Quote:
Originally posted by bear_music:
My point is, the amusing thing about a limeroid, its raison d'etre, if you will, is that it takes the dirty part and obscures it, makes the reader extract it for him or herself.
For me, the limeroid that is not obscuring a "dirty" word is essentially a non-sequitur. (music)
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Point taken. I'll amend my response by changing "limerick" to "limeroid":
Maybe even in limeroids there can be a small corner where one can try for cleverness sans vulgarity? As Carol argues, the point is still to have the reader anticipate the [absent] rhyme word as the ending takes an unexpected turn.
I am hardly a prude, and agree that sex is (and probably should be) the staple of light verse and humor, but I am unconvinced that blatant vulgarity for its own sake is inherently either witty or funny.
On a related topic: I used to do the following exercise in intro to lit classes to get students comfortable with the "mysteries" of meter. It has the advantages of not having to rewrite Yeats or Keats or whoever, and giving them a subject they can be comfortable with and have fun with.
Part A: Fill in the blank with "a," "the," or a number from two to nine.
When Dangerous Daniel McGrew
went berserk in the Sioux City zoo,
. . .he goosed several geese
. . .and the caretaker's niece,
and impregnated ____ kangaroo.
P.S.: "kangaroo" is a recognized [OED] plural form; cf. sheep, etc.
Part B: (the class to do in discussion in 10 minutes or so)
Rewrite the limerick into iambic meter, given this as the first line:
When Dandy Dan McGrew . . .
Every class came up with something at least passable, and learned quite a few things in the process. As discussion refined word choices and sound patterns, most classes worked toward something like:
When Dandy Dan McGrew
went nuts* in Boston's zoo,
. .he goosed the geese
. .and the owner's** niece,
and screwed*** the kangaroo.
*one student came up with the perfect word for "nuts": "ape"! The class instantly recognized its superiority. "Boston's zoo" can then become "Capetown Zoo."
**whatever word is suggested first for here, someone always soon comes up with "keeper's," obviously better for assonance.
***for moralistic types, "kissed" works nicely here. Sometimes a daring student offers "fucked," but the word is far too strong (and less assonant) for context, and kills the joke, which saves me the trouble of having to appear "moralistic."
But--and this is where this whole tangent was headed--one student many years ago offered:
When Dandy Dan McGrew
tried making breakfast for two,
. .he burned the bread,
. .went back to bed,
and said, "Oh heck, let's go out for breakfast."
An iambic limeroid? (So the second line doesn't scan . . . )
Sorry for carrying on so.
Jan