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Thursday, June 13, 2013

B Words

B

Ba

I saw in a text book one day
The letter "B" followed by "A"
"What does it mean?" I queried of my mum.
She cleared her throat and said to me,
"Well my dear obviously
It is the symbol used for Barium!

Being of course an element
Malleable and divalent
Metallic and it looks a silver-white"
I scratched my head and asked no more
Put my book down; ran for the door;
Deciding I would rather fly my kite!


Ba (Ancient Egyptian)

In the old belief system
Of the Ancient Egyptians
It was said the Soul had three components
The first part being of course the "Ka"
Followed by the other, "Ba"
Of which was said all had by it's proponents.

However there was a third bit
The "akh" and only some have it
An entity reserved for just a few,
The "true of voice" or justified,
The righteous sort who when they died
Were deserving of the Maat Kheru.


Baa

Should you ever find you are
Trapped inside a speeding car
That's being driven by an insane sheep
So as to avoid your fate
You might like to communicate
With it in it's language made of bleats.

Try saying to it, "Baa baa baa"
Which means, "Please sir stop the car!"
And if that doesn't work then I'm afraid
Neither will "Baa baa baa baa!"
Which translates roughly into, "Aaaaargh!"
For sheep like that are too hard to persuade!


Babushka

The word babushka sounds absurd
It's clearly not an English word
That's because it hails from Russia

It is a peasant girl's fashion
A headscarf tied beneath the chin
Or a woman with the air of a grandmother!
what is a babushka? what is the definition of Babushka? what does Babushka mean?


Baccalaureate

If you are the laureate
At a Baccalaureate
It means you’ve earned a Bachelor’s Degree
Perhaps it was in liberal arts
Or in how to make great tarts
After years at University

And of course it’s also true
The sermon spoken at the do
Is the baccalaureate as well
And the degree that you have earned
For the things that you did learn
Is called the baccalaureate itself!what is a baccalaureate? what is the meaning of baccalaureate? what is the definition of baccalaureate? a poem about baccalaureates, baccalaureate in a sentence

Bacchanalia

The Romans were a naughty lot
And liked to party quite a lot
In orgiastic drunken revelry,

Celebrating Bacchus the
God of wine and revelry
In bacchanalian festivity.

Bacciferous 


If I said that something was
Bacciferous it is because
It certainly has the ability

To produce or generate
Bring forth, bear and generate
Nothing other than a humble berry.


Bacillus

Watch out for the perilous
Microscopic bacillus
A certain type of small bacterium,

I think it rather strangely odd
That it is shaped just like a rod
And having it inside you isn't fun.


Back formation

There is a situation
Known as back formation
When a new word's made out of another,
Based on the assumption
Or often the presumption
The new word is the base word of the other.

So we say sulk from sulky
Complicit from complicity
Or shorten lazy down to the word laze,
Flab was born of flabby
And jell came down from jelly
And in the same way hazy became haze!


Backlist

Here's the basic simple gist
About what's known as a backlist
I'll try to say more here than simply hint

That it's a sort of register
Maintained by a publisher
Of published works that are all still in print.


Bactrian Camel

Once when in a foreign land
I found myself in desert sands
And on a dune met an unusual mammal
And trying not to sound too rude
I asked him, "What on earth are you?"
To which he answered me, "I am a camel!"

"Are you sure?" I asked of him
"Of course I am, I'm Bactrian!"
He answered me and rather angrily
"I'm the type of camel that
Has more than one hump on its back
Unlike the ones with one called dromedaries!"

And then just when it dawned on me
That this camel actually
Was talking English rather fluently
He went on quickly to explain
That Bactrian's a name that came
From Bactria which was an ancient country.


Badinage

I am the type to badinage
And that not so to sabotage
Your character or personality,

I'm simply making fun of you
Bantering like close friends do
Insulting you but only playfully!


Baedeker

Before going to Africa
America or India
Or anywhere a tourist might go to
Get yourself a Baedeker
A Guidebook for a traveller
To guide you when you haven't got a clue.

Named after a certain man
Karl who was surely German
With the surname Baedeker you see,
Who in the 19th Century
Published guide books frequently
And sold them to keen tourists for a fee.


Baldwin

I found myself in a cauldron
With a fellow called Baldwin
Which was a pleasant way to meet my end,
For this man I hardly knew,
boiling with me in a stew,
Told me his name in English meant "Bold Friend!"

Then to the monster cooking he
Said, "Don't eat this man for tea
Just look at him he's unhealthy and fat!
Not only will he wreck the taste
You'll add inches to your waist
And give yourself no doubt a heart attack!

You must consider portion size
Your tummy's too big for your eyes
Settle instead for the likes of me,
Let this unfit fatty free
Replace him with some fresh parsley
And you'll find me satisfactory!"

And having lived up to his name
My Bold Friend quickly then became
Something warm and tender on a plate,
As for me I walked scott-free
And swore that I will happily
Never make an effort to lose weight!



Bar

A bar is usually understood
To be a longish piece of wood
Or metal too or some material
Rigid and used typically
To obstruct or fix tightly
Or for a weapon you might use to kill!

Then again it also could
Be something better than just wood
Like the counter found inside a pub,
Restaurant or cafe where
You might buy yourself a beer
Or if you're hungry fetch yourself some grub!

And if whilst there you saw outside
One you'd rather not abide
You might like to bar the entry way,
Which is the other meaning for
"Bar", which means to block the door
In the hope that they might go away.

Or if you're more up front you could
Go out with a bar of wood
And bar them from the pub forever or
You may say, "Hey, go away!
You're barred from here until late May
A hundred years from now and maybe more!"

And so that's all bar one last way
You might use "bar" for today
And that is in the case of an exception
As in "This bar is open for
All bar one, so lock the door
Should you see him come in this direction!"


Basilicine

Once I sat beside a pond
And saw something that was beyond
Anything that I had ever seen,
A basilisk lizard that streaked
Across the pond upon its feet
And back to me to say, "Hello, I'm Dean."

"Pleased to meet you, Dean" I squeaked
Almost way too shocked to speak,
"How did you walk upon the water so?"
I could see him pondering
About his type of wandering
When finally he said, "I do not know!

"Except I think that you will find
It is a thing basilicine
Lizards like myself do easily,
Would you like to have a go?"
He asked to which I told him no,
"Us humans don't have the ability."

And just like that he turned to go
Across the pond he skimmed pronto
Reminding me of someone else I know,
For I found out another name
For this lizard is the name
In Spanish "lagarto de Jesus Cristo"


Batrachian

Once a batrachian miss
Asked if I'd give her a kiss
A prospect that quite frankly made me sick,
"Why" said I, "I'd rather die
Than kiss a toad or even try
Unless you are the victim of some trick?"

Then she told me the sad tale
Of a witch wrinkly and pale
Who cursed her into toadhood unfairly,
And how if she could steal a kiss
From someone who was not a miss
She would become who she was meant to be...

So feeling rather keen that I
Could kiss a toad and be the guy
Who saved a princess from a fate so cruel,
I planted a big one on it
And heard it sigh a deep ribbit
Not realizing I had been a fool!

For when the magic spell was broke
The talking toad began to croak
And grow until before my ailing eyes,
The toad to whom I gave a kiss
Thinking I would gain a Miss
Turned instead into an ugly guy!



Be

Still when I was very young
I showed my homework to my mum
A book of simple words I had to learn,
Things were going well until
She yelped a thrilling chilling shrill
Which may have caused our neighbours some concern!

And I knew what exactly
It was, the letters 'B' and 'e',
She saw them typed in bold upon the page,
She said, "My dear those letters there
Are there to see for me to share
A thing I learned myself when at your age!"

She said, "It's for Beryllium"
I said to her, "I don't care mum."
But regardless she was adamant
To make my homework more a chore,
"Its atomic number's four!"
She said of this chemical element.

"Curiously it is made..."
She was like a live grenade,
"Through stellar nucleosynthesis
Making it a short lived thing,
It's not really a common thing..."
I felt like I was trapped under hypnosis!

"Another too that's divalent,
Meaning that this element
Occurs naturally only when
With other elements it joins
In combination and conjoins
In minerals..." My wits were at their end.

But she went in for the kill
Telling me about beryl
Found in certain notable gemstones
But by itself this element
Is steel grey, but petulant
I wished that she would just leave me alone!

"It's strong and doesn't weigh a lot.."
She went on with a gallant trot,
"...although it is also a little brittle.."
I wondered how could it be true
To be both strong and brittle too,
Though my interest was brief and fickle!

"This alkaline earth metal can
improve the strength of soda cans
When added to aluminium
Or copper, iron, nickel too
Tools won't spark a bit when you
Make them using what? Beryllium!"

I'll admit that for a split
Second or two my mother's fit
Of scientific diatribe got me
Thinking about the qualities
"Flexural rigidity"
And of course "thermal stability"

"Thermal conductivity"
Was one along with density
Were things unique to this beryllium
Making the metal just right
For spaceships and for satellites!
I hid my excitement though from my mum!

Or else she would go on all night
And I would have to face the plight
Of trying to explain to Mrs Meany,
My first grade teacher, why it was
I could not read was all because
My mother misinterpreted be and e!


Copyright 2015




Beguile

One who has the mean profile
Of a man who does beguile
Is one with the intent so to deceive,

He will fool you with his charm
And it will do you harm
If you believe there’s nothing up his sleeve.what is the meaning of beguile? what does it mean to beguile? what does beguile mean? what is the definition of beguile?




Beshrew 

One day I saw a little snail
And oh the blighter made me wail
Making me declare on him a curse,
beshrewed him for the damages
He wrought upon my cabbages
Hoping he would end up in a hearse.

That’s right I wished upon the thug
A death that’s worthy of a slug
And said, “I hope you die under a shoe!”
So as you might by now have guessed
That speaking ill upon this pest
Exemplifies the meaning of beshrew!


Bisontine

I bumped once into a bison
Who told me his name was Tyson
But I'm afraid I didn't have the time

To stand around all day and chat
Or be polite and all of that
Especially not with something bisontine!



Bobovine

Should you meet a wild ox
Whose coat is dark but with white socks
Next time you're wondering through India,
It probably is bobovine,
Or gaur as it's called sometimes,
And also can be found in Malaysia...

I met one once and said hello
He did not talk in English so
We found ourselves facing a cultural bump,
Which was a pain for so badly
I wanted very much to see
If I could ride his back and pat his hump!

So should there ever come a day
I find myself passing that way
I'll be sure to learn some bobovine
And then clearly I'll say to him
"Moo" in bobovinian
And maybe he'll become a friend of mine?


Bombicine

Did you know that silky twine
Comes to us from bombycine
Larvae that we know as the silkworm,

Before it turns into a moth
It's murdered so as to make cloth
Something I was rather sad to learn!

Bora

If you happen to be a
Native of Australia
By that I mean an aborigine

Chances are you understand
That a boy becomes a man
As part of the bora ceremony.



Bovine/Vaccine


I met a cow one sunny day
And to him I said, "I must say
Would you like to join me for some tea?"
"Moo," he said, (that's cow for "yes")
"I would be glad to be your guest,
Just as long as you're not eating me!"

And with my fingers crossed behind
My back I said to the bovine,
"My dear sir I'm not the type to dine
Upon the meat of any beast
Such as yourself, I could not feast
Upon the flesh of anything vaccine!"

And what a pleasant guest was he
To have around that night for tea
For upon my favourite dinner plate
Sat my new found bovine friend,
After he had met his end,
To become nothing less than a steak!


Bufotenine (as an adjective)

Once when on a walk I found
Something squished upon the ground
Flattened and quite dead upon the road,
By it's looks I was inclined
To say it was bufotenine
A creature that had once been a fat toad!

But now some car had made it thin
So thin that it could fit in
The book that I was reading at the time,
How fortunate that I had found
A bookmark laying on the ground
Even if it was covered in slime!


Buteonine

Once whilst on a mighty hike
I saw some birds I did not like
Circling above me in the sky,

All of them buteonine,
Buzzards hungry and inclined,
To eat me if I just happened to die!










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