Wordplay Maps: R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N-S in Canada (anagram maps #1-4)

For more wordplay maps on this topic, click HERE.

 

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As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of the key elements, such as this one, are also assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, also has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

DEC 15 (2022): Avian Life, BIRDLORE, nesting #1 [6]

   This post is a  collection of verses about 'BIRDLORE', as posted on this blog on December 15, 2022 (nesting#1). 

CURRENT CONTENTS (nesting #1): 

American goldfinches

Birdfeeder (squirrel-proof)

Bird dropping

Boat-tailed grackle

California scrub-jays

Cattle egrets

Authors' Note:  This common North American bird species, Spinus tristis, is often referred to as the "wild canary" owing to the male's bright yellow summer coat, set off by black wings with white ribbons and black forehead patch. As their diet consists almost entirely of seeds, nesting does not begin until mid-or late summer when weed seeds become plentiful. Thistle heads are used not only to feed the young, but also to construct the nest! The relative dietary habits of finches around the globe (insects versus seeds) has been an area of intense biologic study (see the verse "Darwin's finches” at OEDILF.com). 

Authors' Note: Although its use appears cute, the term bird-turd displays your ignorance. The appropriate expression is pronounced as BEHRD drahp-ing in usual discussions.

Authors' Note: The glossy black male and the much-smaller tawny female are often seen hanging around seaside locales near urban marshes in southern US towns. The characteristic call — a high-pitched jeeb or jeeb-jeeb, not a crow-like caw, gives them a simplified name. Undisturbed by close human contact, and with a penchant for grabbing and enjoying human snack-foods, they are likely to become a more pervasive and irritating pest.

male in flight

female, smaller, and with tawny coloring holds onto a treat
that she discovered near the boardwalk 

Authors' Note: The cattle egret is a wading bird most closely related to the herons of Ardea species, but is also a cousin of the common egret and snowy egret. Unlike the latter birds, it may breed in drier areas further inland, and consume terrestrial insects as a substantial portion of its diet. Recently documented changes in its range include expansion to much of the United States, South America, southern Africa and Australia. In general, the bird's enlarged domain has followed that of domesticated grazing mammals.

(Ed. note) If you enjoyed these illustrated verses, you might also want to work your way through our collection of over thirty illustrated short poems about waterfowl. Proceed to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on this full-service blog, 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

Bird-watchers, academic ornithologists, wordplay enthusiasts, wildlife photographers, Giorgio's relatives, and just everyday folks have united in their demand for more verses on the topic of landbirds!

So, please follow this link! for 'birdlore, part #2' 

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As of March, 2026, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

DEC 10 (2022): Life in PALINDROME VALLEY, a poetic description [9]

CURRENT CONTENTS:
Palindromic signpost

Palindrome family

Bidirectional souvenirs

Dalliance

Second language - Nauruan(OEDILFstored)

Palindrome bees

The Valley's cuisine

Politics in the Valley

Shilly-shallying

Authors' Note:  A somewhat archaic meaning of duplicitous is 'twofold', and that is the basis of its more common modern use to imply deception. In the archaic sense, any palindrome is duplicitous, as it can be read in either of two directions. However, a palindromic place-name on a signpost seems like a recipe for getting lost.

There are other popular posted destinations that could confound the unwary visitor to Palindrome Valley. These include: Drama Rd., Evaded Ave., Llama Mall, and Roomy Moor.

Authors' Note: Any grouping known as 'the Palindrome Family' will have more daughters than sons. (In the case cited, older sisters Hannah, Ava and Lil have already been married off.) And, in classic parenting, you have to watch out for their welfare; extreme caution is advised with respect to questionable dates, escorts or suitors like Dennis.

Italics are used to outline palindromic words and phrases in the above verse. More subtly, Dennis sinned, Tennis sin-net, and Golf flog are phrases consisting of two mirror-imaged entities known as semordnilaps, that unite in wordlock to produce a palindromic phrase.

Authors' Note: 

(now-ROO-uhn, nah-ROO-uhn)

   In Palindrome Valley, parents and administrators had to decide what second language would be taught in schools. The underlying rationale is obvious. and here's the clue: of the almost two hundred nations on the globe, only the Pacific island-nation of Nauru has a national language and adjectival form that is a palindrome. The interested reader might note that on Nauru itself, while the Australian brand of English, the basis of televised entertainment, is widely understood, over 90% use their unique Austronesian language.

   The author, with an interest in foreign languages from an early age, fantasizes that had he grown up in Palindrome Valley, he would have maintained his skill in speaking Nauruan.

ADDENDUM: 'Malayalam', one of the many languages of South India, related to Sanskrit and Tamil, is also a palindromic name, but although spoken by almost 3% of current Indians, it never represented a national language. 

Authors' Note: 

trat: trendy abbreviation for trattoria, an informal Italian restaurant

   Unfortunately, a few specialties have been taken off menus due to recent supply-chain issues. (No melon, no lemon; Wontons? Not now.) 

   But, you can always wash down your meal with a glass of our famous red ice cider or regal lager !

                                                                   this verse has  been approved at OEDILF as #125910

Authors' Note: Most readers will be familiar with the lap-pool. The loop-pool, a luxury innovation found in Palindrome Valley, enhances swimming in either direction along a circuitous route.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

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As of December 2024, there are 1800 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. Most of their key elements are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections, such as this one. The "Daily" format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

Wordplay Maps: SCRAMBLE-TOWNS, postal supplement

 

Who would ever have guessed? 

It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams, i.e. letter scrambles, is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that discovery to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation. 

Canadians:

To return to the original post in this series, click HERE.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until July 2025. 

As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of the key elements, such as this one, are also assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, also has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

NOV 15 (2022): ORGANIC BRAIN POETRY, initial blows [5]

CURRENT CONTENTS: (#1 -- November 15, 2022)
Brain disorders, organic

Cerebral metastases

Chronic subdural hematoma

CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy)

Early-onset Alzheimer's

 

Authors' Note:  A psychiatric workup for mental disorders starts with the separation of causality into two streams. In the first, brain function, thoughts and behavior may be altered by subtle or unusual manifestations of disease in body systems outside the brain — these are sometimes termed exogenous. In the second stream, manifestations are attributable to disorder of the brain itself (usually of unknown cause) in patterns reflective of neurosis, schizophrenia and depressive illness. In somewhat archaic, but still utilized descriptions, psychiatrists may refer to this distinction as indicating organic versus non-organic mental disorders. A number of organic brain disorders that may simulate psyvhiatric disease are described in the subsequent verses in this collection.

Authors' Note: A chronic subdural hematoma is a space-occupying intracranial lesion resulting from the body's failure to resorb blood that collected between the dural membrane and the brain parenchyma, usually caused by traumatic head injury. Whereas an initial expanding clot presents as a neurosurgical emergency, smaller clots, with a tendency to absorb fluid and expand gradually, may be later suggested only by chronic neuropsychiatric symptoms. In jargon used in actual medical settings and in televised fictional series, the term for the lesion responsible may be shortened to subdural.

In elderly patients, such as Hazel, and in those on blood-thinning drugs, the trauma required to incite events such as those in this tale may be minor or even subliminal.

Authors' Note:  Although military recruits and physically abused spouses also number among the victims of this disease of insidious onset, (characteristically diagnosed with certainty only at post-mortem examination), it is the scourge of those who earlier in life indulged in contact sports, particularly those with a risk of repetitive minor brain trauma.

Everything that you wanted to know about chronic traumatic encephalopathy can be found in the author's note appended to MikeAq's verse on the subject.

Authors' Note: Frequent recent reports point out the devastating effects of an early onset of Alzheimer's dementia. Fortunately, this variant, manifesting at an earlier than usual age, is relatively uncommon, but isn't it time that we discovered the cause and treatment for this tragic disorder?

Here's a LIST OF LINKS to collections of intriguing poems (over 200 of these!) on medical/dental topics, updated to December 2025. 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until July 2025. 

As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of the key elements, such as this one, are also assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, also has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

NOV 5 (2022): PARASITES [7]

CURRENT CONTENTS:
Bedbugs

Cat fleas

Endoparasites

Flea species

Geohelminths

Hog lice

The parasitologist (host)

Authors' Note:  Details of the allegory: The protagonist needed some vacation following a busy time of downsizing and changing residences. A few days prior to taking off on Snowbird flight 203, it became obvious that a domestic infestation of bedbugs, presumably acquired during the household move, had pre-empted his search for a subtropical respite. 

Authors' Note: 

Our voracious protagonist, Ctenocephalides felis, is the chief ectoparasite inflicting misery on canine as well as feline housepets in North America. Unfortunately, its life-cycle — egg, larva, pupa, adult (the hopping wingless blood-sucker), can result in its persistence for up to a year in a warm environment, like the carpet in your rented flat (apartment). In the absence of its usual victims, the flea will consider humans as a predation target of secondary interest. Another piece of bad news is that, through longstanding attempts at control, the species is becoming resistant to insecticides.

Authors' Note:   The term parasite derives via Latin from an old Greek term meaning "one who dines at another's table". To clarify more fully Lyle's terse explanation in the verse, endoparasites, taking up residence inside their host, get their nutrients by passive absorption or by burrowing in the tissues of their host, which could be you! There are very few cases where they spontaneously leave to go to another restaurant. Fortunately, effective treatments have been developed for many of these types of infestation.

Authors' Note: The fleas, wingless blood-sucking hopping insects, infest and make miserable a variety of warm-blooded host species including most famously man and dog. In America, the vast majority of infestations of domestic pests involve the cat flea, Ctenophalides felis, as described above.

Authors' Note: TERMS FOR WORMS:

Intestinal endoparasites belonging to the phylum Nematoda are transmitted primarily through contaminated soil; they include members of these worm-families that produce systemic human disease: roundworms, hookworms, whipworms. 

Authors' Note: This agricultural pest, Haematopinus suis, commonly known as the hog louse, lives its life only on porcine hosts, with the larvae (nymphs) concentrating on the head region. Apparently, infestations of swine herds can be treated easily with avermectins, a class of veterinary antibiotics.

 Authors' Note: The term host has become a classic descriptor used in infectious diseases, and particularly in parasitology, although such usage may seem distasteful to many. Symbiosis describes a relationship in which the parasitized host and the invading organisms share a mutually beneficial association.

Here's a LIST OF LINKS to collections of intriguing poems (over 200 of these!) on medical/dental topics, updated to December 2024. 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until July 2025. 

As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of the key elements, such as this one, are also assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, also has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

Wordplay Maps: EASTERN CANADIAN Scramble-towns #13-16

 

Who would ever have guessed? 

It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams, i.e. letter scrambles, is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that discovery to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation. 

For more Scramble-Town maps, click HERE.

To return to the original post in this series, click HERE.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume your review of the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until July 2025. 

As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of the key elements, such as this one, are also assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres, also has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

OCT 15 (2022): Exemplary EXEMPLIFICATION, initial lists [4]

 This blogpost represents the collection of poems 'Exemplary EXEMPLIFICATION) as displayed initially on this blog October 15, 2022).

  Some poets at OEDILF (the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form) sustain the idealistic belief that most English words could be defined by a standard 5-line limerick verse. The authors of this blog, although they are active contributors at OEDILF, hold the more limited view that such verses, with room for only 30 words, can be primarily used for exemplification, bypassing the complexities of inclusive and exclusive definition. 

  (Despite the above contention, some of our colleagues fall in with the march of this 'urban myth' and make claims that they have conclusively defined some words or phrases with a few lines of a limerick. We have recorded dozens of such attempts, and you can review them on the blogpost "Defining Opinions".)   

CURRENT CONTENTS: (#1)

Fauna

Hillbilly

Hooligan

House

Authors' Note: It sure warn't easy to pack the whole bunch of neighbors and pals into a single verse. Sad to say, I had to leave out the following: bumpkins, crackers, chawbacons, clodhoppers, good ol' boys, hayseeds, and yokels. I'll include 'em next time! 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

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As of July 20, 2025, there are 2,000 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. 

Most of these key elements of our work are assembled here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.

The "Daily" format, a formidable mix of genres has the advantage of including song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.