I put it to John in the pub and, after hearing that the last game was Bangalore, he decided on Bangor.

Didn't we have a lovely time
The day we went to Bangor
A beautiful day, we had lunch on the way
And all for under a pound, you know
That on the way back I cuddled with Jack
And we opened a bottle of cider
Singing a few of our favourite songs
As the wheels went around.

As sung by Fiddler's Dram
More ...

Can you provide a pronunciation? Even if it weren't in Wales, several pronunciations are possible; as it is in Wales, I'm prepared to come up with rhymes for "Thursday" if I have to. I'd rather not.

BANG-uh

(that's a scwha for the second syllable, in the non-rhotic British accent, heaven knows what the North American rhotic version would be)

Ay-ah. Heah in New England, it's BANG-ah, after the capital of Maine. One is on the way, Bob.

Be it Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor County Down or Bangor Maine each town shares with its namesake the lack of decent rhymes ;(

Bangor was my brother-in-law's alma mater. He pronounces it BAN-guh.

They're called "Mainiacs", people from Maine
Yet they strive to prove they are all sane.
Still it is a bit tacky
Being called "Mainiacky"
And their minds tend to snap with the strain.

So far I have precisely TWO.

Unlike others I am a man of almost limitless patience. I won't be closing this competition until I feel enough of you have contributed.

More please ladies and gentlemen.

We're slow starters, Bob. For Bangalore I got one in the first four days and 11 in the next four.

I have a seed of an idea which I'm hoping will germinate over the weekend.

I once loved a girl named Louise
And I thought she was just the bee's knees
Now my heart's filled with languor
Cause she's moved to Bangor.
Oh God, how I miss my Maine squeeze.

Is that one for the competition, proof?

Bangor has to be an A-rhyme.
That's one I wrote a while back while competing with Jerry.

Very clever limerick, proof.

I'm still wrestling with this one, Bob - do we still have time?

As much time as you like.

Which of course means that I STILL only have two.

I hope you can wait until tomorrow, Bob. I just got home today (though my luggage remains in Heathrow, unfortunately).

The North American pronunciation (except for Mexico and Canada) would be BANG-or, I believe.

I overrode my inclination to pronounce it BANG-ohr and managed a couple of BANG-uhs. I'll send them to you now, Bob.

I now have four from three contributors.

As for pronunciation. Whatever works for you works for me if that helps anyone.
Stella, Richard and proofreader have contributed. Where are all you others hiding?

And now you have five from four contributors.

In all fairness, Bob, it isn't an easy word.

Judy mae lived in Bangor since five
She grew up and then started to drive
An old huge pink lorry
Until she turned forty
Then she crashed into a tree with a hive

We'll treat that one as a practice.
To be eligible for the competition the place name (Bangor) needs to be at the end of line 1,2 or 5).
It's great to see someone new join in so enthusiastically.

Yes, I agree, Bob. Welcome sofatyrant! See your private messages.

Oh okay. And thanks for the welcome.

An old couple just opened up a store.
In a place known to all as Bangor
They lasted for a year
Which brought to many a tear
They were loved by a lot and then more.

I was walking down a road in Bangor
And i just can't believe what i saw
A guy with no shoes
with a huge swollen bruise
Eating carrots that were very raw.

Sent a contribution your way, Bob. Six from five, etc.

Also, welcome sofatyrant!

Thanks for the welcome.

And I hope my contributions count as entries.

Hehe

I've got two in now so seven from five.

Jeb Raltar, while out on a drive,
Was in Bangor at quarter to five.
And within just an hour
He had supped, had a shower
And the pick of the ladies to swive.

This is the first of a series where an uncommon word will appear to make you open a dictionary. If you know the word without any assistance, you are a pervert.

quote:

swive.

This is the first of a series where an uncommon word will appear to make you open a dictionary. If you know the word without any assistance, you are a pervert.

On this board? With our collective knowledge of words? I'd be astonished if people don't know "swive"*. We must all be perverts (of the linguaphile variety).

*or was it supposed to be another word, I wouldn't know?

OK, let's just add BobHale to the top of the list.

Said Jeb Raltar to his nude pal Georgy:
"I don't know why you're naked, oh, Gor-gee.
We have only us two
And two pigs from the zoo
And a hunchback. That's not quite an orgy."

Can non-perverts play this game?

The prospect of dining looks poor -
From the kitchen we hear the cook snore,
The maître-d’s sozzled
And something smells crozzled.
Is there a McD’s in Bangor?

Is that an entry for Bangor, stella or just an addition to the side-trip?
(Gotta tell you, not even close to rhyming in my accent but I did say that anything that rhymes for you is OK)

For our orgy, I'll try to avail ya
With some females for our Saturnalia.
There's a bimbo in Bangor
Who I know (I just rangor)
And she's hostessing our bacchanalia.

So this woman at our bacchanalia
Is experienced in Saturnalia
But for an oozing crack
She went to a quack
And he sewed up the girl's genitalia.

My last one was just a diversion, Bob, just playing with proof's idea of introducing a word people mightn't know. It's not easy finding a word not listed in regular dictionaries these days so I was pleased to remember "crozzled" - actually it's Yorkshire-ese but used by Cormac McCarthy in The Road (one of my all time favourite authors and maybe my all time favourite book).

"Along the interstate in the distance long lines of charred and rusting cars. The raw rims of the wheels sitting in a stiff gray sludge of melted rubber, in blackened rings of wire. The incinerate corpses shrunk to the size of a child and propped on the bare springs of the seats. Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts."

Afraid I'm not erudite enough to pull a "Wordmatic" and actually have a new word every so often. I was happy, though, to have credated a lim on my all-time favorite word in OEDILF: "defenestrate."

Wouldn't call that erudite, Proof; just unhinged.

OK, Bob, I WOKE UP!!!, and sent you one.

Wordmatic

OK. Bored now!

Here are the entries so far received for the limerick competition.

proofreader started the ball rolling with

A murderess jailed in Bangor
Heard a lynch mob for forming to hangor
So she screwed the jail's marshal
Who to her bod was partial.
Then he said, "On your way, girl," and sprangor.

Richard then added his

The hangman he dropped quite a clanger,
Since he didn't know where to find Bangor.
So that murderess Fay,
She got clean away,
As he chose the wrong Bangor to hang her.

These were followed by two stella contributions

When a zookeeper hailing from Bangor
Was checking his cages, out sprang a
Big cat with sharp teeth;
He’s still trapped underneath -
Still alive and still tryin’ to defang ‘er.


Yummy lemon soufflé with meringue, a
Delicious sweet treat with a tang, a
Delectable feat
That is only just beat
By the brownies they make up in Bangor.

Kalleh then added

There once was a lady from Bangor,
Who danced on the tables or sang or
She partied 'til dawn
With Tom, Michael and Sean.
Though by day she was worn out with languor.

Proof jumped right back in with his second contribution

Here I sit with my heart full of languor
Cause Louise, my true love's gone. Gol-dang-er.
Yes, my love's gone to Maine
But I'll see her again
And, by God, I am going to Bangor.

As we rounded the bend into the home straight Stanley gave us this utterly bizarre entry

P Lovecraft visited Bangor
To compare Welsh words to his slang-a.
For grammatically,
"Sut ydych chi?"
Is a lot like Cthulhu fhtagn-a.

And wordmatic finished off the collection with

You might see a moose up in Bangor;
Or you might'nt--they're rare as a kanga-
Roo in Antarctic-A;
Gentle cathartic; E-
Lusive, although not endanger'[d].

There were also two in the body of the thread from our most recent member sofa tyrant who gave us

An old couple just opened up a store.
In a place known to all as Bangor
They lasted for a year
Which brought to many a tear
They were loved by a lot and then more.

and

I was walking down a road in Bangor
And i just can't believe what i saw
A guy with no shoes
with a huge swollen bruise
Eating carrots that were very raw.

As for the winner, I'm torn between Proof's use of "Gol-dang-er" as a rhyme and the bizarrely inexplicable Cthulu piece from Stanley. I think I'm giving it to Stanley for the sheer bravado inherent in trying to use Lovecraftian words in a limerick. On condition that his choice of place name isn't some nether-spawn filled hell-dimension with twenty six consonants and no vowels.

Take it away Stanley.

Ooh! Many thanks, Bob, although I must say I'm disappointed I can't use R'lyeh as the place name Arkham would be a bit better ... but let's stick away from fictional palces altogether. Incidentally, the "H" is missing off the front of the limerick as his name is HP Lovecraft - I expect it got lost in copying and pasting!

Anyway, will think of a new place and post it on here later today.

Had to revise for an error in L2 which I meant to fix before submittinh.

A murderess jailed in Bangor
Heard a lynch mob was forming to hangor
So she screwed the jail's marshal
Who to her bod was partial.
Then he said, "On your way, girl," and sprangor.

Well done, Stanley! Are we allowed to know what the lines mean?

proof, Gol-dang-er was inspired!

Well, the Welsh "Sut ydych chi?" simply means "How are you?", as far as I know.

The Lovecraft stuff is slightly more complicated. The whole phrase, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh C'thulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", roughly means "In his house at R'lyeh dead C'thulhu waits dreaming", but without grammatical knowledge of the language it's hard to know which word corresponds to "fhtagn". Probably "waits", as if it was "dreaming" it would have to change to "dreams" for the shortened phrase and that's likely to change the ending.

Bet you wish you hadn't asked now!

quote:

Bet you wish you hadn't asked now!

You should always try to learn something new every day. I'm sorry I woke up this morning.

Congrats, Stanley!