The first summer that I taught at Harrow there was another teacher there who was a rather objectionable man. At lunch and dinner the teachers and pupils all stood in one queue and waited to be served. On one occasion he marched right to front with his tray and demanded "Serve me first, I'm a teacher!" The kitchen staff ignored him and continued to serve people in the queue. He stormed off to find the kitchen supervisor and brought her back to complain in public about her staff. He went a very interesting shade of purple when instead of reprimanding them she really told him off about his own bad manners and told him to go to the back of the queue and wait his turn like everyone else. There wasn't any cheering but there were a lot of satisfied faces around.

Was he American?

Irish

quote:

every so often we all will come across a butinsky.

That's a new word to me. Wordweb has it as "buttinsky" and defines it as "...A meddler who tends to butt in..."

Butinsky, buttinsky... Reminds me of a dog in the park today who rose to the occasion when a female dog offered her rear to sniff. Would that be "ascent?"

"But out, but-insky", is a fairly common expression, or was, maybe 10 years ago. I haven't heard it recently, because of the whimsical nature of the expression, as well as it being somewhat rude.

Hi, everyone that's here. I googled my way to this discussion so I don't yet know the larger purpose of the larger site, but I did notice that this thread is about double-dactyls, so I thought I would post a few of mine. Please excuse any hackneyed words or subjects:


Higgledy Piggledy
Catherine of Aragon
Henry VIII found con-
Venient to wed

Irreconcilable
Differences parted them
Cost her her crown but, thank
God, not her head.


Higgledy Piggledy
Marian Anderson
Eleanor Roosevelt
Asked to perform

(Unconstitutional
Hall having reckoned her
Coloratura not
Up to the norm).


Higgledy Piggledy
Natalee Holloway
Went to Aruba a-
long with her class

And though the island was
Paradisiacal,
Nectar is not what was
Poured in her glass.

Granny O'Doul,

Thanks for sharing your DD's with the Community.

Here's one that I recently dreamed up in response to a trivial news item that said the First President of the U.S.A. had a set of false teeth made from wood.

General Washington
Resident President
Got some new dentures
Long overdue.

His dentist was into
Indenturedwoodcarving
"Better than no teeth," he
Said, ... wooden chew ?

Welcome, Granny! We do like DDs here, and Jerry is one of our best. I have sent you a welcome PM. BTW, where are you from?

I love the "wooden chew" part, Jerry, and the "indenturedwordcarving" is a great word; with a nip and a tuck on the meter here and there...it's a real keeper!

Thanks for the welcome, Jerry and Kalleh. I have filled in the location line in my profile so I guess we will soon see if it took.

Higgledy Piggledy
Granny, our Wordcrafter,
New to our forum, writes
Dactyls that rule!

Home is New York for her,
Disadvantageously;
Welcome here anyway,
Granny O'Doul!

I had to say something about NY, with my being from the second city and all! Kidding of course! I will be in NY next week for a conference, and I am looking forward to it.

piggledy higgledy
Johann Sebastian
Bach put to music the
Language he spoke

Describing his strategy
Musicalogically
Said to the world, "I'll
go for Baroque."

Oh...I love your L8!

Figures...it looks like Granny O'Doul didn't stick. I am in NY now and enjoying the city immensely.

[QUOTE]

Figures...it looks like Granny O'Doul didn't stick.QUOTE]

Kalleh... Granny may be back again... maybe she's just a part time surfer like yours truly...

I am doing this one for Wordmatic because she has never written a DD Before. Judy Topinka is running for governor in IL, and she is hardly very likeable...though I may be a little biased.

Higgledy Piggledy
Candidate Judy T.,
running for governor
In Illinois.

She is Republican;
I may be biased, but,
Incontrovertibly,
She is no joy!

Hey Wordmatic...your turn!

Higgledy Piggledy
Englishman Constable,
Raised on the banks where the
Waterways flow.

"Nature's the fountain's head":
That was his motto, though
Characteristically,
Boy was he slow!

There is a great exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC now: Constable's Great Landscapes. It is outstanding, and if anyone gets to DC, I highly recommend it. Constable is known for reworking his paintings, thus the comment of being "slow" to finish them. He grew up in East Bergholt, a village in the Stour River valley of Suffolk County in the SE of England. The countryside was dominated by a waterway that was navigable for barge traffic. Constable loved nature, and especially skies.

I adore his work.

Kalleh, I dont' read all the forums every day--so, just saw this.

Hmm, tonight is Halloween, so perhaps between rounds of answering the doorbell, doling out candy and keeping the dog away from same, I could write my very first double dactyl. Something with actual words.

We'll see...

Doubly dactylly,
Worming and squirming,
I fight with these syllables
Till they behave;

Wouldn't you rather
Have someone more eloquent
Write something better
Than this little rave?

Hmmm, we have a little work to do, but we will get there.

Here is a brief review of the rules:

1) The first line must be a double dactyl in meter and something whimsical, like "Higgledy Piggledy."

2) The second line, also a double dactyl in meter, must be the name of someone, though you can fudge it a bit. "John Constable" obviously doesn't work, so I used Englishman Constable.

3) The third line must be a double dactyl rhythm, but the fourth line's meter is: /../ (and the last word must rhyme with the last word of line 8).

4) The fifth, sixth and seventh lines must also be double dactyl in rhythm, and one of those lines must be a six syllable word (double dactyl in meter, such as "characteristically." They really aren't that hard to find; the "ality" words or the "ically" words are good.)

5) Lastly, the 8th line is similar in meter to the 4th line, and it must rhyme with line 4.

There...on the whole, not bad, right? [I am glad we don't have to do an omnificent dictionary on it!] The hardest part, for me, is line 2 with the name of someone in double dactyl meter.

Clearly I will have to spend more than 5 minutes on my next one. Doubly dactylly wasn't nonsense enough for you???? I'm crushed!

[let's see... sour old Pope Benedict. No... might insult somebody. George Herbert Walker Bush. Been done to death... Governor Ed Rendell. Maybe, but nobody outside Pennsylvania's heard of him. 'Lizabeth, Queen of Hats....???]

Wordmatic

OK, this one has meter problems, but since I don't have to worry about RFAs over here, read it and weep!

Royalty Schmoyalty,
'Lizabeth, Queen of Hats,
Reigns o'er her subjects--but
Just by their grace.

If the Republicans
Raise the votes needed, they'll
Constitutionally,
Her crown erase!

Higgledy Piggledy
Kalleh, Chicagoan
Greeter of newbies and
Writer of verse

Deuteropolitan
Inferiority
Complex aside, still, the
Place could do worse.

Deuteropolitan! That's a great one, GrannyO. Clearly, to keep up with this bunch, I need to increase my repertoire of 6-syllable, double dactylic words.

Wordmatic

Wordmatic, as for "Doubly dactylly," it surely is whimsical, though I say "doubly" with only 2 syllables (sounds like an OEDILF workshop, doesn't it?).

Your new one is much better! Allow me a couple of tinkers? Line 7 - sorry, but "constitutionally" isn't a double dactyl meter. Line 8 - the meter should be /../

But what an improvement! These things aren't easy.

Nice to see you back, Granny. I am so glad the place could do worse...I think. My mother used to call that a "back-handed compliment." Deuteropolitan? I have no clue what is meant by that, and my computer didn't help.

quote:

Deuteropolitan?

I'd say it's a word coined by Granny O'Doul to describe a resident of the Second City. (As in Deuteronomy, the second book in the Bible.) You are honoured to have a word coined to describe you!

Well, of course. Thanks, arnie.

Snickery snakery ...
Joseph T. Collins's ...
Still promulgating
Reptilian lore

Meet on his website
Herpetological
Copperheads, gartersnakes,
Rattlers and more.

Nice, Jer! [I'd add a "the" after L3 and a "for" after L5...but then I am an meterologically anal!]

I love the "herpetological."

Snickery snakery ...
Joseph T. Collins's ...
Still promulgating rep-
Tilian lore

Click on his website for
Herpetological
Copperheads, gartersnakes,
Rattlers and more.

(second attempt)

Great, Jer, and sorry for the critique. I am too used to OEDILF, I guess.

I'm no expert but isn't Popacatepetl three trochee rather than two dactyl?

Thanks Bob.

You're right about the trochees and dactyls in the Popocatepetl disaster.

Too many irreparable flaws. I have deleted it and suggest that you delete your reply and we can all start over again, this time avoiding Mexican volcanos.

Thanks!

~~~ jerry

Sure if you want me to but I think you are being too harsh on yourself. It may not have been a perfect DD but hey, why not invent your own new verse form - the triple-trochee (sounds like an ice cream flavour).
If I've learned anything over at the OEDILF it's that people can get way to restrictive in their ideas of how to do things. If I were you I'd put it back and call it a "trple-trochee". Of course if you really want to I'll delete this and the previous correspondence and we'll forget it ever happened.

I'll take three trochees and call you in the morning.

Go Bears!

Bare-i-ly Bear-i-ly
Chi-town's Coach Lovie Smith,
Led our great Bears as the
NFC Champ.

Fans were so fickle they
Put down profusely, but
Enthusiastically,
Now they all stamp!

Chicagoans, the media, and most football fans have been non-believers all year, even though the Bears have an excellent record. They may not win it all, but at least they will get to the Super Bowl.

I am so impressed. The NFC game was over today at about 5:30, and as I started this double dactyl at about 8:30, the Wikipedia already had the results of today's game by saying that Lovie Smith is the first African-American coach to lead a football team to the Superbowl.

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

Higgledy Piggledy
Stella, New Zealander,
Joins us on Wordcraft for
Talk about words.

Expert in lim'ricks, she
Says that these dactyls are,
Undeviatingly,
Just for the birds!

Stella is a very nice limerick writer on OEDILF, even though she tells me she has never written them before. However, she tells me that DDs "terrify" her. They really aren't that bad once you get on to them, are they Wordcrafters?

I’ve been through a lot trying to compose a DD since they were first mentioned to me, knowing that one day I would have to do it. This one is pedestrian, but it’s a start. Thanks, Kalleh for providing me with the inspiration (on the limerick thread)!


Cluckety pluckety
Kalleh of Wordcrafter
Gathers up newbies and
Makes them belong.

Generates joy and much
Conviviality--
Trying to imagine her
Wearing a thong!

I believe our Miss Stella is referring to this "thong" comment. Let's just say, my dear, it wouldn't be a pretty picture.

I will eat my hat if you haven't written these before. If you aren't spoofing me about that, I have never seen anyone catch on to limericks and DDs as quickly as you have. I don't find your DD "pedestrian" at all (though it is about me ).

Eat away, Kalleh! I haven't. Truly! I will say though, only because I feel slightly beleaguered by not being believed, that there are a number of writers in my family. Not that I have ever done anything at all like this myself, my father having 'persuaded' me into sciences as a better career option (he thought) but I guess there may be writing genes lurking somewhere.

Funnily, I am the least likely person my family would consider has any writing talent - for which reason I haven't confided in them about joining the OEDILF or Wordcraft. Maybe sometime I will, but in the meantime I'm enjoying the smug satisfaction of doing OK on my own!

Okay...I'll get out the salt and pepper and get started then. I won't eat my cute beret that I bought in Paris, though...just my ugly black thing.

Out of curiosity, does a thong mean a type of footwear in NZ, as it does it Oz?

quote:

Let's just say, my dear, it wouldn't be a pretty picture.

I guess we'll take your word for that . . . however, I know for a fact that you've been working out every Saturday, at the very least. *wink*

quote:

Out of curiosity, does a thong mean a type of footwear in NZ, as it does it Oz?

No Arnie, we call those thongs jandals. I wouldn’t be surprised though if it was the Aussies who connected foot thongs with bottom thongs - they’re very good at that kind of visual connection! I s’pose you’ve heard of ‘budgie smugglers’? I am in the bawdy section, aren’t I?

Another DD! This Kiwi ‘thong thinger’ is in the news.

Tralala falala
Kiri Te Kanawa
Sue me, Australia!
Beggar the cost!

"Divas do NOT", she said,
Superemphatically,
"Sing with a man at whom
Knickers are tossed!"

Dame Kiri is being sued for costs after pulling out of concerts with an Australian singer, John Farnham. She was horrified to discover that traditionally women throw their underwear at him which he waves aloft as trophies! Oooh!

Somewhere in the small print I also read that she thinks the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra can’t hold a tune! Ooooh!!

EDIT: Corrected line 3 and removed a superfluous apostrophe!!

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

The hardest part of DDs is finding a person with 6 syllables in DD meter. Great one! My only quibble is line 3 where you only have 4 syllables, and you need 6.

Of course! All those years of maths gone to waste - I still can't count to 6! I'll edit to correct.

I take it these are generally about real people.

There was an article in the newspaper today saying that it could be that Barack Obama and George W. Bush are related. According to amateur genealogists, they could share great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents, Samuel Hinckley and Sarah Soole of 17th Century Massachusetts. So...

Higgledy Piggledy
White House incumbent Bush
Might be surprised to learn
Stories within.

Genealogical
Hobbyists find that Ba-
Rack H. Obama is
One of his kin!

I wonder if the Obama "slave-owner" angle will still be pushed with this new knowledge.

Higgledy piggledy
Chief Wilma Mankiller
Leading her Nation with
Positive vibes

Feminine leader of
CherokeeIndians
One of the five famous
Civilized Tribes

I haven’t written one of these for a while. Apologies for the made up 6 syl word!

Higgledy, piggledy,
Wayfaring wanderers,
Wending your way to Chi-
cago’s bright streets.

Miles to the south I am,
Antipodistantly,
Wishing you wonderful
Wordcrafty treats.

I was going to put wet streets for the alliteration but thought you wouldn't want a bad weather forecast! Have fun!

Wow...that's great! Thanks, Stella. Next time we'll all meet in New Zealand.