April 18, 2020

APR 18, magical canal palindromes: 'A man, a plan, ... 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 NonsenseHERE; then, you could check how we applied this technique to 'canal palindromes' by viewing this more recent post.


April 17, 2020

APR 17, Ontario nostalgia: across the Great Lakes




Authors' Note: The southern flank of the Canadian province of Ontario, abutting the border with the United States is a watery region comprised primarily of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The names of these lakes, and their order of progression to the Atlantic Ocean, are frequently covered in school curricula.

   Apart from flying, coming by ferry is the mode of access to the island province of Newfoundland for citizens of either Canada or the United States. The Confederation Bridge, 13 km in length, linking New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, has replaced ferry traffic to our smallest province since 1996.

   Tourism in most parts of Canada is highly dependent on Americans driving across the border. The industry has suffered a major depression in 2020 owing to restrictions related to the pandemic.
 

You can review the entire series of illustrated poems about  the good old days in Ontario by checking the post 'Ontario Nostalgia' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE



A reminder: Giorgio Coniglio's photo albums can now be found on Facebook.




April 16, 2020

APR 16, classic palindrome: 'Do geese see God?'




Authors' Note:     As with many classic palindromes, the origin of the iconic query,  ‘Do geese see God?’ is, in fact, unknown. The verse, however, suggests that it dates back to at least the fifth century B.C.E. The philosophic query is felt by some to be tarnished, and it remains unanswered into modern times.



web-photo
Plato (portrait bust)
sculptor: Silanion 370 B.C.E.












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'. 

April 15, 2020

APR 15, the Charleston garden: Japanese yew

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

TO ENLARGE any slide or stand-alone photo on this blog, just click on it. To reverse the process, and return to this standard view, find the little 'x' in the upper right corner of the black field and click there.






You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!


April 14, 2020

APR 14, anagram swarm: A-VERY-STABLE-GENIUS, #5/#6
















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


April 13, 2020

APR 13, geysers: second-hand geyser




Authors' NoteBjörg(f.) and Björn(m.) are typical Icelandic names.  In Britain, the term geyser, has come to mean a secondary water heater at the point-of-use, e.g. near a bathtub. In Iceland, hot water is distributed to all homes as a part of geothermal energy systems; such devices are not needed, and probably not available.
In North America, such auxiliary plumbing devices are known as ‘tankless water heaters’.
 Björn originally conceived of his gift idea based on occasional offerings of spent hydrogeologic geysers in Icelandic second-hand stores, e.g. the original reliable vent at Geysir which thrilled Victorian tourists has died back, 'replaced' nearby by other vents. The reader is left to judge whether such second-hand devices represent a figment of the author’s imagination or contrived nonsense

 

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry that Spurts: Verses about Geysers' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".




April 12, 2020

APR 12, patients and maladies: the common cold






 
Be sure to check out the whole collection of verses on 'Patients and their Maladies" by proceeding to our full-service blog ,"Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE !

April 11, 2020

APR 11, waterfowl: snowy egrets











snowy egret; Mt. Pleasant; South Carolina; Giorgio Coniglio




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'. 


April 10, 2020

APR 10, wordplay maps: new world palindromes(#13,#14)












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

April 9, 2020

APR 9, American satire: results of DT's first impeachment trial (birds'-eye view)

 Reprise, originally posted February 9 and 10, 2020.



American politics; Mitt Romney; Donald Trump; taxonomy; great egret

Authors' NoteReaders might want to check out prior posts, including that of Feb 9, entitled "Anagrammatic tribute to a Senator", and those of January 1910 and 11, dealing with great egrets. The photos of birds were obtained from Giorgio Coniglio's personal collection, whereas those of political leaders were obtained from readily available online sources.

We hope that you enjoyed this playful photo-art. You can find 30 more submissions, mostly poetic on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 


April 8, 2020

APR 8, limerick variations: the 6th line ("addendum-icitis")





Authors' Note:  Although a limerick is traditionally conceived as a 5-line concoction, once a sixth line ('L6') is developed, it may become an inherent part of the poem. The rule of the majority being what it is, on the OEDILF site for creating well-honed limericks the L6 is often demeaned as being only an addendum. The reader may detect that the editors of this blog  (Dr. G. H. and his registered pseudonym G. C.) are supporters of efforts to avoid the crashing boredom of a universe of traditional 5-liners.
  
   On this daily blog, 6-line verses, otherwise adhering to limerick form, can be found on about 180 blogposts for the interval January 2020 to March 2023; generally these involve a final line following the A-rhyme pattern used in lines 1,2, and 5; on occasion, in another  2-3 dozen poems, second or third appended lines have also been added. 


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 


WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE POETRY ON THIS SITE?
POEMS: Poetry appearing on this site was written (unless otherwise indicated) by Giorgio Coniglio (registered pseudonym), and for the most part contributed to the online humour dictionary-site...
OEDILF (Omnificent English Dictionary iLimerick Form). In its 18 years of existence, OEDILF has worked its way alphabetically from Aa- to Gr-, with the goal of accumulating a verse defining every meaning of every word in the English language. This co-operative project has  accumulated over 110,000 carefully edited limericks, with completion date estimated to be around the year 2065. In the past four years, Giorgio has contributed over 400 poems to the project; the site's accession number for the verses is indicated at the bottom of the relevant slides in our presentations. 
  (UpdateEd. note, 2023). Note that other types of verse can also be found on this site. Look around! And the number of OEDILF-approved limericks and limerrhoids has increased to almost 700.

April 7, 2020

APR 7, poets' corner: gender-neutral language







Authors' Note   Avoidance of discriminatory gender-bias in language is an unassailable aim. 
   In the medical field, there are many terms which are problematic due to syllables that in written or spoken form make them seem suspect for such bias. Usually, however, this 'problem' is happenstance based on the incorporation of Greek root-words. Sometimes the level of comedy is reached, as in the near-homonym for the male possessive form in the term HYSterectomy' (surgical removal of the uterus). Other medical and non-medical terms with hidden gender-related messages as in the above verses are indicated by font colour.  

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

April 6, 2020

APR 6, etymology: 'lagoon'





For fans of etymology, we have three blogposts with collections of verses about word-origins such as this one 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!



April 5, 2020

APR 5, non-sequitur: close quarters





Authors' Note: Claustrophobe and its variants, claustrophobic and claustrophobia have been defined in other verses at OEDILF.   


 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.

April 4, 2020

APR 4, pandemic poetry: 'stay-at-home'










pandemic; posted sign; Mt. Pleasant; South Carolina



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







April 3, 2020

APR 3, wordplay maps: sister-cities anagrams (10-12)

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!







April 2, 2020

APR 2, magical palindromes: examples #16 to #20

 





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 NonsenseHERE; then, you could check how we applied this technique to 'canal palindromes' by viewing this more recent post.


April 1, 2020

APR 1, bottom line of medical humor: diarrhea




 Authors' Note:  

  A euphemism allows one to skirt around the messy details. 

  Diarrhea, a term coined by Hippocrates, derives from the Greek for a flow going through; the details are linked by longstanding usage to the specific intestinal inconvenience, sometimes characterized as "the trots".

  The authors regret that there are no appropriate images to accompany this verse.


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




March 31, 2020

MAR 31, pandemic verse: Kermit's prediction








"Some Pandemic Evening"
main commercial street of Mt Pleasant, SC;
8 pm; view towards Ravenel Bridge




March 30, 2020

MAR 30, pandemic poetry: the infirm





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


March 29, 2020

MAR 29, mammalian wildlife: Geebo's angwantibo

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!







Authors' Note:  The angwantibo (an-GWAN-tee-boh) or golden potto, Calabar angwantibo, is a small golden-haired primate inhabiting parts of Central Africa, including the country of Gabon. It undertakes its propagation rituals while hanging from tree-branches. The results of attempts at such matings by unskilled participants are unrecorded.

  To some readers the name Geebo may seem unlikely, but the author assures you that for the first twenty years of his life this nickname (one of the few of which he approved) was in common use, at least by his siblings; it is still used occasionally in close circles.
 


You can review the whole collection of illustrated verses about mammals (both domestic and exotic) by checking out the more extensive post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !






March 28, 2020

MAR 28, personal and family history: anniversary saga

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!


limerick; South Carolina; house and home; personal story; Giorgio Coniglio






relationships; marriage; South Carolina; Giorgio Coniglio




March 27, 2020

MAR 27, the Charleston garden: gazebos


Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!






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



March 26, 2020

MAR 26, non-sequitur "Caine Mutiny"

 

"CAINE MUTINY"


His biz, based on falsehoods and lootiny,

His modus and mind needed scrutiny. 

Yet his climb didn't stop,

'Til he grabbed for the top.

An old plot: Captain Queeg and "Caine Mutiny". 


Giorgio Coniglio, 2022







https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caine_Mutiny_(film)





March 25, 2020

MAR 25, holidays and celebrations: Greek Independence Day

 Today is GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY !




Authors' Note:

evzone: (EHV-zohn, anglicized form), member of an elite unit drawn from the Hellenic Army Infantry Corps

Grand Change: a more elaborate version of the hourly changing of the guard that takes place on Sunday mornings at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens' Syntagma Square, providing a popular photo-op for locals and tourists

Kleft (KLEHFT): Greek fighter in the War of Independence

fustanella: kilt made from 30 meters of white cotton, supposedly with 400 pleats to represent each of the years of Ottoman occupation





MAR 25, wordplay maps: American Scramble-towns 3,4


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.



 

LINKS:
Forward to U.S.A. map#5
Back to U.S.A. map #1
Let's skip all this stuff and get on to the Canadian version, eh? (stay tuned!)