# Can someone explain a bit of wordplay to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812 "2010-09-06T16:30:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/1 "2010-09-06T16:30:22Z")
This is truly utterly mundane and pointless, but it’s left me puzzled (hah!) for a couple of weeks. The Sunday crossword puzzle, Los Angeles Time, August 22, 2010. The title of the puzzle was “Poetry in Notion”, and the trick to the ‘long’ answers was that they were phrases/titles with one word replaced by a similar sounding word used in describing poetry. Here are the themed answers: in couplets therapy = in couples therapy good ode boy = good old boy verse class = first class sonnet boom = sonic boom iamb Legend = I am legend Catcher in the Rhyme = Catcher in the Rye American Idyll = American Idol BUT Dactyl Gallery = ??? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/2 "2010-09-06T16:37:45Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > This is truly utterly mundane and pointless, but it’s left me puzzled (hah!) for a couple of weeks. > > The Sunday crossword puzzle, Los Angeles Time, August 22, 2010. > > The title of the puzzle was “Poetry in Notion”, and the trick to the ‘long’ answers was that they were phrases/titles with one word replaced by a similar sounding word used in describing poetry. > > Here are the themed answers: > > in couplets therapy = in couples therapy > good ode boy = good old boy > verse class = first class > sonnet boom = sonic boom > iamb Legend = I am legend > Catcher in the Rhyme = Catcher in the Rye > American Idyll = American Idol > > BUT > > Dactyl Gallery = ??? > > Anyone? I have to assume much more than this is going on, but _gallery_ is a dactyl. I haven’t tried to find a _pterodactyl_ connection yet, but that’s the only thing else that comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/3 "2010-09-06T16:50:15Z")
[Tactile Gallery](http://egyptology.blogspot.com/2008/02/tactile-gallery-louvre.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/4 "2010-09-06T17:09:13Z")
Just so I don’t miss the opportunity to mention a “verse form” along the lines of the limerick, anti-ballad and haiku, here’s a decent description of the [Double-Dactyl](http://lonestar.texas.net/~robison/dactyls.html) that might make for some fun challenges if enough people hop on board and start a thread for the purpose. ETA: I believe **x-ray vision** has your connection! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/5 "2010-09-06T17:36:48Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Just so I don’t miss the opportunity to mention a “verse form” along the lines of the limerick, anti-ballad and haiku, here’s a decent description of the [Double-Dactyl](http://lonestar.texas.net/~robison/dactyls.html) that might make for some fun challenges if enough people hop on board and start a thread for the purpose. I’ve written a few in the past; love double-dactyls. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/6 "2010-09-06T17:43:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > [@Zeldar](#): > > > > Just so I don’t miss the opportunity to mention a “verse form” along the lines of the limerick, anti-ballad and haiku, here’s a decent description of the [Double-Dactyl](http://lonestar.texas.net/~robison/dactyls.html) that might make for some fun challenges if enough people hop on board and start a thread for the purpose. > > I’ve written a few in the past; love double-dactyls. Care to share them? I’ve yet to try one. Anti-ballads and haiku I have done plenty, and a limerick or two. But the requirements are hard to keep straight in the Double-Dactyl. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/7 "2010-09-06T18:02:15Z")
So the clue was, “exhibit of poetic feet” and a dactyl is a “type of foot in meter” therefore Dactyl Gallery…but from there, I think tactile is the best answer I can think of, too ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/8 "2010-09-06T18:10:56Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Care to share them? I’ve yet to try one. Anti-ballads and haiku I have done plenty, and a limerick or two. But the requirements are hard to keep straight in the Double-Dactyl. It’s tough to find a good subject whose name fits that double-dactyl pattern, for one thing. “Cardinal Ratzinger” would have been perfect, before he became pope. Some friends of mine used to do a monthly challenge of some type of creative endeavor. Really, it could be anything. A few years ago, the challenge was three double-dactyls; even specifying three six-syllable words that had to be used in the second stanzas. My efforts for that challenge are a bit dated and parisan, now. This one, however, is timeless: Flippity Flappity _anas platyrhynchos_ Do things flow like water Off of your back? Don’t try to navigate Echolocational Tested by Mythbusters “Quack, damn you, quack!” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/9 "2010-09-06T18:19:28Z")
Impressive, **Robot Arm**! I suspect that didn’t just come to you in a flash. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/10 "2010-09-06T18:36:12Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > [Tactile Gallery](http://egyptology.blogspot.com/2008/02/tactile-gallery-louvre.html)? Good answer! Good answer! My subconscious itch has now been scratched. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/11 "2010-09-06T20:34:50Z")
Erm, I believe y’all may have it slightly wrong (or at least incomplete). ‘Dactyl’ is derived from the Greed ‘daktulos’, meaning ‘finger’. The term evolved, at least medically, to mean ‘digits’. The medical term for a person having more than 10 fingers (or toes) is polydactyly. The clue “exhibit of poetic feet” makes the “answer dactyl gallery” perfectly logical. In this case, Dactyl / poetic = feet Exhibit = gallery mmm ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/12 "2010-09-06T21:23:13Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The clue “exhibit of poetic feet” makes the “answer dactyl gallery” perfectly logical. Right, but “dactyl gallery” is supposed to be a play on words on another term that already exists and the OP wanted to know what that term was (see examples in the OP). ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/13 "2010-09-06T22:05:58Z")
And I found the definition of “A type of foot in meter” straight from the Wiki about dactyls…where I’m sure the term is explained as having come from the word for digits. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/14 "2010-09-06T23:49:47Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Impressive, **Robot Arm**! I suspect that didn’t just come to you in a flash. 🙂 Thanks. I think somehow I got the idea that I might find a good six-syllable, double-dactyl subject in the taxonomic name of some animal, so I started surfing around Wikipedia. Most of the genus names wouldn’t work, but I eventually stumbled on [anas platyrhynchos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard), and the rest of it followed from there. I don’t actually know if the stresses follow the double-dactyl pattern or not. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/15 "2010-09-07T05:05:19Z")
Hm. A DD from the sixties still sticks with me, although I guess the subject may make sense only to those of us in our sixties or so. Higgledy piggledy, William O. Douglas, Judge, Had a propensity for a young wife. When she declared he was unconstitutional, he found a younger one. Justice runs rife. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/16 "2010-09-07T06:28:25Z")
Hogamus higamus Men are polygamous Higamus hogamus Women monogamous (Somebody dreamed this, I forget who Doubtless a male, though. Probably not true.) ---
**Author:** ![staili](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@staili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/staili)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/17 "2010-09-14T17:36:07Z")
This clue has also been bothering me, and I’m glad to see I’m not the only one! I’m not sure tactile gallery is right. I believe “dactyl” is supposed to be pronounced with a short i sound in the second syllable, while “tactile” has a long i. But I can’t think of any other possibilities (which is why it is so bothersome!). Here is another one like it. I saw the musical, “The Producers,” and they had a part where there were fake show titles that were bad wordplay (“Katz” for “Cats,” or “The Sun Also Sets,” that kind of thing). One of them was, “Dog in the Barn” (or maybe “A Dog in the Barn”). What was that supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/18 "2010-09-14T17:39:06Z")
Maybe a reference to Aesop’s fable of _The Dog in the Manger_? > **[The Dog in the Manger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dog_in_the_Manger)** > > The story and metaphor of The Dog in the Manger derives from an old Greek fable which has been transmitted in several different versions. Interpreted variously over the centuries, the metaphor is now used to speak of one who spitefully prevents others from having something for which one has no use. Although the story was ascribed to Aesop's Fables in the 15th century, there is no ancient source that does so. > The short form of the fable as cited by Laura Gibbs is: "There was a dog lying in a mang... That’s what I would immediately take from it. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/19 "2010-09-14T17:44:20Z")
> [@staili](#): > > This clue has also been bothering me, and I’m glad to see I’m not the only one! I’m not sure tactile gallery is right. I believe “dactyl” is supposed to be pronounced with a short i sound in the second syllable, while “tactile” has a long i. But I can’t think of any other possibilities (which is why it is so bothersome!). According to [merriam-webster.com](http://merriam-webster.com), the short i pronunciation is the preferred. > **[Definition of TACTILE](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tactile)** > > perceptible by touch : tangible; of, relating to, or being the sense of touch… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-a-bit-of-wordplay-to-me/552812/20 "2010-09-16T01:14:26Z")
I’ve only heard tack-tile instead of tacktle as a southernism,