Wednesday 13 September 2017

Singable Limerick-Medley: USING GREEK WORDS

POST #150: 
This blogpost is dedicated to Bob H., with best holiday wishes, December 2017 (updated October 2018).


SINGABLE LIMERICKS
ORIGINAL SONG: These verses can be sung to  "The Limerick Song", as per YouTube here.
LIMERICK VERSE:  Original verses composed by Giorgio Coniglio,
November 2016. Most of these verses can also be found in OEDILF, the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form at OEDILF.com
SONG-LINK: You might also be interested in the swing-era iconic hit "Latin Cat's Strut"
CONTENTS:
1. The prefix dys-
2. Dyspareunic
3. The prefix epi- 
4. Epistaxis
5. The prefix eu-
6. Euphemistic
7. The prefix chiro-
8. The prefix auto-
9. The prefix apo-
10. Neologism: dyscoprotaxis 
11. The prefix chrono-


USING GREEK WORDS


A LIMERICK MEDLEY

(to the tune of 'The Limerick Song'
Display of the lyrics has been condensed to 4 lines for each verse, with internal rhyming in line 3, rather than the more customary 5-line limerick format.)


1. You’ve discovered the Greek prefix dys-,
And discerned things have gone quite  amiss.
There’s dyslexic – can’t read, and dysphagic – can’t feed, 
And dysuric – too painful to piss.

2.Dyspareunic? Not now”, she asserts
(We’re in bed after eating desserts).
But the wrong kind of moan is invoked and so (groan!)
There’s no “cuddling” on nights when  she hurts.  

3. Epic use of the Greek prefix epi-
Episodically pleased our Giuseppe.
An ephemeral high, from ephedrine is why,
At times schleppy, I'm now feeling peppy.

4. In your plans to advance, stay on track, Sis.
Peccadilloes throw projects off-axis.
Spurn distracting events with bad consequence hence,
As in punch-in-the-nose: epistaxis.

5. You’ve encountered the Greek prefix eu-,
'Well' or 'good', like the carpenter’s ‘true.
Nothing hyper- or hypo-, not even a typo,   
So, Eureka! There’s nothing askew.

6. Euphemistic, we say, “diarrhea”
(What runs through). Ancient Greeks would agrrhea –
Details best left unsaid. But when you’re “out of bed”,   
Don’t trot back to that same trattoria.

7. Now, chiropody handles your feet,
Treating corns, warts and bunions: its beat.
Chiropractic’s assignment is your spine’s realignment. 
While chirography: handwrite, repeat. 

8. To authentically author a motto
Is a task that with dangers is fraught, oh!
Self-assurance you seek, be it Latin or Greek,
Self-aggrandizement? Do it with auto-
   You're self-taught, so you're autodidactic
It's your maxim with purview galactic.
Your self-love's automatic, your disdain's autocratic;
Self-indulgent, you're auto-climactic.  

9. Start your words off in style. A-P-O-,
A Greek prefix that's so apropos.
"It means 'off' or 'away', an apology, say,
Ask Apollo; he's likely to know.
    Think of apogee: Gee! Hold that mirth;
That's how Greeks say "away from the Earth".
And an apotheosis?  (Could be just my neurosis)
I would give such a person wide berth.

10. When chaotic disorder attacks us,
Peccadilloes throw projects off-axis.
We’ll not sit there and dither; we’ll get our sh*t tog*ther,
Or we’ll suffer from dyscoprotaxis

11.The Greek prefix chrono- rhymes primely
With sono- and phono- sublimely.
Here's my point pedagogic: that a scheme chronologic
Sorts events in an order that's timely.


UKULELE-FRIENDLY FORMAT
(Click on any chord-chart slide to move to 'song-presentation mode'; then navigate through thumbnails at bottom of page.)























































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