In a Word
pridian
adj. relating to yesterday
nudiustertian
adj. of the day before yesterday
Spoon River
“Lines by an Oxford Don,” from the Globe, June 1805:
My brain was filled with rests of thought,
No more by currying wares distraught,
As lazing dreamily I lay
In my Canoodian canay.
Ah me, methought, how leef were swite
If men could neither wreak nor spite;
No erring bloomers, no more slang,
No tungles then to trip the tang!
No more the undergraddering tits
Would exercise their woolish fits
With tidal ales (and false, I wis)
Of my fame-farred tamethesis!
A sentence that makes equal sense when spoonerized: “I must brush my hat, for it is pouring with rain.”
When George S. Kaufman’s daughter told him a friend had eloped from Vassar, he said, “Ah! She put her heart before the course.”
Quick!
Obey this command!
In a Word
humicubation
n. the act of lying on the ground
Over and Out
Exhausted after a long day of insisting that one must never end a sentence with a preposition, the English teacher took a book about Australia up to her daughter’s bedroom.
“Mommy,” said the girl, “what did you bring that book I didn’t want to be read to out of about Down Under up for?”
Letter Shift
Tidy
DEAD-ENDEDNESSES contains one A, two Ns, three Ss, four Ds, and five Es.
TEMPERAMENTALLY can be separated into a single letter followed by words of 2, 3, 4, and 5 letters: T, EM, PER, AMEN, TALLY.
In a Word
gruntle
v. to put in a good humor
A Three-Toed Tree Toad’s Ode
A he-toad loved a she-toad
That lived high in a tree.
She was a two-toed tree toad
But a three-toed toad was he.
The three-toed tree toad tried to win
The she-toad’s nuptial nod,
For the three-toed tree toad loved the road
The two-toed tree toad trod.
Hard as the three-toed tree toad tried,
He could not reach her limb.
From her tree-toad bower, with her V-toe power
The she-toad vetoed him.
– Anonymous
(Image: Flickr)
Calendar Trouble
In Macedonian, Listopad means October.
In Polish and Slovenian, Listopad means November.
In Czech, Srpen means August.
In Croatian, Srpanj means July.
In Croatian, Rujan means September.
In Czech, Říjen means October.
In Polish, Lipiec means July.
In Croatian, Lipanj means June.
In Polish, Kwiecień means April.
In Czech, Květen means May.
