Three entries so far, two with very imaginative rhymes. Strangely only one has used those thymes that I would have though simply leapt out.

Kalleh, you would get some very funny looks if you tried to buy a ticket to "Shore-ham". It's just not pronounced that way

Yep. And you'd get some funny looks with saying "idear." It's just not pronounced that way.... There are others, I am sure.

In "The Raven," E. A. Poe rhymed the following words. I am listing them here in the order of their appearance in "The Raven." Lore, door, more, floor, Lenore, forevermore, before, implore, explore, yore, wore, shore, nevermore, bore, outpour, store, core, ashore, adore. If all of them rhyme with "shaw," as in "SHAW-rum" (Shoreham), then this must be one of the Major Differences between British and American English .
In my own dialect all of those words rhyme perfectly with each other, but not with "SHAW."

Shore and Shaw are not perfect homonyms in my version of UK English - but they are pretty close. The difference is in the pronunciation of the "R" in UK and US English - when an "R" appears towards the end of a word, as in Shore, it is hardly sounded and certainly not sounded with a rolled tongue. What tends to happen in compounds is the the silent "R" gets tacked onto the second part of the word, where it is sounded but not stressed.

Eg - SHAW-rum; PAW-ring (pouring); GAW-ring (Goring - another seaside town on the south coast).

So common is this style of pronunciation, that it is common to hear words like "sawing" mispronounced as "SAW-ring".

shaw and shore are perfect homophones for me

What Richard says goes for me, too. That's not really surprising as we both come from south east England, though. Bob, of course, comes from the Black Country, or West Midlands.

I'm with Jerry. I think that's why I find limericks so hard sometimes.

Well, five so far. Rather to my surprise people seem to be having trouble with rhymes for this one - which I can only assume is because they don't understand how the name is pronounced.

To help, I will say that in UK English, Shoreham rhymes perfectly with forum.

Well, I don't get it then because I thought you had said it was pronounced SHAW-rum. How do you say forum then? I would rhyme forum with decorum, as Rhymezone says. As you can see, there aren't many words that rhyme with forum.

I'll do a couple later

Just sent you three - designed to demonstrate the rhyming potential of the word.

quote:

as Rhymezone says

I see that Rhymezone includes Shoreham in its list of words that do rhyme with forum.

Thanks to this Limericks Forum and its concomitant discussions of pronunciation, we have learned that we can utter the following sentence without fear of disapproval from even the pickiest Illinoisians.

quote:

Primary riparian rights along the west bank of the Wabash River's midsection are not Indiana's; they're Illinois's ...

quote:

Well, I don't get it then because I thought you had said it was pronounced SHAW-rum. How do you say forum then? I would rhyme forum with decorum,

In UK English forum is pronounced FAW-rum, rhyming with "de-CAW-rum" and "SHAW-rum".

And there are other rhymes than those in rhymezone, as some have already demonstrated.

I'll leave this running until Friday, then I will announce the winner.

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without fear of disapproval from even the pickiest Illinoisians

Ah, come on. We're not that bad, are we?

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In UK English forum is pronounced FAW-rum, rhyming with "de-CAW-rum" and "SHAW-rum".

Funny. I should have figured that out, I guess. I am not sure why I'd think the British would pronounce forum and decorum like we do, but Shoreham differently.

Well, here we go with the Shoreham forum quorum. I saw 'em and for 'em I find that:

First to bat was bethree who submitted:

By the sea, the coven at Shoreham
Was one warlock short of a quoram
Skysouth’s round-trip by broom
To its famed art-deco room
Secured “El Brujo” to round out the forum.

I had to ask and apparently El Brujo is Spanish for a male witch.


Then came Jerry who found Shoreham hard to rhyme (and not the first or only one of you).

The aviatrix living in Shoreham
Does avian tricks that are awesome
She relies on her wings
To do marvelous things
Including, sometimes,to play possum.


The Arnie weighed in with his commentary on the competition, although clearly he had little trouble with rhyming Shoreham.:

Richard has given us 'Shoreham',
In the Wordcrafter Wordplay forum.
To think of five lines
With all the correct rhymes,
Let's hope the topic won't bore 'em!


Then along came Shenahan who was in a businesslike mood:

A committee was meeting in Shoreham
But they couldn't quite reach a full quorum.
It is probably best,
for their meetings lack zest,
And the speeches would most likely bore 'em.

Bob was in his usual expansive frame of mind and submitted this trio:

There was a young couple of Shoreham
Who had one pair of knickers and wore 'em
On alternate nights
Along with the tights
Till the husband, by accident, tore 'em.

The long-winded vicar of Shoreham
Spoke with a solemn decorum
But he just couldn't make
His small flock stay awake.
Said the vicar, it seems that I bore 'em

The Rotary Club based in Shoreham
Held a meeting, but lacking a quorum,
Had to leave until later
The final debate, a
Motion that was placed before 'em

Kalleh decided to take advantage of her feminine wiles and submitted this risqué confection:

I'm meeting my boyfriend at Shoreham;
Can't wait...cuz I simply adore 'im;
We'll canoodle and kiss,
In premarital bliss,
And much more cuz I don't want to bore 'im!

And finally, although I am not competing, here are my submissions.

First the reasonably modest:

A well-spoken schoolmaster from Shoreham
Behaved with unusual decorum
When he said to his ex,
“Shall we talk about sex?
Or is Shoreham not quite the right forum?”

And then the fairly rude:

A randy young lady from Shoreham
Was known to have little decorum.
Three man at a time,
She thought was sublime,
Two more and she’s managed a quorum.


A difficult choice as always - although I remain surprised that so many had problems with the rhyme.

Bethree's had much to recommend it, rhyming and scanning well, and telling a good story. I'd have preferred to have seen something other than the (unknown to me) "El Brujo" character.

Jerry's was, shall I say, somewhat surreal. I like the aviatrix - I just wish that what she did rhymed!

Arnie's submission was workmanlike and approached the problem from an interesting angle. With a little more zip in L5 it would have been a winner.

Shenahan's was another workmanlike limerick and told a nice logical story with good rhymes and scansion.

Bob's three were of the high standard we have come to expect from him and I especially liked his third with its excellent L3/4 rhymes - until I got to L5 where the stress on "motion" made me stumble.

And what can I say about Kalleh's to add to my previous comments about her unique and immediately recognisable style. Few other writers' work is so immediately identifiable. And this particular work is of a high standard with my only real criticism being the "Shoerham/adore'im" rhyme which doesn't work for me. However, Kalleh assures me that it works in her version of English and I can't argue with that.

As I said, a very difficult call. On the basis of the limerick's salacious potential I was inclined to the more risqué submissions and was very tempted by Bob's married couple and their underwear games. But I prefer stockings to tights and so, giving due credit to its suggestion of delights to come, I award this competition's prize to Kalleh's limerick with its promise of future bliss - I have already been in touch with the room-hire people at Shoreham airport

So well done, everyone - and Kalleh, it's over to you for another town, county or country.

quote:

Shenahan

Are we speaking of Seanahan?

Well, thank you, Richard!

I see from others' limericks here that I should have made it "bore 'em" and "adore 'em," rather than "'im."

I'll start a new thread. Winnetka is too hard to rhyme. However, Shu was raised in Highland Park, and I really like that suburb...so that'll be it. Stress the PARK.

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I'll start a new thread. Winnetka is too hard to rhyme.

An inventor who lived in Winnetka
Decided to build a new jet-car.
But sadly through cost
His cash was soon lost
And he just ended up with a debt-car.

Ah...pretty good. Of course for those in the U.S. who don't live in the northeast, Winnetka doesn't rhyme with "car," but we're flexible here.

Nice job!

Got sidetracked by holidays-- just catching up, reading all the great limericks, & as always, RE gives us an analysis worthy of a Comp Lit professor!.. I am inspired, and shall redouble my efforts!