Mary Mapes Dodge
(Dedicated to the End of the Dictionary.)
A xylographer started to cross the sea
By means of a Xanthic Xebec;
But, alas! he sighed for the Zuyder Zee,
And feared he was in for a wreck.
He tried to smile, but all in vain,
Because of a Zygomatic pain;
And as for singing, his cheeriest tone
Reminded him of a Xylophone —
Or else, when the pain would sharper grow,
His notes were as keen as a Zuffolo.
And so it is likely he did not find
On board, Xenodochy to his mind.
The fare was poor, and he was sure
Xerophagy he could not endure;
Zoophagous surely he was, I aver,
This dainty and starving Xylographer.
Xylophagous truly he could not be —
No sickly vegetarian he!
He’d have blubbered like any old Zeuglodon
Had Xerophthalmia not come on.
And the end of it was he never again
In a Xanthic Xebec went sailing the main.
— Mary Mapes Dodge, When Life Is Young, 1894
Did you know that & used to be the last letter of the alphabet? It got its name from the Alphabet Song, which ended in “…and per se and.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe all the words that are contained in the “XYZ” volume of the “Oxford English Dictionary” are found here. I saw this story today Edmark and passed it along to my boss who is a wordsmith as I’ve mentioned before – I told him to use each word in 2019 and I am passing it along to you with the same suggestion:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/lifestyle/wayne-state-word-warriors-releases-2019-list-of-underused-words
LikeLiked by 3 people
Those words will be used if the situation permits it. I’m not as good as one of my friends who would contrive a situation in order to use some obscure words or puns.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s great!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for widening my experience with this. I shared to my fb page. Happy New Year to you.
LikeLiked by 2 people
V. Nice
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ship of Fools
LikeLiked by 2 people