Wednesday 15 July 2020

Edification about Word-Pairs: "The BINOMIALS", A Linguistic Lesson

 EDIFICATION about  WORDPLAY

ORIGINAL SONG: "The Elements", Tom Lehrer, 1959.

LESSON COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2015. This explanation is required for the reader to understand the material on Word-Pairs that underlies the second through fifth song in the collection of 9 parodies.

BINOMIALS: We are dealing here with a linguistic device discussed by Wikipedia as “Siamese twins” or ‘Irreversible Binomials”. These 
phrases include some of the most colorful expressions in English. There are probably a thousand binomial expressions in the English language. To enhance the singability, I have skewed my selection of binomial pairs here, to emphasize those that have alliteration of the 2 elements. 
For discussion of binomials on an earlier post (January 5, 2017)click herethat post also honours our previous exploration of these intriguing expressions, and is entitled "The Allure of Word-Pairs: Alliterative Binomials (compendium)".

UKULELE and GUITAR-FRIENDLY LINK: Our whole series of songs can be found in a friendly format for ukulele- and guitar-players on our sister blog "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE". Click here to proceed to this site. But note that as it is a 'private blog' you will need to arrange access, if you don't already have it. Leave a comment on this post if you want to access the version with chord-charts and helpful performing suggestions. 



loonie and toonie: rhyming coins







#1



#2






#3



 
#4



#5



#6




#7

AND, A TRIBUTE TO BINOMIALS IN POETRY

binomial (clichéd) expression:
Hale and hearty — our topic this session,
Gives good grades for your health,
And good outcomes? A wealth
(Just be sure to avoid indiscretion).
You find 'hale' a hard challenge to spell?
Time has come to say, "Hail and Farewell".
Hide and seekhard and fast,
Here and now (not the past).
Show and tell, both in Heaven and Hell.

binomial pairphrase, or expression, is a language element consisting of a pair of words that are used in a fixed order as an idiom. The two members of the pair are the same part of speech, are semantically related, often near-synonyms or antonyms, and are most commonly joined by 'and', or 'or'; they often play a role as clichés. The term irreversible binomial was presumably coined and extensively discussed by American philologist Yakov Malkiel in 1954. The most catchy of these phrases are alliterative, as 'hale and hearty', or rhyming, as in 'health and wealth' or 'haste makes waste'.

Ethics maven, a loyal supporter,
Advised Donald, "Don't toy with fixed order:
First there's sin, then redemption;
If we make an exemption,
They'll let drug dealers in 'cross the border."
For binomial expressions, such as Sin and redemption, there is a mandatory order of the two linguistic elements.

According to media reports, during Donald Trump's term in office, particularly towards its end, there was discussion of the use of a 'pre-emptive' pardon to redeem the president's close associates, his family, and even the President himself.

Some archaic words, pair-wise, take part,
Signed and sealed in our lyrical art,
Like betwixt and between,
Goods and chattels are seen,
Hook or crooktit for tat, ... just to start.
Penny-wise and pound-foolish — old shopper:
Hue and cryto and froprince and pauper;
Spick and spanspit and polish,
Hem and hawbeck and call-ish —
You'll find lo and behold prim and proper.

This verse serves as a companion-piece to binomial expressions.


HOT LINKS to WORD-PAIR PARODY LYRICS,
here on the wordplay-poetry-lyrics blog "Edifying Nonsense" ...


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Friday 10 July 2020

Lyrics for Singable Satire: NOVEL MELODIES for LIMERICKS (continuation)

 

Song Lyrics for Adapted Limerick Verses, a continuation of a previous post , where you can find the first five melodies in the series.

ORIGINAL SONGS: as per links.
LINKED LIMERICK MEDLEYS: Lyrics by Giorgio Coniglio set to the music of the indicated songs, mostly shown in previous blogposts.
SATIRE COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, 2017 and 2018. Hotlinks are given for  posts using these new musical adaptations, and will be updated when possible.



NOVEL MELODIES for SINGING LIMERICKS











6. "OCHI CHORNYE" ("DARK EYES" – ‘traditional’ Russian 1884)
Oh, those gorgeous eyes, dark and glorious eyes
Burn-with-passion eyes, how you hypnotize.
How I adore you so, / how I fear you though
Since I say you glow! Now my spirit’s low!

Limerick Adaptation 
(Moderate changes)
Once was oligarch from Nantucket
Stuck all cash in pail. Tax? He’d duck it.
But his daughter Nan / Had a man with plan --
Informed KGB, then stole bucket.


Hotlink to lyrics blogpost "RUSSIAN HACKING: Red Army Choir Sings Classical Limericks".


7. "ODE TO JOY" ("AN DIE FREUDE"; adapted  by L. von Beethoven 1824 for his Ninth [choral] Symphony 
from a poem by Friedrich Schiller 1785; designated the Anthem of Europe in 1972.)
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Limerick Adaptation (significant changes)
In a case that Freud had mentioned,
Dean hid fortune in a can.
Daughter Joy found lottery winnings,
Filched his bucket; off she ran.


Hotlink to Wikipedia 'ODE TO JOY'.


8. THE SLOOP ‘JOHN B’ (traditional Bahamian, recorded by Kingston Trio 1958)
Oh, we came on the sloop ‘John B’ – my grandfather and me
‘Round Nassau town we did roam.
Drinkin’ all night, we got into a fight.
Oh, I feel so break-up, I wanna go home.

Limerick Adaptation (significant changes)
My Grandpa felt out of luck; on Nantucket he was stuck,
So credit cards and cash he hid in a pail;
Til his daughter Nan / rowed off with her man;
They’d plucked Pop's bucket, but now they’re in jail.


Hotlink to Wikipedia 'THE SLOOP JOHN B'.


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Sunday 5 July 2020

DEATH and the AFTERLIFE #1


CURRENT CONTENTS:
Cardiac arrest
Decease in the crease
Dining in Heaven
End-of-life care
Garbage in Heaven
Giving up the ghost
Ghostbusters
Heavenly pie
(for continuation, see the link below)




Authors' Note:   Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is the major cause of sudden otherwise-unexplained death.  This emergency demands chest compression as well as other resuscitative maneuvers by trained lay standers-by, ambulance workers and emergency room staff. Unfortunately, the ultimate success rate of such resuscitative measures in this setting remains quite low. 





Authors' Note: In hockey, an assist is recognition awarded to a player who passes the puck to the goal-scorer at a key point in play. A sudden death system for resolving the winner in games tied at the end of regulation play has generally been used in organized hockey since its inception. The (goal) crease is an area demarcated by colored ice directly in front of the goal line where the goalie (goalkeeper) is not to be interfered with by attackers.

Although professional hockey has been the undisputed domain of males, more and more women are participating in Canada's national sport as amateurs and international competitors.












Authors' Note: In some jurisdictions, all deaths in a long-term nursing facility must be reported to the office of the coroner.





Authors' Note: You may have gathered that the editors think that Heaven is a bureaucracy-ridden place. So, of course, as a resident there you may  have to fill out a lot of documentation to obtain permission to import Earthworms and related paraphernalia.
 








Authors' Note: My partner's sweet apple pie is 'to die for', and so is the strawberry pie pictured above..


The editors have been besieged with requests for more poems on this topic, so you can proceed, if you like, to "Death and the Afterlife #2" by clicking HERE.



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