Be it dictionary or lexicon
What English words mean
Depend on which side
Of the pond you’re on
American “quite” means “very”
While British “quite” falls short of “verily”
If that word’s meaning tends to vary
Check out “now,” but be wary
An American “now” means at this instant
While South African “now” might be a time quite distant
And there’s that word “quite” used again
So, I used the British meaning as to not offend
This English tongue can drive you round the bend
Padre
In a savage manner our words can hurt
And with cruel phrases – with violence we flirt
An insult here, and innuendo there
Can wound souls and cause dispair
While striking back – it too is wrong
Let us instead be kind – and get along
Padre
One employee garbed in Jane Austin’s best
Another in a vintage 1880’s cowboy vest
All titles arranged by the decade of first print
Some quite worn, while others are mint
What is it about this bookstore that defies time?
Is that why it’s named Vellichor on the sign?
Padre
I met a they the other day
They was labelled a “she” but wasn’t happy that way
“They was” isn’t correct, I hear you say
But if they is a singular – it must work that way
Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy to use
Whatever pronoun that you choose
It’s the grammar only that makes me wince
As our language suffers growing pains
As new views and agendas we evince
Padre
The lure of lore is enticing
There is magic that lies in a tale
Imagination it can capture
Especially when it’s told well
We seek answers from those who were before us
We learn lessons from what they have done
And if we harken to their stories
Our own victories surely will be won
So resist not the lure of a story
Ignore not the morals of myths
For they often contain more
Than the mere conceits of the wordsmiths
Padre
When a sentence says therefore,
Just what is it there for?
What conclusions and assumptions does it bring?
Is the syllogism valid?
Doe it mean what it says?
Or is just a rhetorical thing?
Padre
I chanced upon a library at night
Where the words come out to play
Stifled by the silence of the place
Bound to their pages in the day
But when the doors are locked
And the readers have all gone home
They let loose in eloquence
Usually started by a poem
Oh what tales are related then
Adventures great and small
Puns and wordplay do abound
As the newspapers listen – remembering all
But dawn shall soon return
And the words then will silent fall
As soon as they hear the key in the door
And the footsteps in the hall
Padre
One goose is goose
Two gooses are geese
On moose is moose
But two mooses aren’t meese
One mouse is a mouse
Two mouses are mice
One house is house
But two houses aren’t hice
Plurals of confusion
Terms that confound
And is couples or pairs –
When one and one you compound?
Padre
Photo by Janko Ferlic from Pexels
Descartes suggested that I live, and am what’s in my mind
The images and expressions there – are all uniquely mine
So how can I share that world, so that you can see
The things that I experience there – seen just by me?
We use our words – to carry others to where
We can unveil our private mysteries
We open up our vistas
Through our vocab-lary
One-hundred-thousand-seventy some
Words are in use – on Oxford’s page
Plus half a hundred-thousand – now extinct
That were once all the rage
But these it seems are inadequate
To share our world – far and wide
So perhaps a quarter million more
From foreign tongues have been supplied
So why is there such confusion
Often about the things we say?
Do we even listen
When others’ thoughts they relay?
Padre
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
What was that inflection in your voice?
That subtle choice of words?
Was it a nuanced thing –
That I have just heard?
Was it as straightforward –
As it all seemed to be?
Or was it all – just me?
Padre
Weekend Writing Prompt #167 – Nuance in 38 words
Padre's Ramblings 