MAR 13, waterfowl: black-crowned night herons

 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'. 

MAR 12, palinku (poetic novelty): gender-roles

 

 

   In this post, we will introduce a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese 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). 

  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. 

  And, just in case you have forgotten what palindromes are about, your blogsite hosts have arranged a serial set of brief lessons on the topic ('Political Palindromes') which you can review by clicking HERE. 

palinku

 (Ed. note:) Verses of this ilk have continued to accumulate. You can view them all at one swoop if you  proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

links for any date, January 2020 - March 2022: 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.

MAR 11, a brief saga: workplace pollution (compensable)

Authors' Note:  Only a minority of occupational toxins produce cancer. Asbestos, ionizing radiation, radon gas, and secondhand smoke are the best-studied occupational chemicals that do so. The most prevalent carcinogen encountered by workers is tobacco.

  Often the pattern of body sites affected is characteristic, e.g. soot/scrotal cancer, asbestos/lung cancer, radiation/bone marrow cancers, etc. In many countries, the lifetime risk of developing a malignancy is in the order of 25%. A small increase above this background rate would be highly regrettable, but difficult to discern and to distinguish from random variation.

  The effects of potentially toxic substances are often not well-characterized. As with other harmful effects, study of the situation during plant operation, and efforts to make all exposure as low as reasonably achievable (a principle known as ALARA) , with the cooperation of workers and management in the process, is critical. 

 

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 multi-verse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. 

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog, proceed to 'Glock-toting Phyllis'.

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga', back up to 'gastro-esophageal junction'. 

Re Medical-Related Verse: Altogether, a hundred or so intriguing verses on medical/dental topics can now be found on various posts in collections, including:

Patients and their Maladies (parts #1, #2 and #3)

The Bottom Line of Medical Humour

Funny Bones (parts #1 and #2),
Doctors and their Practices (part #1 and #2)

To Clot or Not to Clot

The Scopes of Modern Medicine

Handbook of Medical Testing Statistics

Pandemic Verses

Poetry of Healthcare

STD Poetry

Diagnostic Imaging (selected topics)

Toxic Vignettes

Sleek Greek Prefixes

Dental Feelings

and in 'brief sagas' including:

Drug Development

Radiation Exposure

Methylated Spirits

The Gastro-Esophageal Junction

Workplace Pollution

Food Intolerance

Fluoridation

MAR 10, diagnostic imaging: ECG-gated SPECT

Authors' Note:  SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) imaging of the myocardium (heart muscle), performed at rest and with stress (exercise or drug infusion) is currently the most frequent test performed in hospitals' nuclear imaging departments.

   The 3-dimensional images, a type of computed tomography, are produced with a camera which detects the emission of the single-energy gamma rays following an injection of a radionuclide. By connecting the patient to a system for recording the ECG (electrocardiogram), the images can be "gated", i.e. divided into segments of the cardiac cycle; these show contraction of the ventricles, following each of two injections of the imaging agent. A muscle region showing identically poor blood flow (perfusion) and contractile function at rest and stress represents prior heart damage, and is unlikely to respond to therapy.

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!

 

MAR 9, funny bones: anatomic snuffbox

 

 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!

MAR 8, Toronto oases: Casa Loma

 

MAR 7, amphibians: southern toad

 

Authors' Note:   The southern toad is found in all of the southern US states except Tennessee, particularly in areas nearer to the coasts. Cranial crests giving rise to skin knobs between the eyes are found most prominently in creatures in the extreme southerly parts of their range, giving rise to the term 'horny toad'; there is no relationship of these paired growths to bony horns found in mammals, or to sexual function. During the summer, high-pitched trilling from congregated males can be near-deafening in low-lying marshy areas where the amphibians breed, and females are duly attracted. Each mating results in thousands of toadlets. 

Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'Amphibians' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE ! 

MAR 6, exotic destination: Swiss Alps

 

MAR 5, patients and their maladies: male infertility

Authors' Note: In medical parlance, ejaculate is pronounced differently as noun (n.) or verb (v.) As a patient in the process of fertility testing, you will undoubtedly be asked to contribute (v.) a sample (n.), to assess sperm quality and cell count.

 You can view these verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Nurse-Verse: Patients and their Maladies' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

MAR 4, anagram swarm: 'REPUBLICAN VOTERS' -- statewise presentation

Stay tuned, and there will be more 'fun-with-anagram' wordplay-maps  showing further variants on this theme! 

OR, if you really want to get into this form of wordplay, you could delve into a series of posts on "Edifying Nonsense", starting here. 

MAR 3, anagram swarm: national presentation of 'REPUBLICAN VOTERS'

 Stay tuned, and there will be more 'fun-with-anagram' wordplay-maps  showing further variants on this theme! 

OR, if you really want to get into this form of wordplay, you could dive into a series of posts on "Edifying Nonsense", starting here. 

MAR 2, wordplay map: r-i-c anagrams #15 and #16

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.

MAR 1, 2021: poetic non-sequitur: doggy-bag

 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.

FEB 28, classic palindrome: 'gnu dung'

You can check out another illustrated verse about the gnu or wildebeest by clicking HERE.

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". 

FEB 27, at heart: ejection fraction (LVEF)

Authors' Note:  In disease states, including those producing congestive heart failure, the ejection fraction of the left ventricle, a measure indicating the strength of contraction, provides important information concerning prognosis (potential outcome) and the need for treatment. 

   The ejection fraction can be measured by echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, or several different nuclear (radio-isotope) techniques. These techniques measure the volume of the ventricle at the end of diastolic (relaxation) and systolic (contraction) phases of the cardiac cycle. Despite the name, the change during systole is generally given in medical jargon as the percent relative change, rather than as a true fraction; e.g. 60% is good, 30% is bad.

 

You can view more poems on this topic by proceeding to "Cardiologic Tracings: AT HEART" (parts #1 and #2) on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

FEB 26, anagram swarm: 'EX-PRESIDENTIAL'

 

    As often happens in trying to portray a swarm of anagrams, I have left out a few relevant places; in this case, it was simply because I ran out of room on the map (which was progressively updated to a total of 65 entries). Apologies to the villages of Alien Preside, Pilsener Idea and Needier Pails TX in Texas, Exited Spiral NE in Nebraska, Delete Praxis IN in Indiana, and Axis Repented and Ex-Sardine-Pet IL in Illinois!

  If you have enjoyed this post, you can find a series of other 'American anagram swarms' gathered in three posts on our 'parent' blog Edifying Nonsense.  To get started, click here.  

 

FEB 25, dental feelings (sentimental verse): fillings in Billings

 

 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'.

FEB 24, sleek Greek prefixes: ENDO-

Authors' Note: To view what's inside you, you might want to look through a collection of verses about endoscopy entitled "Inner Enlightenment: The Scopes of Modern Medicine". Click HERE!

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

FEB 23, English literature survey course: pass/fail

Authors' Note:  During the author's stint as a university science major, a modicum of knowledge of the liberal arts was putatively assured by subjecting students to pass/fail survey courses. "Getting by", as in the above described English class, seemed to be the modus operandi of students, and occasionally of teaching staff.

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

FEB 22, amphibians: American green tree frog

 

Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'Amphibians' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE ! 

FEB 21, pandemic poetry: 'two contagiously funny verses'

Authors' Note: Thanks to M.A. of Bloomington IN for the idea for the second verse. 

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

FEB 20 (2021), singable satire: Mary Poppins sings "FORMULAIC-PLEONASTIC-LEGALISTIC DOUBLETS"

 PARODY SONG-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG:  "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious",  from the movie "Mary Poppins", Sherman Brothers, 1963, as performed by Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews.

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr.G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2015. This song is the final entry in a group of nine dealing with Word-Pairs. And, development of the song lyrics reulted in our home-grown guide to legalese, found here.

PARODY-SONGLINK: To access ukulele chord-charts to help you accompany "Formulaic-Pleonastic-Legalistic Doublets"on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

  In spite of various campaigns to improve the language style used for communication by lawyers, most of us still can't understand what they say. One particularly vexing element is their apparently mandatory use of redundant pairs of words in a form of cliché, sometimes having an archaic sound.  

  For better or worse, there does not appear to be a covenant and agreement between linguists and lawyers as to what to call these expressions. Such pairings of items with similar or overlapping meaning are known as doublets  in the legal literature. They consist of pairs of nouns, verbs adjectives or even adverbs, joined by a conjunction, most commonly 'and'; hence they would usually be referred to as binomials by linguists. Linguists generally have a specific concept in mind with respect to word derivation in using the term doublet. 

Clear, Correct, Concise and Complete is a motto in the campaign to improve written English. Unfortunately, "legalese" and legal professionals may be inseparable.

FORMULAIC-PLEONASTIC-LEGALISTIC-DOUBLETS 

(to the tune of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" - Mary Poppins)

Now, "formula"  applies 
Whereas word-order's always set;
And if the first one shows up
So'll the other, you can bet!
And "pleonasm" indicates
A frank redundancy, 
If clients check out Wiki'
"Legal doublets" they shall see.

They're formulaic-pleonastic-legalistic-doublets
Now and henceforth use them to stay free and clear of trouble, it's
Fit and also proper, to pursue them and enjoy, it's
A formulaic-pleonastic-legalistic ploy.  

Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay! 
Clear and Correct and Complete and Concise

When I was still a minor,
As you've heretofore inferred,
I'd swear, even subscribe
With a sole and exclusive word.
But then I felt an urge to cover
Each and every base
Proclaiming with force and effect,
Thereby I'll rest my case. 

They're formulaic pleonasms, they aid and abet, it's
Not so new or novel, yet you get full faith and credit
You can't annul or cancel, now that you've deposed and said it
Formulaic pleonasms - don't revise or edit.

Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay! 
Clear and Correct and Complete and Concise 

While touring all and sundry ports 
To furnish and supply,
Surprising lets and hindrances  
Provoked a hue and cry.
He sought to be indemnified
And also held harmless 
He had and held a trick that 
He'll acknowledge and confess.....

Spout formulaic-pleonastic-legalistic diction! 
In a court of law where there's dispute and even friction - 
Helps attesting and asserting facts or only fiction
Formulaic-pleonastic-legalistic diction.

Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay! 
Clear and Correct and Complete and Concise

When liens and encumbrances
You can't shun and avoid,
Your power and authority
Is rendered null and void
Just cite and quote these phrases
And you'll double what you say,
And over and above
You still can transfer or convey.

Use formulaic pleonasms in your legal documents,
To give and grant, or bequeath and devise such lands and tenements.
With signed and sealed, full-and-complete testimony 'n' evidence
Heirs and assigns keep and maintain their chattels, with due diligence. 

Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay! 
Clear and Correct and Complete and Concise.

They're legalistic pleonasms - not sure what those terms meant?
That should be a focus of attention and concernment;
Unless and until there's a postponement or adjournment
Formulaic-pleonastic-legalese discernment.

CODICIL

Oh! Formulaic-pleonastic-legalistic thinking  
Though such words seem laudable, implies a brain that's shrinking,
With cause good and sufficient, you might find your case dismissed 
If judge-and-jury order-and-direct cease-and-desist. 

Notwithstanding legal valid rules and regulations
Please deem and consider all due terms and stipulations. 
Legal doublets - part and parcel, final formulation 
Is your last will and testament, and end and termination. 

Formulaic-pleonastic-legalistic thinking!



Other Examples of Legal Doublets

Other expressions with legal implications were included in my previous posts dealing with alliterative binomials. These include..... 

drunken and disorderly 

lend or lease

lewd and lascivious

mind and matter

search and seizure   

wrack and ruin

A compendium of other commonly used "legal doublets" that you might encounter is found here. 

Note that a number of the particularly-redundant expressions e.g. "terms and conditions", have been criticized in official and academic circles as contributing to lack of clarity in communication, and have been purged from specific usage in certain jurisdictions.

FEB 19, etymology: 'mentor'

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!

FEB 18, neologism (personal): electile dysfunction

Author's Note: Rudy Giuliani, former federal prosecutor and mayor of New York City, served as a legal advisor to the forty-fifth US leader, coordinating court challenges designed to help overturn the results of the American presidential election of 2020.     Dysfunction as a general medical or social state is discussed by SheilaB, a prolific contributor to OEDILF. Among many verses on the topical specific entity, Giorgio’s take on erectile dysfunction can also be reviewed at that website.  

 Electile dysfunction has not been as popular a topic.

(Ed. Note:) To make this effort easier, we have now collected these neologistic verses in a collection on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense";  click HERE.

 

(If, for some reason, you would like to obtain confidential information about 'eRectile dysfunction', click HERE.)  

FEB 17, classic palindrome: 'O Stone, be not so'

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".

FEB 16, bi-lyrical limerick: 'aphonic'

 

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.)