I tried to find something that was rhymable, and yet had some meaning. I didn't want a U.S. city because so often Americans are seen as insular. So...I first tried cities in Panama, since my oldest daughter just came back from there. I could find nothing, and Panama itself isn't easy. My youngest daughter is in Vietnam right now, and I thought about Hanoi or Pho, but couldn't think of much.
Sooooo....I got more desperate and just thought of places that came into my mind and then tried to rhyme them. For example, Cuba and Amsterdam came to mind. No dice.
Finally...Jamaica! It's perfect. Sunny, beachy, and excellent to rhyme. Go to it with the kind of zest I used when coming up with the destination!
Edward Lear wrote a limerick that would almost certainly fail to get any votes here, both because of the weak ending and the racist sentiments:
There was an Old Man of Jamaica, Who suddenly married a Quaker; But she cried out - "O lack! I have married a black!" Which distressed that Old Man of Jamaica.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Originally posted by arnie: Edward Lear wrote a limerick that would almost certainly fail to get any votes here, both because of the weak ending and the racist sentiments:
There was an Old Man of Jamaica, Who suddenly married a Quaker; But she cried out - "O lack! I have married a black!" Which distressed that Old Man of Jamaica.
And the self-rhyme
Richard English
Posts: 8038 | Location: Partridge Green, West Sussex, UK
The pilot, once landed, then sighed. “This runway’s too short,” he then cried. “It’s six hundred feet long And that really seems wrong Since I notice it’s two miles wide.”
I'm confused (What's new?) about Jamaica. You're using the name of a country? I thought these limericks were based on towns, not countires. Kalleh, Jamaica mistake?
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
Well, Geoff, it was never my understanding that these limericks were just about towns. Heck, I did France another time. It was always my impression that these limericks were about places (or I've called them "venues" before), but not necessarily towns, villages, or cities.
When Jeb Raltar in Kingston arrived, They condemned him for women he swived.. “I their love never sought And for my love they fought.” Seems that answer is plainly contrived.
I have yours and Richard's. How about the rest of you? Bob?
I see what my problem will be with these. The "a" ending is "er" to most of you here (not sure about Canada). For those in the east, England, Australia and NZ, it will rhyme with "er" words, right? For those of us in the rest of the U.S., that's not the case. It'll be hard for me to pick one.
Unless of course I pick my own, but I don't want to get into that debate again!
Mark Patinkin (brother of actor Mandy) is a columnist for the Providence Journal. He was new to the state and began cmmenting on the Rho Dylan accent in the paper, eventually incorporating his thoughts into the "Rhode Island Dictionary," in which he chronicles the vvagaries of our local language. (link)
Areas with non-rhotic accents include ... most of the Caribbean, most of England (including Received Pronunciation speakers) ...
quote:
panda-pander. In the terminology of Wells (1982), this consists of the merger of the lexical sets commA and lettER. It is found in all or nearly all non-rhotic accents, ... and is even present in some accents that are in other respects rhotic, such as those of some speakers in Jamaica ...
(My emhasis and elisions).
That would seem to indicate that the Jamicans themselves pronounce the name of their country so that the final a rhymes with -er.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
