# The limerick meter **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807 "2000-08-02T05:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hunsecker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Hunsecker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunsecker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807/1 "2000-08-02T05:28:47Z")
So I saw somewhere on the net (who knows, maybe it was here) a while ago a limerick which was set in the form of two haikus. “Neat”, I said, and tried it with the two limericks that I could remember. They both ended up a few syllables too long. So then I pulled out my giant book of limericks to see what the most common meter (i think that the correct term) was, and if theres any that would fit the 2 haiku form. I skimmed a few, and they all had different numbers of syllables per line. After some more examination, the common ones seem to be (in syllables per line): 8 9 6 6 9 8 8 6 6 9 9 10 5 6 9 but then there were some bizarre ones: 11 12 4 4 10 7 7 6 6 9 8 10 6 5 9 etc. So does anyone know what its supposed to be? Is there a classical meter for limericks like there is for haiku? ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807/2 "2000-08-02T06:17:24Z")
Don’t read these if you are easily offended. There was a young lady named Hall, Wore a newspaper dress to a ball. The dress caught on fire, And burned her entire Front page, sporting section, and all. A do-it-yourselfer named Alice Used a dynamite stick for a phallus. They found her vagina in South Carolina and part of her anus in Dallas. There was a young lady of Norway, Who hung by her toes In a doorway. She said to her beau, Just look at me, Joe; I think I’ve discovered one more way. A damsel, seductive and handsome, Got wedged In a sleeping room transom. When she offered much gold, For release, she was told, That the view was worth more than the ransom. On a maiden a man once begat, Cute triplets named Nat, Pat, and Tat. Two’s fun in the breeding, But hell in the feeding, She hadn’t a spare tit for Tat. A comely young widow named Ransom, Was ravished three times in a hansom. When she cried out for more, A voice from the floor, Said, Lady I’m Simpson, not Samson. There was a young girl of Penzance, Who decided to take just one chance. So she let herself go, In the arms of her beau, Now all of her sisters are aunts. There was a young student named Jones, Who’d reduce any maiden to moans. By his wonderful knowledge, Acquired in college, Of nineteen erogenous zones. A gentle old lady I knew, Was dozing one day in her pew. When the preacher yelled Sin! She said, Count me in! And as soon as the service Is through! -stolen from various authors A weisenheimer doper named Tom, Wrote jokes but, alas, they all bombed. So he switched his genre’, In an interesting way Now he just sits and spins on his thumb. ---
**Author:** ![labradorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@labradorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labradorian)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807/3 "2000-08-02T14:04:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tcburnett \* > \*\*Don’t read these if you are easily offended. > > A weisenheimer doper named Tom, > Wrote jokes but, alas, they all bombed. > So he switched his genre’, > In an interesting way > Now he just sits and spins on his thumb. \*\* “genre” and “way” don’t rhyme. And “Tom”, “bombed” and “thumb” are pretty forced. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807/4 "2000-08-02T14:15:30Z")
Olentzero, a mischevous Basque, Loves to answer all questions - just ask! If he should, by the by, Not at all satisfy, You should probably top up his flask. I think your first two meters are as close as it comes to a standard for a limerick. To me the best sounding are as mine above: 9 9 6 6 9. With an unstressed syllable you can get away with 10 10 6 6 10. My ear tells me it doesn’t sound too good to mix 10s and 9s, but that’s probably just my personal aesthetics. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807/5 "2000-08-02T15:01:44Z")
“Meter” more than just number of syllables. It also has something to do with felching, I think. A Straight Dope question by Hunsecker, Beating a tattoo on his pecker: Does it seem any sweeter With complicated meter Or should I just get me a hamster. ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807/6 "2000-08-02T15:30:22Z")
Nice effort, RM. I think you should have actually used the word “felch” though. I think the 8-8-6-6-9 pattern sounds good myself: RM was a Doper most raw Who liked felching rodents he saw. One day, out of habit He picked up a rabbit And lamented his lack of a straw. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hunsecker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@Hunsecker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunsecker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-limerick-meter/27807/7 "2000-08-03T03:00:00Z")
Thanks to all the dopers online For answering this question of mine Different meters are fun But I still like the one That has two eights, two sixes, and nine Well, I spent more time on this than it merited, and with the aid of some perl scripts, I got stats for about 120 limericks (as well as learning that people were twisted freaks before TV, hippies, and the Internet) So heres the breakdown. Of those 120, there were 64 different meters. (actually there were 2 i saw but didn’t count that had seven lines\*). 38 limericks had unique meters. Most common meters (and # of limercks with that meter): 8 8 6 6 8: 4 9 9 6 6 9: 4 8 8 5 6 9: 5 9 10 5 6 9: 5 9 9 6 6 10: 5 8 9 6 6 8: 6 8 8 6 6 9: 7 8 9 6 6 9: 7 So, the only conclusion I can draw from this is that no one bothers with meter when making a limerick. The also don’t seem to spend too much time on rhyme either. A lot of them would have rhymed save an r on the end of a word, e.g. Burma and murmur. This leads me to believe that Boston was chock full of limerick authors in the 40s. - They really suck too. For example: There was a young fellow named Skinner Who took a young lady to dinner At a quarter to none They sat down to dine At twenty to ten it was in her The dinner, not Skinner - Skinner was in her before dinner.