The Double Dactyls thread is locked because of inactivity.

Here's an excellent example I just found. It was an entrant in a recent Washington Post Style Invitational contest.
Viggery-pokery
Nabokov, Vladimir
Authors Lolita, a
Best-selling work.
Ode to a 12-year-old
Kid who's obsessing an
Overlibidinous
Voyeur and jerk.

(Chris Doyle, Forsyth, Mo.)

Wordcrafter-birdcrafter
Arnie of Londontown
Says double dactyls
Are what he holds dear.

Maybe he'll go on now
Ultra-obsessively.
It could be worse, though.
(Let's not discuss beer!)


If I can get TrossL back (she mentioned wanting to avoid message board burnout) I'll appoint her Queen Regent of this thread seeing as how she also mentioned enjoying this literary form.

Any other original examples, gang??

Higgledy piggledy
Richard the Englishman
Felled by attacks of the
Post-Birthday blues
Modestly recommends
Supersobriety
Abstinence, piety
That's the good news.

Higgledy-Piggledy
English head Tony Blair
Witnessed protestors and
Near wet his pants.

Pleading to Englishmen
Stiff-upperlippedly
"Let's band together now.
"What is this, France?!"


(It's odd but one of the hardest aspects of this quirkly literary format is coming up with a 6-syllable name on which to write.)

[This message was edited by C J Strolin on Sat Jan 31st, 2004 at 11:30.]

Hubbledy doubledy
Christopher Jaystrolin
Searching the internet
For names to name
Finds he's the victim of
Anaxiphilia
Blithely gives up with
Pecksniffian disdain

I'm not very good a t double dactyls (I tend to forget the rules halfway through) but I'll give it a try with a couple about my favourite fictional characters.

Curious and curiouser
Alice in Wonderland
Saw many things
That she'll never forget
But if Alice became a
Parliamentarian
She'd find our Government
More curious yet.

and

Avocation, vocation
The renowned Sherlock Holmes
Solved mysteries and problems
For the great and the small
While poor Doctor Watson, his
Amanuensis
Never cured anyone
Of anything at all.

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

[This message was edited by BobHale on Wed Feb 26th, 2003 at 6:58.]

[This message was edited by BobHale on Wed Feb 26th, 2003 at 6:59.]

Okay, so I love Double Dactyls but I obviously did not commit the rules to memory. All I remembered was the 6 syllable then 4 syllable pattern. Here are the rules as copied from a poetry website.

Double Dactyl - A word with two dactyls, such as counterintelligence or parliamentarian; also, a modern form of light verse consisting of two quatrains with two dactyls per line. The first line is a hyphenated nonsense word, often "higgledy-piggledy;" the second line is a proper name, and the sixth line is a single double dactyl word. The fourth and eighth lines are truncated, lacking the final two unaccented syllables, and rhyme with each other.

I do apologize for my first attempt. I will strive to do better in the future.

Good grief, TrossL, I am duly impressed! These rules look fierce to me--and I know CJ would catch me on every single nuance. Therefore, it is fun reading everyone's, but I couldn't possibly submit one; I have enough trouble with the meter and rhythm of my limericks!

BTW, it is good seeing you back posting again, TrossL!

I glad that's been cleared up.

Any questions, anyone?

Richard English

A check of some of the websites devoted to this curious literary form show some disagreement regarding just what the rules are.

The strictest interpretation I found stated a double dactyl must be:
just ONE sentence
made up of EXACTLY 44 syllables
with lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 six syllables each
in the form of two dactlys (three-syllable words with the stress only on the first syllable)
and lines 4 and 8 just four syllables a piece,
with the stress on the first and fourth syllables, and
with line 6 a single double dactyilic word (DA-da-da-DA-da-da),
either an adjective or an adverb, and
with line 1 being two nonsense dactyls and
with line 2 being the name of a historical figure and
with lines 4 and 8 rhyming.

What could be easier?!


Other interpretations are not quite so strict allowing more than one sentance and a certain flexibility regarding numbers of words in a line. To put it another way, a two-syllable word followed by a four-syllable word would be OK as long as the stress was "DA-da da-DA-da-da." Others say the line with the one six-syllable word can be the 5th, 6th, or 7th though most prefer the 6th.


All seem to be in agreement, though, regarding the number of syllables in each line. TrossL's 7th line "Not wanting world full of" would seem to flow more smoothly had it been "not WANTing a WORLD full of" but that extra syllable would, by a strict interpretation of the rules, render the whole piece a non-double-dactyl.

As one site said, "Double dactyls are not for sissies" and strictness of interpretation is the rule of the day.


C'mon, Kalleh. You can do it!!

[This message was edited by C J Strolin on Thu Feb 27th, 2003 at 11:34.]

Well Done, Lisa!

Jiggery Pokery
T - R - O - S - S - L
Speaks with great openness
Which I applaud.

Paid for her college quite
Extraordinarily.
Got her diploma marked
"Magna cum Bawd."


OK, having gone on at that length regarding the strictness of the rules, I proceed to stretch them anyway in that second line by spelling out Lisa's six-letter nom de cyberplume. Her actual full name, as it turns out, is six syllables long but the stresses fall in all the wrong places.

After Higglety Pigglety (prounounced "Higgle-dee Piggle-dee," don't ask me why) "Jiggery Pokery" is probably the most often used double dactyl opening line.

Now the kids talk at night
Ballistophobically
Wanting a world free from
War, bombs and pain.

"Ballistophobically" fits even when spelled properly. ¿No?

Your composition is a great contribution to the Peace Movement, TrossL !!

Ha, R.E.! I Beat You to It!!

Higglety Pigglety
Richard the Beermeister
Claims ales and lagers keep
Him in the pink.

Writes on this subject so
Ever-incessantly,
When does he ever find
Time left to drink?!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jerry thomas:
Now the kids talk at night
Ballistophobically
Wanting a world free from
War, bombs and pain.

"Ballistophobically" fits even when spelled properly. ¿No?[QUOTE]

That flows so much better the way you wrote the last line. Thank you. Regarding the proper spelling, I wasn't sure how people would pronouce the last part of the word, so I just nudged the reader in the right direction with the hyphen.

The following slightly amended versions fit the rules slightly better although in places the stress patterns are still a little off. I haven't been able to satisfactorily recast them to eliminate this problem.

I also find it hard to resist the temptation to make the opening nonsense line relevent.

Tweedledee-Tweedledum
Alice in Wonderland
Saw curious things that
She'll never forget,
If Alice became a
Parliamentarian
She'd find our Government
More curious yet.

and

Vocation-vocation
The renowned Sherlock Holmes
Solved mysteries and problems
For the great and the small
While poor Doctor Watson, his
Amanuensis
Never cured even one
Patient at all

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

Maybe a Bit Better But,
If So, Not by Much...

Lewisy Carrolly
"Alice in Wonderland"
Tells of a girl who once
Fell down a hole.

Met many creatures who
Incomprehensibly
Showed her that life was be-
Yond her control.


(You're right, B.H. Alice is a toughie. Plus the purists out there will point out that "Alice in Wonderland," a title Carroll never used, was actually the Walt Disney movie made from Carroll's work.)

I Haven't Read All the Books But
I Seriously Doubt This Ever Happened.

Bakerstreet, Fakerstreet,
Mastermind Sherlock Holmes,
In solving crimes was where
He found his niche.

Watson once taunted him
Hypersarcastically
"If you're so damn smart then
"Why ain't you rich?!"


Hmmm... Better, I suppose. And, yes, I realize the proper pronunciation of "niche" is more like "neesh" but the second accepted pronunciation is "nitch" which, obviously, is what I need here. Plus, technically, "hypersarcastically" could be pronounced by many as having seven syllables instead of the needed six. And I don't think Watson ever had such a smart mouth...

Damn, these are hard!

Baker Street Maker Sweet
Sir A. Conan Doyle
Established a niche for
Forensic gumshoes
Chasing the criminals
Elementarily ... ... (??????)
Concluded at last that
Some win and some lose.


~~~ jerry

[This message was edited by jerry thomas on Thu Feb 27th, 2003 at 17:13.]

These are indeed hard. To me, the hardest part is coming up with an appropriate six-syllable word, but even then authoring one of these is no walk in the park.

Higgledy piggeldy,
Alfred Lord Tennyson,
Laurate-bard for in-
ordinate time,
Authored a work titled
Hendecasyllabics,
Which greatly simplifies
Writing this rhyme.

(Notes: Tennyson was poet-laureate for over forty years. A "hendecasyllabic", I find, is a line of eleven syllables. Commonwealth Edision is the local power company here in Chicago, supplying electricity for our light bulbs.)

Higgledy piggeldy,
Commonwealth Edison
Now is empowered to
Set a great fee.
Honor the light brigade!
Oh what a charge they made!
Insatiability
Bankrupting me.

Barney Couldn't Hold His Slippers!
P-B-S, T-V-S
Mister Fred Rogers was
Everyone's neighbor and
Everyone's friend.

Wore his famed cardigan
Uninterruptedly
Thirty-plus years in the
Land of Pretend.


Even though his TV career spanned thirty-some years, I'm not positive "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" (and, yes, that's how they apostrophized it so no arguments, please!) ever made the jump across the Atlantic. This was a highly acclaimed children's show starring the venerable Mr. Rogers himself always talking to the young 'uns in a calm and soothing voice.

I was always more of a Captain Kangaroo kid myself but, still, it's sad to see someone pass away (yesterday at age 74 of stomach cancer) who had meant so very much to three generations of children.

This double dactyl is less than perfect (most of them are, the damn rules being so strict!) since its subject's name had only five syllables but whaddaya gonna do, right?

Big Boys - Big Toys
BOOMbitty, DOOMbitty,
Our man George W.
Says of Hussein who's now
Under the gun:

"While we could make this more
"Non-confrontational,
"That wouldn't be nearly
"Half as much fun!"


Ba-BOOM! And he sticks the landing! This one, I'm proud of!


You may not believe this but I swear that this one began in a dream I was having last night. I SWEAR TO GOD, LITTERALLY, IN A DREAM! I was with a friend discussing Canada's crumbling infrastructure (dams and bridges badly needing repair) when the word "non-confrontational" came up in the conversation. Now, first off, I have no idea as to the actual state of Canada's dams and bridges. And any significance attached to the subject matter? I don't care to know. This was just a random dream.

But when the magic word "non-confrontational" came up, a light bulb went off. "Aha! A six-syllable word with the stress on syllables 1 and 4!!" From this, the 5th, 7th, and 8th lines flowed fairly easily as I struggled to wake myself up to jot all this down on a pad I keep on a nearby end table for just this sort of purpose. "Under the gun" was the logical rhyme for line 4 so the thing fairly wrote itself backwards from ending to start.

Finished it off at 2:10 a.m. and then couldn't get back to sleep for a couple of hours trying to write more of these frustrating things! I'm damn proud of this one but more than a little concerned that I may have found yet one more thing to obsess on.

Feb 28th, 2003
or
To Cool (Hopefully) Kalleh's Blood a Bit

Jiggery Pokery
Roselind Franklin, a
Scientist helper of
Watson and Crick.

Photographed DNA
Crystallographically,
All in all really not
Bad for a chick!


Written in two minutes following my reading Kalleh's post elsewhere. I may be getting the hang of these things!

quote:

---

All in all really not
Bad for a chick!

---

Oh dear! (Ducks for cover)

You people are talented! I haven't analyzed the rules, but if you're following them, I am quite impressed! CJ, really, 2 minutes? You're damned good!

Arnie, somehow I missed that sexist comment. Thank God!

CJ, I too am seriously impressed. Limericks I can churn out like candy, but double dactyls? I sweated bullets to produce these.

Higgledy piggledy,
Joseph of Nazareth,
Learning his wife was
"With child", bewailed,
"Though I'm a carpentry
Para-professional,
She is the one thing I
Never have nailed."

Jiggery "poke"ery,
Mary of Nazareth
Pregnantly claimed to be
Mother of God;
Skeptics, however found
Parthenogenesis
As explanation was
Just a bit odd.

Higgamus Hoggamus,
Queen Marie Antoinette,
Hearing the peasants were
Lacking in bread,
"Let them eat cake," exclaimed,
Undiplomatically,
Here (and thereafter too),
Losing her head.

[This message was edited by Hic et ubique on Sat Mar 1st, 2003 at 14:15.]

These really are very hard to do.
I can get the number of syllables right, and find a name for line two and a word for line six but as soon as I try to read them back I find the stresses won't fall out properly.

Higgedly Piggedldy
Clown R*****d M*******d
Claims that his purpose is
Gastronomic

But there's the question of
Digestibility
That makes one believe it's
Economic

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

quote:

---

Big Boys - Big Toys
BOOMbitty, DOOMbitty,
Our man George W.
Says of Hussein who's now
Under the gun:
"While we could make this more
"Non-confrontational,
"That wouldn't be nearly
"Half as much fun!"

---

Had We But Finished the Job Before ...
Plus ca change, plus la meme,
George Herbert Walker Bush,
Battled Hussein but left
One job undone.
After a decade, not
Inconsequentially,
Saddam still here, the task
Falls to his son.

I've started a list that might help us write these durn things.

Tickle me pickle me
Tickle-Me-Elmo Dolls
At final inspection,
Upon being packed,

Were always awarded,
Noncondescendingly,
A pair of test tickles.
That's all that they lacked.

Bela, We Hardly Knew Ye

Higgledy, Piggledy,
Evil Count Dracula
Master seducer (or
Was it just rape?)

Nowadays women are
Unhypnotizable,
Never would fall for some
Schmuck in a cape!


Wrote this (in considerably more than two minutes; they don't all flow that easily) before I saw Hic's list of 6-syllable names. I used "Evil" instead of "Stoker's" since I'm far more familiar with Lugosi's portrayal of Count D. in the movies than I am with the book. Did Stoker's character even have a cape?

Help Wanted

Higgledy, Piggledy,
Wordcrafter regulars,
There is an opening
Here on this thread.

If you can critique quite
Hyperpedantically,
Don't just contribute, be-
Come King instead!


I had previously offered TrossL the position of Queen Regent of this thread since she had expressed an early interest in double dactyls (not to mention considerable skill at them later as well) but she hasn't responded. Possibly the slings and arrows I've suffered (Hey! Nice coinage of words, there!) as King of the Limericks thread has caused her to back off. Who knows.

Anyway, the position is still open. With the limericks thread, I had thought that it would be beneficial to encourage disscusion among the various contributors regarding each others' works, to constructively critique them on the thread instead of just adding more and more limericks to it. I may be wrong but might not this same approach be a benefit here?

Without claiming the title "Double Dactyl Canis Primerus (Top Dog)" for myself at this point, might I just comment that all the entries so far are excellent. With double dactyls, I'd say you really have to screw one up to receive a grade any lower than "C+".

Having said that, I do notice one recurring weak point and that, as B.H. pointed out, involves the difficulty in using words which, stress-wise, fit the extremely exacting requirements this form insists upon. Also, throwing in an extra syllable here or there in order to make it scan better is, sadly, verboten. For example, I could have said "There is an opening right here on this thread" and it would have sounded a bit better but, by doing so, I would have diminished the piece's double-dactylity.

If you're having difficulty, hang in there. If you're not having difficulty, you're not composing double dactyls!


The Acting D.D.C.P. has spoken.

Bang! LESS Than a Minute!!

Higgledy, Piggledy,
Kalleh of Illinois
Says double dactyls are
Too hard for her.

Judges her level of
Double-dactility
Too small to measure but
I don't concur!


And, yes, as the title states, once I noticed that "double-dactylity" from my last post was indeed a magic 6-syllable word with stresses on the first and fourth syllables, the rest of this piece wrote itself as quickly as I could jot it down.

Sometimes they're not that hard. Just keep in mind:

DAH-da-da, DAH-da-da, (rhyming nonsense words)
DAH-da-da DAH-da-da, (person's name)
DAH-da-da DAH-da-da,
DAH-da-da-DAH.

DAH-da-da DAH-da-da, (build-up)
DAH-da-da-DAH-da-da, (one 6-syllable word)
DAH-da-da DAH-da-da,
DAH-da-da-DAH! (punchline!)


And not that I expect to be able to quit my day job, but does anyone know if there might be a market for these foolish things?

A great help in writing double-dactyls is finding the 6 syllable word. If you go to OneLook and type in *ity or *ically for example, it will come up with all kinds of great words.

Hic, your list is helpful but only somewhat.

In looking through some double dactyl sites, I can't help but notice that enthusiasts of this literary form seem to be obsessed with historical figures from the deep past. Maybe this reflects a shortcoming of some sort on my part but I don't exactly thrill to the names of ancient Roman generals. I mean, "Quintus the Cunctator"?? Please!

Other names don't really fit the required stress. Julio Iglesias works only if you contract "HOO-lee-o" to "HOOL-yo" and "'Lizabeth Regina" works only if you mispronounce it "REE-gee-na." It's "ra-GEE-na," isn't it?

Also, I realize it was a typo but you list Livingston as the inventor of the microscope. I've worked for almost a damn hour trying to write a double dactyl where newspaperman Stanley meets the scientist in Africa and says "Anton von Leeuwenhoek, I presume?" and have come up completely empty. Damn these things!!


I Have No Idea What I'm Talking About!
Romany, Foamany,
Quintus the Cunctator
Reached, once in Heaven,
His sexual prime.

Mae West invited him,
Unambiguously,
"Come up to my place and
"Cunctate some time?"


Oh, yeah. That one works...

[This message was edited by C J Strolin on Mon Mar 3rd, 2003 at 13:01.]

CJ, just remember that my limerick GPA is a mere 2.71, and they are much easier than these.
I really am impressed with everyone's contributions and do so enjoy reading these!

quote:

---

Originally posted by C J Strolin:

Oh, yeah. That one works...

Mar 3rd, 2003 at 13:01.]

---

A reasonable try, but as you asked for criticisms since when was "unambiguously" stressed as

UN am big U ous ly ?

Try as I might I can't get the stress to fall on anything other than BIG.


Nice try but not deserveing of the triumphant "Oh, yeah That one works..."

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

TQHS

[This message was edited by TrossL on Wed Jun 4th, 2003 at 20:23.]

Slippety-Slappety
Anthony Blair, MP
Statesmanlike, so he'd like
Us to believe
Domestic Policy ?
Supererogatory !
Come next election time
He'll have to leave.

Blubbery-Wubbery
Catherine Zeta Jones
Sold wedding pictures for
Oodles of cash.
Ancient new hubby said
Hypersenescently
Other's who publish we'll
Sue in a flash.


Not too happy about making up the syllable count by just tagging "hyper" onto the front of "senescently", it feels like cheating, but it was the best word I could manage.


Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

[This message was edited by BobHale on Tue Mar 4th, 2003 at 15:53.]

quote:

---

Originally posted by BobHale:

A reasonable try, but as you asked for criticisms since when was "unambiguously" stressed as

UN am big U ous ly ?

Try as I might I can't get the stress to fall on anything other than BIG.


Nice try but not deserveing of the triumphant "Oh, yeah That one works..."

---

First off, this isn't even my damn day to be posting on this site!

Secondly, that wasn't a triumphant "Oh, yeah. That one works..."
That was a sarcastic "Oh, yeah. That one works..."!!

Just as a two-headed calf will always bring in an extra 50 cents per gawking yokel at a county fair (or maybe, nowadays, two bucks - I don't know what the going rate is for two-headed calves!) I only submitted this horrible Quintus the Cunctator piece as an example of how even an ill-conceived monstrosity such as this might provide some enjoyment value to the unwashed (yet highly erudite) masses.

It's a mess! It doesn't work! It's an affront to the eye and to the ear! And yet I find it strangely endearing.

I probably should have made my intentions more clear with this piece. I apologize for not speaking more UNambiGUously.

quote:

---

Originally posted by C J Strolin:
First off, this isn't even my damn day to be posting on this site!

so you see if you only had the self-discipline to stick to your schedule right now you'd be feeling happy instead of slightly miffed at being misunderstood.

Secondly, that wasn't a triumphant "Oh, yeah. That one works..."
That was a _sarcastic_ "Oh, yeah. That one works..."!!

Isn't that why we use smiley faces ? May I suggest that would have been appropriate.

It's a mess! It doesn't work! It's an affront to the eye and to the ear! And yet I find it strangely endearing.

I probably should have made my intentions more clear with this piece. I apologize for not speaking more UNambiGUously.

Very well, I forgive you. Don't let it happen again.

---

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

The queen is giggling in her tea...

quote:

---

Originally posted by BobHale:
I probably should have made my intentions more clear with this piece. I apologize for not speaking more UNambiGUously.

_Very well, I forgive you. Don't let it happen again._

---

This One Took Three Minutes.
-- or --
Crap is Easy. Art Takes Time.

Higgledy-Piggledy,
Englishman Robert Hale
Expert in accents, most
Proper of men,

Says that I shouldn't speak
UNambiGUously.
(Whoops! Sorry, B.H. It's
Happened again!)


(And Queen T., are you going to say anything about "Other's who publish we'll sue in a flash" before R.E. beats you to it?)

[This message was edited by C J Strolin on Tue Mar 4th, 2003 at 15:39.]

quote:

---

Originally posted by C J Strolin:
Higgledy-Piggledy,
Englishman Robert Hale
Expert in accents, most
Proper of men,

Says that I shouldn't speak
UNamiGUously.
(Whoops! Sorry, B.H. It's
Happened again!)


(And Queen T., are you going to say anything about "_Other's_ who publish we'll sue in a flash" before R.E. beats you to it?)

---

Unamiguously ? In an unfriendly manner ?

Other's - duh, mea culpa. Didn't spot it on the proof reading either and I'm far too honest to sneak back and change it and ask innocently what you are talking about !

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

quote:

---

Originally posted by BobHale:
[Una_mi_guously ? In an unfriendly manner ?

---

Oh, well. That was my typo, dammit. I'll correct it in my piece which, seeing as how I'm acknowledging the slip here, I assume doesn't cause me to be seen as sneaky.

niminy-piminy

Niminy piminy
Christopher Strolin's up
Set about "twee." So we
Consulted Ri-CHARD!

He says twee's OK in UK
Anglolinguistically
But you won't see it strollin'
In Chris's back yard



(with a gracious bow to Kalleh for the inspiration)

[This message was edited by jerry thomas on Tue Mar 4th, 2003 at 17:17.]

Higgledy piggledy,
Dawn Rhododactylous
Tired of Homer and
Gave him the bird,

Or, said an anserine
Lexiconophilist,
"Gave him the dactylion"
(What a great word!)

quote:

---

Originally posted by wordnerd:
Higgledy piggledy,
Dawn Rhododactylous
Tired of Homer and
Gave him the bird,

Or, said an anserine
Lexiconophilist,
"Gave him the dactylion
(What a great word!)

---

Very, very impressive wordnerd. I have to give you an A+. Pefect meter, perfect rhyme, funny and a great punchline. (Once I looked up what all the words meant!!)

TQHS

Originally posted by jerry thomas:

Niminy piminy
Christopher Strolin's up
Set about "twee." So we
Consulted Ri-CHARD!

He says twee's OK in UK
Anglolinguistically
But you won't see it strollin'
In Chris's back yard

Ugh. Jerry, I love your posts but this is not your best work. You can't mess around with the rules. Only 44 syllables in a 6-6-6-4-6-6-6-4 pattern. No exceptions.

"Consulted Ri-CHARD" No matter where you stress it, it still only has 5 syllables, besides not really flowing well.

"He says twee's OK in UK" 8 syllables

"But you won't see it strollin" again 7 syllables.

"In Chris's backyard" 5 syllables.

I'm going to have to grade this a C- because I know you can do much better. On the plus side, great 6-syllable word. Perfectly stressed!

TQHS

I agree wholeheartedly with TrossL, Wordnerd.

You've created (and shared with us) a Work of Art.

Your lynx-laden style adds yet another dimension.

OUTSTANDING !!


~~~ jerry

I need a blush-icon.