garage' GA-ridj).

We embarked on our marital dance
With a June honeymoon there in France
Later, raising our kids
Put romance on the skids,
Now they're grown, on their own: second chance.

Just a mile from home #1, with the 'ballroom',
Snowbirds nest in their lounge-lunch-and-loll room.
This garage: not enclosed,
But well low-sun exposed —
Our 'solarium' winter-and-fall room. 

Winter's mild, so you don't need to huddle
(Every once-in-a-while we still cuddle).
Life's rewards we now glean -- 
The retirement scene:
Wonder what's it all mean? That's a muddle.

BRIDGE: I'll sit in my rocker, and you'll sit in yours.
(Your reading's disturbed by my rather loud snores).
Then, while dinner's heating, our glass of merlot;
I'll web-surf and you will sew.

Repeat verse 4.


NOTES:
North American: guh-RAWZH
British: GA-ridj

Well over three decades ago, the author was married in an at-home ceremony. A two-car attached garage in his bride's home, which had been enclosed by the previous owner served as the basis of the ballroom/garage gag and as a credible chapel/party-room. As it happened, all the guests used the first indicated (a la française) pronunciation. On our return to the same sun-belt neighbourhood three decades later, we found a home with a different type of garage upgrade. 

AUG 29, defining opinion: envision

 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.

AUG 28, lexicon of word-pairs: redupications U to Z

Giorgio's lexicon of binomials (reduplications U-Z) 

Quite a few reduplications (words consisting of two near-duplicated elements) have been highlighted in other short verses by the authors:  

Matching the selection on the above slide, these include "wild child". 

You can easily find all of these on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE, and following the links. 

AUG 27, lexicon of word-pairs, reduplications, Si- to T

 Giorgio's lexicon of word-pairs (reduplications, Si- to T)

Quite a few reduplications (words consisting of two near-duplicated elements) have been highlighted in other short verses by the authors:  

Matching the selection on the above slides, these include "super-duper" and "tip-top". 

You can easily find all of these on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE, and following the links. 

c) related photo, 2022: 

an intrepid adventurer prepares his bicycle-packs for an arduous journey along the Erie Canal.

AUG 26, painterly poetry: Auvers-sur-Oise (van Gogh)

Check out our entire collection of illustrated verse on 'painterly poetry' by clicking HERE. 

AUG 25, Submitted Palindromes: B, targeted at "DENNIS SINNED"

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. Their profiles are indicated 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", and continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in 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 all of this delightful entertainment 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. 

AUG 24, American satire (prolongation): MAGAciousness -- philosophical spects

 

AUG 23, scopes of medicine: endoscopic collage (various authors)

Authors' note:  A cystoscope is a type of endoscope that is inserted into the urethra for the purpose of examining it and the bladder. it is also used for obtaining tissue samples for biopsies; in some highly specialized circumstances, it is also used for treatment.

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 !

AUG 22, patients and their maladies: ganglion cyst

Authors' Note: These common small limb lesions that may fluctuate spontaneously are most often found at the wrist. The name ganglion, Greek for "knot", is a misnomer, as examination by ultrasound or aspiration shows that they are thin-walled cysts filled with synovial (i.e. joint) fluid — such testing is not needed in most cases. Incidentally, the term tumour is a synonym for "growth" or "lump"; health professionals avoid using the term in dealing with lesions that have no oncologic significance in order to allay unnecessary patient anxiety. 

You can view collections of verses on this topic by proceeding to "Nurse-Verse: PATIENTS and their MALADIES" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

AUG 21, terminal (poetic) exclamation: YIPPEE!

 

Authors' Note:  As shown by verses collected at OEDILF, the slang term chippy has a spectrum of slang meanings including 'prostitute/loose woman', 'argumentative' and 'fish-and-chips eatery'. Where I live, the first two uses are in effect. In the US, postal zip-codes roughly identify the location of one's residence.

You can review our collection of poems on the topic of "Terminal Exclamation (Limerick Variations)" as it evolves on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE.