Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form

Karen Lunsford, an Assistant Professor of Writing at the University of California, Santa Barbara, posted this note about the Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form to Techrhet, an email discussion list for teachers interested in computers and teaching writing.

http://www-b.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?

[It's] The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form (which used to be called the Oxford English Dictionary in Limerick Form, with great enthusiasm from the OED folks, until the OED's legal dept. suggested that perhaps this wasn't a great idea).

Can you imagine one in haiku form?

The site has over 2500 limericks that offer wry and fun-to-read definitions. Here's a sampling:

alee

I told the cap'n of my condition

He then took note of our position

He said to go alee

If I had to go pee

'Cause you don't go into the wind for this mission.
By C Wayne R

ad lib

The director of improv was miffed

At the man who said "um" when he riffed.

"Just Say something glib!

Hurry up and ad lib!

Or your prospects will soon be adrift."

By Seanahan

Lots of words are left to be defined. Why not take a class to have students try their hands at limericks? It would charge their creative batteries, get them to play with words and ideas, and, if the site takes their definitions, they'd be published poets.