This column reminded me of one of my favorite limericks, which I thought I’d share:
There was a young woman named Pat
Who bore triplets named Rat, Bat, and Tat.
They were fun in the breeding
But hell in the feeding
When she found there was no …
Bravo. You made **The Lizard Queen ** cringe.
All my life (61 yrs), at the part I actually remember, I’ve thought it was a knitting term. :smack:
mangeorge
My brother’s wife is in a lace-making group, so I knew that “tat” is a verb meaning “to make lace.” As far as I know, she’s still in tatters.
Could someone feel in the blank for me? I can’t figure it out. I feel dumb.
Cat? Hat? Sat? I got nothin’.
I’m sure that feeling up that blank is grounds for harassment charges!
Did either of you, SenorBeef or Terminus Est, read the column linked in the OP?
Of course I read it. I’m still clueless.
stitch?
corruption?
blow?
century?
shot?
work?
joke?
lucky?
pun?
Nothing rhymes.
How about the name of the thread…
If the answer is “tit for tat”, then that makes it a very, very lame limerick. Doesn’t fit the meter at all.
Now I get it. The limerick, not the etymology of the phrase.
How 'bout “third tap”?
Yeah, meter. I couldn’t remember the proper term.
Mine fite the meter. Rather well, I think.
I’m confused. I found this for limerick meter and the one in the OP seems to fit. What’s the actual meter for a limerick?
Assuming the answer is “tit”, it doesn’t fit well at all. Firstly, the phrasing “When she found there was no tit” is just bizarre. And it doesn’t rhyme with the second line - isn’t that standard for limmericks?
(For what it’s worth, apparently my subconcious apparently agreed with that answer, when I fruedian slipped “feel” for “fill”)
Oh, duh. The answer is the whole phrase. Makes sense now.
I didn’t get it because it broke the meter - I was expecting a one syllable finish, and it’s 3.
*There was an old man from Spokane
Whose verses never did scan.
When told this was so
He replied, “Yes, I know
But I try to fit as many words into the last line as I possibly can.”
Limericks are traditionally cut some slack when their last line completes the joke. I think the verse, as it stands, is pretty damned good. Pedants be damned.
Hmm. Seems the limerick police have tightened their standards.
I always thought limericks went pretty much:
ba DA da da DA da da DA
ba DA da da DA da da DA
ba DA da da DA
ba DA da da DA
ba DA da da DA da da DA
Also, as Cal says, I thought limericks were generally said in a way to “fit” them into the meter. In this one, the first two words of the last line “When she” are said quickly, to fill the initial “ba” syllable. I’m certainly no student of limericks, tho I have read a good many. And I thought that was a pretty darn common practice.
In terms of lameness - uh - are you suggesting it isn’t quite up there with classics such as “If my ear were a cunt I could fuck it?” Sorry to abase a classic art form. :rolleyes:
Well, I don’t think it was lame at all, and it made me smile, and the meter fits. “When she found there was no tit for tat.” You emphasize the important words, ignoring the unimportant words, and it scans just fine.
Limericks are allowed a lot of slop in meter. That last line could be
dih-dih-DAH-dih-dih-DAH-dih-dih-DAH-dih
If my EAR were a CUNT I would FUCK it.
or
dih-DAH-dih-dih-DAH-dih-dih-DAH
or
dih-DAH-dih-DAH-dih-DAh-dih-dih
or, well you get the idea.
In the phrase “tit for tat”, the emphasis should be on both “tit” and “tat” - TIT for TAT - or else it falls flat. If you try to fit it into your last line you’ll get something like:
When she FOUND there was no TIT for TAT
which simply doesn’t work. You could try jiggling the meter around:
When she FOUND there WAS no tit for TAT
When she FOUND there was NO tit for TAT
When she FOUND there was no TIT for TAT
When SHE found there WAS no tit for TAT
When SHE found there was NO tit for TAT
but they all sound artifical as well.
mangeorge’s suggestion of “third tap” actually works quite well:
When she FOUND there WAS no third TAP
(Limericks have some slop in the rhyme, too.)