I'm the slowest gun alive, my boys, the slowest gun alive
Yet notches in my Colt I have, one less than thirty-five
Oh, many men shoot sure and fast, but one thing did they lack,
A coward's heart like I had, and I shot them in the back
Yippeeiioooo, yippeeiiaaaa, I shot them in the back.

I remember One-Eyed Jake, my boys, remember One-Eyed Jake
He could shoot the pearly fangs off of a movin' rattlesnake
But I snuck me up behind him with my trusty twenty gauge,
And now Jake's fertilizer for the tumbleweed and sage
Yippeeiioooo, yippeeiiaaaa, tumbleweed and sage.

And then there's old Jack Daw, my boys, and then there's old Jack Daw
They say that he could almost beat his shadow to the draw
But he never knew who shot him in the middle of the spine,
And I really doubt he'll find out, in a small box made of pine
Yippeeiioooo, yippeeiiaaaa, small box made of pine.

And so I shot them all, my boys, and so I shot them all
I'd always fire from behind, and then I'd watch them fall
For it doesn't really matter if you're faster than the rest,
The man that goes on living must really be the best
Yippeeiioooo, yippeeiiaaaa, must really be the best.
-Michael O'Donoghue

How to Write Good http://www.earth1.net/~amonroe/writgood.html
(I particularly recommend Lesson 7...)

tsuwm, I hope you weren't meaning that last phrase autobiographically. You have erudited us all with your posts, sir.

And, ooh! I can't wait for wow's reaction to Lesson 8:
"The Ten Magic Phrases of Journalism". Yippee yi ay!

>You have erudited us all...

j, I do believe you have just verbed an adjective!!

So what is the verb, erude? The Latin is erudire, to instruct.

For a quibble, any assassin who would choose a twenty gauge when he could have had a twelve gauge is an idiot. He might as well try it with a .410 ....And he had better have buckshot or a slug, and not a quail load.

So what is the verb form of erudite?

there is none in English, just as there is none for 'rude'.
we'll just have to make do with teach, instruct, train, etc.
or we could, I suppose, verb the noun erudite. <g>

as to twelve v. twenty, I can't speak to MO's choice. perhaps it's a matter of scansion rather than scatter.

j, I do believe you have just verbed an adjective!!

Thanks! I'm trying.