| || older, knock, fossil, accent, one of a kind.
Image from the Internet.
The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed!
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.
17 comments:
Not so fast! Zero is an even "bigger" deal. Look what it does!! You're not so special, One.
Pretty easy jumble, though. The solution popped right out.
Once upon a time, in the Mesozoic clime
Roamed a stegosaurus known as Bill.
Content with eating leaves, still he had a peeve
With a triceratops who lived beyond a rill.
Not to knock his race, but he had a lumbering pace,
Perhaps from being older than the hills.
And the accent that he had, and his mumbling so bad,
All drove Bill to angry quivering his frills!
But as he later said, what drove him to the edge
Was his bragging he was one of a kind.
Bill couldn't take it more, so he lured him to the shore
Of the tar pits, where his fossils we still find!
Quite right, Sandy ~ this one belongs in the "I could solve it in my sleep" file.
I like your attitude in defense of zero, the nothing that's really something!
Here's a treatise on spoken English, disguised as a dialogue.
"Don't knock the accent," said the good Ol' Boy.
He'd heard a professor having joy
at his expense. "Ah'm from the south,
and we may be fossils, but we's proud
of the way we talk. Truth to tell,
this is olduh speech, the way Ol' Will
spoke his lines in Elizabeth's time,
(whether or not he chose to rhyme)."
"You are correct, sir," said the prof.
"Forgive me, please, I don't mean to scoff.
I wasn't chuckling to put you down,
but reveling in your delightful sound.
Indeed, you'll notice no matter where they're from--
whether Yankee, Brit, or jet set bum--
when they wanna be rock stars they affect
your Suthin'-country boy dialect."
At this, the lad from Carolina
shook hands with the English prof from China.
"English is spoken in many different ways,
from stuck-up Oxfordians to voices that amaze
like TV announcers.
: : : : : : : But to communicate
down home truths, you need the weight
of the drawl,
Y'all..."
~ OMK
H A P P Y
E Q U I K-
N O C K S
Y ' A L L !
~ OMK
My goodness, what terrific and amazing poems from Owen and Ol'Man Keith this morning. I loved both of them--many thanks--and don't think I can compete this morning. Maybe it's because I'm becoming a bit of a fossil as I'm getting older. But at least I'm not one of a kind. So, have a great day, everybody!
I differ, you are one of a kind Misty. Then again some say that of me. Of all the various accents heard around Florida my Boston accents is the most remarked upon.
Particularly when I say MAH BUL for marble. And it's New York'ers who find it so droll. I've a new friend displaced by hurricane Laura staying in Sun City with relatives.
Talk about a down home southern accent.
BTW (was that today's CC (I've solved thru Thursday-talk about proper names)), I had DROLE,DRONE,DOLER,DONER etc for #1*. Then Mr V8 can hit me flush.
Having a head start I'm going to try to pop in a rhymer before Poe and cummings get in.
If I can find my mind which I've misplaced.
WC
I was missing letters for the riddle-solution do I had to regroup.
Okay, here's my little vent. No offense intended.
Back in the early days of this blog, Owen would write a poem containing hints and then people would comment on on the Jumble and mention other issues that occurred to them, much in the manner of posts on on the Corner. I looked back over prior dates to check, and. honest, that was the case.
I enjoyed that a lot. And I noticed that some other people besides the current five posted at least occasionally.
Then somehow creating poems became more and more prevalent until now it's pretty much replaced discussion of the jumbles. And, whether related or not, there seem to be no additional people posting at all. I would hate to think that people felt that if they didn't create a poem, they shouldn't post here.
I have nothing against people trying poetry here, although it doesn't really float my personal boat, so to speak. But I miss comments and even discussion -- about the Jumble and any other personal issues on people's minds.
So that's it. Would appreciate responses, even or especially ones that disagree.
That Boston accent can really be a hoot, Wilbur, but I imagine you were unaware of it growing up. If you were surrounded by family & friends who shared the same speech, you probably didn't know it was, well, odd...
Or maybe not. You must have heard radio and TV voices using standard American, right? Did that seem strange to you?
I had a professional interest in this as I was coming of age as a young actor in the late '40s and '50s. Growing up in San Francisco, I wondered what our regional accent was.
It wasn't until I was an undergrad studying phonetics and doing English language tapes for a UN-sponsored project that I learned certain areas of the West Coast (incl. SF) were considered accent-free.
Seems so many of California's immediate ancestors came from different parts of the U.S. as well as foreign countries that we turned into a "meeting pot" of dialects. We acquired General American speech in order to speak to one another.
The only regionalism I have found for San Franciscans is our tendency to insert an "R" vowel in some "aw" words--as in "Wa(r)shington."
Since I moved to SoCal, I hear some people don't say the long "aw" at all or the "a(r)," but a flat "ah" sound instead. In this, they're similar to Bostonians. "Pahk the cah in Hahvud Yahd." "Dude, that wave was ah-some!"
~ OMK
Wilbur & Misty ~. Hope you can find time--and a spark from the muse--to add some verses today, even a few short lines. I find I miss it when you take a pass.
I know, I know, it can be a real burden at times. And we must allow each other the freedom we encouraged Owen to take. Still, I thought you should know your good works are missed!
Sandy ~ Doesn't it cut both ways?
Yes, the site has evolved. Owen's example inspired others to try their hand. I never thought I would post as many attempts at poetry as I do now.
But I take your concerns to heart. You may have noticed that in addition to poems, I aim to comment more on the Jumbles and sometimes the process, and to respond to others' comments as well. Thanks to you.
But we wannabe-poets like to hear comments about our efforts too.
It's fun to post our work, but it's even more fun if & when we hear reaction from one another--and from YOU.
~ OMK
Unfortunately, OMK, I mostly refrain from commenting on the poems because, as I said, they don't really "float my boat". I sometimes don't read them, except for Owen's, and when I do, there can be clever bits to be sure, but nothing that inspires me to comment on them.
Sorry if that sounds negative, but it's not really meant to. I just normally have nothing to say one way or the other. I do read Owen's poems to see how he's concealed the jumble words, but that's pretty much it.
And I do tend to be nitpicky, as you know. So I refrain from comments also because they could come across as critical, and I wouldn't want to chance that.
No, the truth is, I feel rather out of place on the blog these days. I enjoy doing jumbles, and would love to find a discussion site, but haven't so far.
I appreciate that you would rather avoid coming across as critical Sandy. I think we all face that when we want to be honest in our judgments but also hope to have receptive readers.
I don't especially like re-hashing how I felt about the Jumble clues, but I will make an effort, because I want to help the group conversation.
If I have been sometimes committed only to composing poetry, it is because that takes a pretty sizable effort.
But I can learn from your comments and add more "originalist" Jumble time.
BTW, I thought you were also reading Wilbur's works--when he was posting regularly--not just Owen's.
If you want to skim or skip my and Misty's contributions, it is certainly your prerogative.
You may be missing out on more than you expect--but that's just my opinion.
~ OMK
I enjoyed Wilbur's Hobbit story. A lot.
Please don't alter your posting preferences on my account. As I said, I'm searching around for an honest-to-goodness discussion site. So don't discuss if you don't feel like it.
I'm sorry you seem to miss my point. That's on me.
I do feel like it.
I feel like obliging my "neighbors."
I feel like learning what interests them.
I feel like doing my part in the conversation.
Of course, I also care to have my boat floated on occasion. I just don't know that I'll find a ready-made site, already tailored to my specifications.
And I'm curious. I have usually been happily surprised-- after engaging with others.
~ OMK
Wow! I feel politely chastised.
I have tried a couple of posts on Jumble Answers. They seem to talk about the day's jumble and ideas it brings up, at some length.
Maybe I can do both.
I've had a busy day and an only now coming back to the Jumble and the complex discussion over poetry versus comments. Sandyanon, you are so important to our blog, we will do everything we can to accommodate you. I may still want to produce a poem every now and then, but I will try to also comment on the Jumble, and especially your ideas and comments. Stay with us. I wish we had more Jumble pals too, but am so grateful for our small and smart and clever group that I hope we continue for a long time--with you, Sandyanon, with us all the way.
Please, Misty, I don't want to be accommodated. Either I fit in or I don't, and nobody should make any special accommodations just for me. Everybody who participates in a blog should do it for fun, and do what's fun for them. If it has become a bit less fun for me lately, that's my problem.
So do what you feel like doing for your own enjoyment, ok?
I did not mean to chastise, though I am glad you saw it as polite.
I was speaking for myself, for the point I was trying to make earlier, but had apparently failed to get across.
You had cautioned me NOT to do what I don't feel like. I hoped you would see where I find some value in giving support to others' interests. Not everything starts out as obvious "fun."
In the long run this often takes me to unexpected but rewarding places.
~ OMK
Post a Comment