Wednesday, April 30, 2014

There's nothing as dazzlingly glamorous
As engaging in enterprises grammarous.
The nouns that you modify,
The syntax you codify...
It makes one feel positively amorous!

Based on the suggestion: “glamour/grammar”

These two words come from the same root, originally Greek, but most recently by way of the Scottish word “gramarye” meaning “scholarship” or “occult learning.” Originally “glamour” referred to an actual spell cast on someone, not just glossy lipstick and spangly dresses.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

A quick definition: “zoetic”
Is the inverse of something synthetic.
It just means “alive,”
But it's good when you strive
For a tone that's refined and poetic.

Based on the suggestion: “zoetic”

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

I've designed a new beast of a Yugo:
A three-door enwrapped in lanugo.
The vehicle's name?
Hatchback of Notre Dame.
(Apologies, Victor M. Hugo).

Based on the suggestion: “lanugo”

lanugo n. The soft, downy hairs that cover a newborn

Sunday, April 20, 2014

P.T. Barnum asserted (with scorn)
That the folks who believed in his corn
Were quite ignominious!
According to Phineas,
“Every minute, a sucker is born.”

Based on the suggestion: “ignominious”

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A whale was once known as a “grampus.”
Some vast, grassy plains are called “pampas.”
Those words have more bounce,
They're more fun to pronounce.
Don't say “sea horse.” Proclaim: “hippocampus!”
 

Based on the suggestion: “grampus”

Sunday, April 13, 2014

For an eczema cure, try hot wax.
Apply freely, sit back, and relax.
Where your skin once was scabrous
It's now smooth and glabrous!
(Until your new carapace cracks).

Based on the suggestion: “glabrous”

glabrous adj. Smooth and hairless

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Keep an eye on gemologist newbies.
They tend to abuse the small rubies.
They glue them to pearls
(One to each) to make girls
With diminutive pearl/ruby boobies.

Based on the suggestion: “rubies and boobies"

Sunday, April 6, 2014

In Black Death years, a funeral casket
Would be sure to include a strong gasket
To seal in Y. pestis.
The goal, they all stressed, is
To keep all your plagues in one basket.

Based on the suggestion: “basket”

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

It began with acute pollinosis.
My friend's nose had absorbed, by osmosis,
Such dread goldenrod
That it feared it saw God.
Now his nose has a gnosis neurosis.

Based on the suggestion: “pollinosis”

Pollinosis is just a fancy term for “hay fever.” And yes, noses can see.