| haboob by Len Farano (Limerick #112174) | The West Wing blows great wind—a haboob?
It is vicious and spews from your tube.
It can cover the land,
Fill your eyes with its sand.
Don't despair, we're now rid of that rube. | A haboob is a violent and oppressive wind bringing sand from the desert.
The West Wing is the section of the US White House where the presidential offices, including the Oval Office, are located. |
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| goddaughter by Kevin (Limerick #112173) | My goddaughter's family frowned,
For the godchild, dressed up and well-gowned
On her christening day,
From my arms slipped away
And fell into the font and was drowned. |
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| foxed, flawed, flustered, cut in the leg by Janet McConnaughey (Limerick #112172) | When our mighty militia was mustered,
Fred was foxed, fully flawed, fairly flustered;
He was cut in the leg.
But never, I beg,
Call him drunk. (He might call you a bustard.) | The phrases defined here are only a few of the multitudinous terms for drunk in the anonymous 1650 publication The English Liberal Science, or, A New-found Art and Order of Drinking.
Most were in lists, but there are also passages such as this, cited in Green's Dictionary of Slang: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw'd, He is Fluster'd, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token [sic], he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel. Taven-token should be tavern-token — stamped metal used in taverns or inns for small change such as halfpennies or farthings, and usable only in the establishment where it was given.
As to why bustard might be considered insulting, would you want to be compared to a bird that gathers in groups so that females can inspect each male's excretory and copulatory opening? |
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| Gotham by Janet McConnaughey (Limerick #112171) | In Gotham, where simpletons dwell,
The limerick form goes to hell
'Cause they can't count to three —
Just two hands, don't you see?
"Lots fingers, toes. Yours smell." | (GOT-uhm)
The Gothamites debated whether they might count on their feet as well as their hands, but gave it up because they kept falling over after "two".
Dating back to Medieval times, Gotham, England, was a legendary village of fools. One story has it that villagers in Nottinghamshire shammed madness to avert taxes.
The Oxford English Dictionary notes, "There is a village so named in Nottinghamshire, but it is not certain that this was the place alluded to."
Gotham College was an imaginary school to train people in stupidity.
In the 19th century, the epithet Gotham was applied to Newcastle, England, and, thanks to writer Washington Irving, to New York City, USA (as GOTH-uhm). Gotham City, based on New York, is home to the comic book (and later TV and movie) character Batman. |
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| falter by Giri (Limerick #112170) | Ed falters in voicing his views:
Starts then stops, afraid colleagues might choose
To deride them as drivel.
He'll inwardly shrivel
From fear that they'll jeer and abuse. |
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| hardship by Giri (Limerick #112169) | The city's financially messed up.
Its officials have finally fessed up
That hardships have grown.
Our privations they'd known,
But the books, to conceal them, were dressed up. |
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| doubter by Giri (Limerick #112168) | My internet speed is too slow.
The technician who checked data flow
Is a skeptical fool.
He's a doubter (uncool)
Of my skills and he thinks I'm no pro! |
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| EMS, Emergency Medical Service by Giorgio Coniglio (Limerick #112167) | Flea in flue: No escape? Couldn't guess.
Fly trapped too, also feeling duress.
Neither knew (knowledge flawed)
What to do (which was odd),
So they flew, once they'd called EMS. | Wouldn't YOU flee, if YOU felt such stress?
EMS: initialism for "Emergency Medical Services"
Another poem dealing with the story of the original limerick "The Flea and the Fly" can be found here.
Internal rhyme represents an important part of the wordplay incorporated into limericks. In unusual instances, such internal structure has been extended so that the verse has two complete sets of rhymes, with an earlier pattern of CCDDC aligning with the end-of-line pattern of AABBA, each of the capital letters designating a rhyming syllable. (In this particular instance, the internal rhyme has been simplified even further, to CCCCC). Other examples by the author include the verses gone and goof. |
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| half-size by Chris J. Strolin (Limerick #112166) | A size 8's what you take in a shoe,
Yet you think a size 9 just might do.
Says the crack Florsheim staff,
"Try an 8 and a half,
Since a half-size is perfect for you." | Florsheim is a brand of high quality dress shoe. Listen to these people. They're professionals.
The term half size, without the hyphen, is a different concept as illustrated here. |
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| graphics processing unit, GPU by GalFisk (Limerick #112165) | Hey, for Christmas, I'm gifting a new
Graphics processing unit to you.
Every video game
On your PC looks lame,
So I thought, it's the least I can do! | The GPU renders graphics to the computer's screen. It's the main component on a video card, and the term is sometimes used as synonymous with the video card itself. Powerful GPUs are needed to bring out high detail in 3D video games. |
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