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#5988 09/05/00 09:21 PM
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Abecedarian insult: "Sir, you are an apogenous, bovaristic, coprolalial, dasypygal..."

Zounds, your xiphoid words verify ultimate truth, sir. Rather quaint parody of numinous meta - language. Kindred joksters inevitably have gathered flavorful epithets. Don't coddle boisterous abecedarians!


#5989 09/05/00 11:10 PM
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I am humbled before your fantastic left-handed dyslexic comeback, Brandon.


#5990 09/06/00 12:17 AM
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Brandon--

Not to be topped, Sir! Hands-down winnah!


#5991 09/06/00 01:07 AM
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Brandon, that was brilliant. (for very small values of brilliance ;)


#5992 09/06/00 12:33 PM
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Brandon, that was brilliant. (for very small values of brilliance ;)

Appropriate for the category, Tsuwm.




#5993 09/06/00 03:22 PM
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Pocket Protector

Thank you for enlightening me. I'll file it under Duct Tape.

Ta


#5994 09/06/00 04:59 PM
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In American Sign Langauge, there is a popular and wide-spread form of visual poetry called the ABC Story. To write (sign) the poem, the signer uses the handshape of each successive letter in the alphabet to produce signs and classifers. In sign language, the shape of the hand has nothing to do with the orthographic/graphemic form of a word or concept. For example, one can sign GET-DRUNK, DECREASE-IN-HEALTH, KNOCK, and SET-UP using the A handshape.

Though the term "ABC Story" is descriptive, what else might this kind of poetry be known as? Is there an English term used to describe this format?


#5995 09/07/00 05:57 AM
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>In American Sign Langauge, there is a popular and wide-spread form of visual poetry called the ABC Story<

Brandon, I think I get what you mean. The words of line 1are made with the A handshape, the words of line 2 with the B handshape and so on? So the English equivalent woudl be the words of line 1 beginning with A, those of line 2 beginning with B etc?

Or just the first word / sign of each line?

I don't know a word for this kind of poetry. It also reminds me of rebus or acrostic poems, where the first letters of the lines, read downwards, spell out a word or phrase. No idea what that's called either, nor can I find an example. I seem to recall there's one somewhere in Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy', but this is another book that has checked out of my bookshelves without formal permission....


#5996 09/07/00 11:31 AM
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The words of line 1are made with the A handshape...

In ABC stories, there are only 26 signs used to convey the story (wholly adequate for an indepth and developed story because one sign may equal an entire sentence-worth of English words). I think I have seen the acronym-based poetry somewhere also, but that book is missing from the library in my head.


#5997 09/08/00 10:14 AM
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<rebus or acrostic poems, where the first letters of the lines, read downwards, spell out a word or
phrase.>

Bridget, there was a famous example of this in The Bulletin (for non-Aussies, an Australian weekly) in the 1960s (I think). Since I read your post yesterday, I've been searching the house trying to locate the issue. Any other Aussies around then who remember this and, more importantly, can find a copy?


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