Linguistics Nerd Camp—Bethany Carlson SpecGram Vol CLXXI, No 3 Contents A Proposal for an Academy to Regulate the French Language—Armand du Plessis

Linguimericks
Book १३

Wide double-dot O, we are told
Is a sound whose roots are so old
That in cave-dwelling times
When for soup we had slime
It was used to keep warm in the cold.
—Col. O. Nihilist


There once was a conf’rence and in it
Professor Smith was asked to begin it.
“About what shall I talk?”
He asked, grabbing his chalk:
Said a voice, “About half a minute.”
—P. Ublekkdeaux Meign


There once was a linguist named Lindstrom
Whose smile and poise were quite winsome.
Her talk on speech signals
Gave everyone tingles
And made the young men want to send some.
—Pumptilian Perniquity


I don’t think your grammar’s superb,
(You wrote “If I was” in your blurb).
But I’ll look past that part
If you take it to heart
That “reference” isn’t a verb!
—Vaguely, in Words


“Kore wa anata no hon desu ka?”
“J’ai dit, ‘Non, il ne m’appartient pas.’ ”
“Dwi’n mynd i ddarllen o!”
“Parece divertido!”
And so all he could say was “haha!”
—Callum Robson

(Translation provided below.)
“Is this your book?” a Welshman did pry.
I said, “It’s not” in a hasty reply.
“Oh good, then I’ll read it!”
“It looks funny indeedit
Is better to laugh than to cry.”
—Virginia Bouchard

Linguistics Nerd CampBethany Carlson
A Proposal for an Academy to Regulate the French LanguageArmand du Plessis
SpecGram Vol CLXXI, No 3 Contents