Hon, check me out on this, but I think ...

Hanukah monicker
Judah the Macabee's
Festival lasts for a
Day plus a week.

You though have versified
Anachronistically:
Those whom he fought were the
Romans, not Greek.

Hon...

Candlelight Schmandelight
Judah the Maccabee
Led out his people to
Conquer the Greek.

Ritualistically
Monotheistical.
Jews all now celebrate!
Oh, what a week!

Oopsers. Apologies
[egg-on-my-face icon -- but it's such a sweet face]

Eight Candles

Tinman

Wow, Quiltin' Fool, another great one! I am going to share that one, too, with the junior wordcrafters. Thanks for the link, Tinman.

I'm putting this one here just so all my DDs are on the same thread. Here's one I started writing on the train to Bath way back in February and forgot about until yesterday, when I finally managed to finish it and work in the pun. Amazing what you can do when you're bored waiting for friends in the pub, lol.

Higgledy Piggledy,
X-Man God, Wolverine
Writes up a contract of
Citizens' laws.

Watches us stick to it
Super-heroically,
Criminals, though, should watch
Out for the clause.

Ahem

That is excellent! HA! I love it! Simon will love it, too. :-) Great pun, Cat!

Higgledy Piggledy
Smith of Chicago Times
Writes a good column on
Language and such.

Infralapsarian,
Supralapsarian,
Words from today, though I
Won't use them much!

Zay Smith writes the QT column in the Chicago Sun Times that I write about from time to time. I do have a bone to pick with him though...while I always credit him when I cite from his column, he took from Wordcrafter's theme recently and only credited himself. Grrrr!

Well, I just heard from Zay (I emailed him that I thought he should have credited Wordcraft), and he said: "it was truly an oversight. i trry to be careful, also, but remain mortal (i have cited wordcraft in the past; matter of fact, something from wordcraft will be leading my sunday column, as it stands now)."

Thank you, Zay! It's not the BBC or NPR, but, hey, we take what we can get!

Inspired by my ever so favorite people, Brad and Angelina:

(Thanks, Bob, for the heads up on the spoonerism.)

Spoonery Spoonery
Pitt and Jolie, unwed:
"Einsteins" they aren't -- no not
One little bit!

Incomprehensibly,
Giving the name no thought,
Named their new baby girl:
Shiloh...then Pitt!

[edited to reflect the unwed state of Brad and Angelina. I had thought they were married, which probably reflects my prudishness. ]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

These double dactyls are not easy. I don't know that many 6 syllable words.

My recollection of the fairy tale is that Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother are saved when a hunter cuts open the wolf who swallowed them whole. That may not be how the original story went.


Slidinghood, hidinggood,
Little Red Riding Hood,
Bad wolf's had grandmother.
Now he wants you.
"Oh! What big ears you have!
Oh! What big eyes you have!"
Impossibility!
"Wolfie, don't chew!"

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:


Shiloh...then Pitt!

Shiloh Pitt. I know there is something here I'm not getting. Shiloh is a place?

Try Shiloh Pitt as a spoonerism, Frank.

quote:

Originally posted by arnie:

Try Shiloh Pitt as a spoonerism, Frank.

I had to look up spoonerism. So you would replace the "P" from the second word with the "Sh" from the first word.

Arnie, I like your signiture.

Higgledy Piggledy
Michael J. Quinion
Warns against using this
Phrase (He knows best!):

Begging the question can,
Contradictorily,
Mean you're evading or...
Raising the quest.

There has been lots of discussion both here and on OEDILF about "begging the question."

Well, I guess every month or so I get the DD bug. Here is one inspired by this thread:

Teasingly, Teasingly
Thomas A. Edison
Takes all the credit for
Lightbulbs...and more!

Richard the Wordcrafter,
Uncompromisingly,
Credits Sir Swan for the
Bulb...and he's sore!

Okay, Richard. You can write one on me now. I am fair game.

quote:

Credits Sir Swan ...

I suspect Sir Joseph Swan would have been somewhat peeved to see himself referred to in such a manner.

An etiquette lesson for our unruly colonial cousins ...
Knights are always referred to as "Sir (Firstname) (Lastname)". When addressed directly they should be called "Sir (Firstname)", without a second name. So he should be called "Sir Joseph Swan" or addressed as "Sir Joseph".

Next week:
How to address a Lord.

Yes, I know it wouldn't fit the metre otherwise, but some things are sacred...

Joe Swan fits the metre though...

Oh...I will never understand you English with all your sirs and dukes and such. Sorry, Sir Joseph Swan! Joe Swan doesn't work for me because I stress the "Swan."

Well...I decided, considering recent posts about "care less," that I'd poke a bit of fun at myself. (Richard, you are still allowed to make fun of me, as well!)

Zeugaly Zeugaly
Kalleh, the Wordcrafter's,
Called a "prescriptivist,"
She must confess!

Why must she argue of
Meaningless drivel? I,
Inconsequentially,
Couldn't care less!

There. Got me!

Shu and I had mentioned "Akeelah and the Bee" here as a movie we loved. It's now out on DVD. If you like words, you will enjoy it.

Here is my DD promoting it:

Buzzingly Buzzingly
Champion Akeelah A.
Starred in the Bee, spelling
"Pulchritude" right.

Etymologically,
Learned that "xanthosis" is
Greek with an "x"...and that
Film's a delight!

We highly recommend it!

["Champion" must be pronounced "champ-yan" for this DD to work.]

I did watch a bit of it on a recent plane journey. It was OK but it just doesn't mean as much to British audiences where the whole idea of learning huge word lists for national spelling contests is outside our experience and seems faintly ridiculous.
I got bored and switched over to Ice Age 2.

Bob, it really was a lot more than long word lists. In fact, it was quite informative about how words are formed and the importance of understanding the etymology of words.

I am impressed with your honesty, though.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Bob, it really was a lot more than long word lists. In fact, it was quite informative about how words are formed and the importance of understanding the etymology of words.

I am impressed with your honesty, though.

Sure, I know that but a film based around a spelling bee, however good and worthwhile, simply doesn't mean anything very much to us here. It's not part of our culture.

quote:

simply doesn't mean anything very much to us here. It's not part of our culture.

I have a theory, merely from our posting together here, that Americans make that point of things "not being a part of our culture" less frequently than the British do. That point seems to come up a lot by the British here, but not as much by the Americans. I have to say, if I didn't like a movie, the last thing I'd relate it to is "it's not part of our culture," even if it were something very British, such as polo or something.

Anyway...sorry you didn't like it, especially after Shu and I pushed it so much.

quote:

if I didn't like a movie, the last thing I'd relate it to is "it's not part of our culture," even if it were something very British

Ah, but that's because British culture is endlessly fascinating ...

Sesily Sesily
Arnie, the Wordcrafter,
Expert in language; he's
One of our faves!

Logomaniacally,
Loving big words, he says,
Sesquipedalian's
One that he craves!

This is offered as an apologie to arnie, who thought I had referred to him as an "anal prescriptivist":

Grammerly Sammerly
Arnie, the Wordcrafter:
Anal Prescriptivist?
Flatly: It's NO!

Moot means "debating," the
E-word he's hating, but
Uncontroversially,
We love him so!

I'm in a DD mood...any of the rest of you?

Higgledy Piggledy
CBS news anchor
Katie A. Couric de-
Serves quite a nod.

Brilliant in newscasts, though
Uncomplimentary
Viewers obsessed of her
Photoshopped bod!

And here's the last for today...

Higgledy Piggledy
William J. Strunk and White,
Anal prescriptivists:
"Don't end with 'at'"!

"Incontrovertibly,
Don't split infinitives;
Put commas everywhere;
Change 'which' for 'that'!

quote:

I have a theory, merely from our posting together here, that Americans make that point of things "not being a part of our culture" less frequently than the British do. That point seems to come up a lot by the British here, but not as much by the Americans.

One of the things about England and the English is that there are so many things that we know and do, but which have not been formalised. That must be very confusing to those nations (I suspect the Germans would be one) where there are rules and regulations for everything. One of the most obvious examples is the way that we generally have no system to control priority for service in shops and the like, but we need none. We all know how to form an orderly queue (line) and woe betide any foreigner who tries to circumvent the system.

The last written constitution we wrote was the Magna Carta - and we get on just fine with it. The US consitution is relatively new and has been amended several times.

Of course, Governments, especially our present one, love to try to make everyone conform to their own ideas; hence the plethora of legislation we have experienced recently - all aimed at "controlling the masses".

quote:

One of the most obvious examples is the way that we generally have no system to control priority for service in shops and the like, but we need none.

We do the same thing here in the U.S. Whatever made you think we don't? I saw a stark difference, for example, between waiting at the airport in the U.S. and in Italy. In the U.S. people just line up in an orderly fashion (as they also did in England), but in Italy everyone just bunched up together and pushed forard like one big powerball. It made no difference whatsoever who was there first. I'd say we're quite like England in that.

quote:

The US consitution is relatively new and has been amended several times.

Well, of course. Our country is relatively new. And, yes, we've had 27 Amendments, with #18 being repealed in #21. These amendments were very specific, and in some cases (women's suffrage; slavery; freedom of religion, press, expression; right to a speedy trial and confrontation of witnesses; and cruel and unusual punishment) they are classic principles of U.S. government.

Back then (a long way back, to be sure...) I said:

Mursilly-Nursilly
Kalleh of Illinois
Didn't think she could do
Dactyl thread proud.
But she has shown she is
Enthusiastically
Up to the challenge, we're
Clapping out loud.

Now... I say:

Higgledy-Piggledy
Kalleh, Head Nurse Mistress,
Writes double dactyls with
Speed and with ease.
She used to doubt her gift,
Uncomprehensively,
Now she writes eighty-eight
Percent of these!

Or maybe it's more like 93%. I'm not so good with math...

Well done Kalleh, well done.

quote:

We do the same thing here in the U.S. Whatever made you think we don't?

I didn't. Although you don't know what a "queue" is, you do understand the concept of waiting your turn.

quote:

Well, of course. Our country is relatively new.

And so is your constitution compared with ours - 1215 as opposed to 1787. My point is that, in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the 800 years since it was written, we have never found it necessary to amend our constitution - but we have surely amended our behaviour. It is the many unwritten "codes" we have that can be confusing.

quote:

Although you don't know what a "queue" is,

???

Awww...TrossL, thank you! What a compliment, coming from you.

quote:

???

Well, some of the better-travelled Americans might - but most just don't use or understand the term in my experience.

some of the better-travelled Americans might

Well, most of the folks in IT, no matter where they're from know what a queue is. It's one of a small set of commonly used data structures. We even use verbs like enqueue and dequeue. The thing to remember about queues is that they're FIFO (first in, first out), where as stacks are LIFO (last in, first out). Besides queues and stacks, there are arrays, linked lists (both singlely and doublely linked), associative arrays (aka hash tables or dictionaries), trees, tries, sets, unions, and bags.

[Supplied a dropped copula.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

quote:

"Akeelah and the Bee"

Oddly, there's a US film on TV today here called Spellbound which got quite good reviews and is also about spelling bees. It's on Film4 if any UKers have digital TV and fancy watching, although it's nearly halfway though as I write, and finishes in just over an hour.

In data structures, a Double Ended Queue is spelled "dequeue", and pronounced like "deck". It makes me wince every time I hear it.

In Computer Science, they teach us to remember "stack" like a stack of trays at a cafeteria. You have to take the one on top, and you can only add to the top. A queue is a linne to wait in, they take the one in front, and you have to join the line in back.

In linguistics, a Context-Free grammar has a tape which is essentially a stack.

quote:

in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the 800 years since it was written, we have never found it necessary to amend our constitution

According to the British Library website substantial chunks have been "omitted in all later reissues of the charter." Fortunately the clause that forbids guardians from giving heirs in marriage to people of lower social standing is still intact.

a Double Ended Queue is spelled "dequeue"

I've usually seen it spelled deque so as to not confuse it with the verb dequeue to remove something from the queue. For stacks the verbs are pop and push.

quote:

Well, some of the better-travelled Americans might - but most just don't use or understand the term in my experience.

The word "queue" is used in the U.S. quite often. I've heard it, for example, when calling companies like AT&T, where they say "you're number 10 in the queue." It isn't just used in IT.

Arnie, yes, "Spellbound" was another popular spelling bee film, though I haven't seen it. Spelling bees have become less nerdy in the last few years in the U.S.

quote:

I've usually seen it spelled deque so as to not confuse it with the verb dequeue to remove something from the queue.

You're right. I don't know how I could have forgotted how to spell a made up word. It isn't a data structure I use often.

quote:

The word "queue" is used in the U.S. quite often.

I wouldn't say "quite often". When I first learned it in high school, almost nobody had heard it before.

In my experience, if you were to say to a recently arrived US visitor "Go to the head of the queue" you would often be greeted with a look of incomprehension.

You have to say "Go to the front of the line" or something similar.

For queuing, I tend to use to stand in line, but in New York (at least) people tend to use to stand on line..

quote:

In my experience, if you were to say to a recently arrived US visitor "Go to the head of the queue" you would often be greeted with a look of incomprehension.

On the other hand, if you ask a French shopkeeper where his queue is you'll be greeted with a roar of laughter.

I think that the word queueing is the only English word with five consecutive vowels.

Funny, neveu; great minds think alike. When I was writing about it, I wondered if there were any other words with 1 consonant and 2 vowels, each used twice. What an interesting word!

I would say stand in line, too, Zmj.

quote:

I wouldn't say "quite often". When I first learned it in high school, almost nobody had heard it before.

But that was so many years ago, sean. I think it has become more common recently. As I said, it is often used in phone systems, and I specifically remember it being used in USC's (University of Southern California) phone system.

quote:

It made no difference whatsoever who was there first. I'd say we're quite like England in that.

Agreed, Kalleh, but if you've read Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island, you'll realize there's a basic difference in attitude between the US and the UK toward standing in/on line/queueing up for long periods of time.
I agree that we Americans tend to line up as dutifully as people in the UK, but we are far less patient about waiting for more than about five minutes. Here, after awhile, you'll hear a lot of sighs and grumbling, and soon, some embarrassing idiot will break out of the line and go to the front to demand that something be done about the delay. The English are far more content just to stand and wait until things get moving of their own accord, at least according to Bryson. I observed a patient, placid UK queue in Edinburgh three summers ago while in a huge long line of thousands waiting for the gates to open at the top of the Royal Mile for the annual Military Tattoo. As my husband and I began to get itchy for the line to start crawling up the hill (this was after 45 minutes of waiting), our UK/kiwi friends gave us a look that said "chill!" (so we did.)

Richard, I think most educated people in the US know what a queue is, though I am sure you are right that the average American tourist may not.

Wordmatic

Interesting, Wordmatic. If that's the case, then you are correct. We do tend to get impatient in lines here in the U.S., and every so often we all will come across a butinsky. Shu and I were in a coffee shop recently where there is one line, but 2 clerks. Most everyone knows to wait in that one line and then take whichever clerk comes along. Well this day there was a long line, and some man came in and bypassed everyone, walking up to the second clerk. While those of us in line complained to each other about it, no one said anything. Eventually, though, the man loudly stomped out because the clerk, in his opinion, overcharged him. We patient line-waiters liked that!

On a totally other subject (because of a discussion in another thread about prescriptivists vs. descriptivists), I have written another DD. I like to keep all our DDs together:

Higgledy Piggledy
Kalleh the Wordcrafter:
Glibly she says, "I'm de-
Scriptivist now!"

Incontrovertibly,
Hating poor grammar, the
Evidence says she's pre-
Scriptivist...How!

Oh well...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,