Here is a silly piece of satire.

After getting back to Spain from our recent three-week trip to the US, I have written up my reflections on the country. (As anyone who knows me might guess, these are pretty negative!)

Here is another example of my obsession with -nyms.

[Eponym:  noun (plural: eponyms)

1. a person after whom a discovery, invention, place, etc., is named or thought to be named.
2. a name or noun formed after a person.]
   

Okay, this is not really a game.  Rather it is a (hopefully fun) exercise to see how many people you know who eponymously gave their names to the following list of eponyms.

[And, yes of course I had to look up some of these on the internet!]

Let me know of your favorite eponyms.  I have mostly avoided the many scientific/medical eponyms, like Haley’s Comet or Addison disease, and the myriads of biological eponyms, like Anelosimus biglebowski (a spider named after the film The Big Lebowski) or Anophthalmus hitleri (a cave beetle named after Adolf Hitler in 1933 that is currently threatened due to high demand from collectors of Nazi memorabilia).  In addition to Stigler’s Law of Eponyms, which states that eponyms of scientific discoveries are rarely named after the person who actually first made the discovery, or the problem of biological eponyms being predominately named after White European males, I just find scientific/medical and biological eponyms mundane and boring.]

So here is a list of eponyms:  (answers below)

America

Bowdlerize

Boycott

Cardigan

Chauvinism

Derby

Dunce

Gerrymander

Leotard

Mesmerize

Nicotine

Paparazzi

Shrapnel

Sideburns

Okay, yet another homophone game, this one in the original format where you are to create a homophone pair by matching the clues on the left with the clues on the right. This is the format that, as of now at least, the 4.0 Bing and Chat can’t master.

1	What Robbie Burne’s love is like.	A	An enemy.
2	With this there can’t be any gain.	B	A Scottish dance.
3	A finger ornament.	C	A paved path.
4	Was due to you.	D	A hammer, wrench, etc.
5	Authentic	E	Twist to get dry.
6	Not authentic.	F	The start of the day.
7	Went on the bicycle.	G	Counted and recounted the aisles in a theater.
8	The middle of the body.	H	Expertise in window glass.
9	Bouncy silk fabric.	I	A tribute poem
10	Bewail.	J	Not use.

I am certainly not a talented poet, but I like giving it a try!

Talent

Everyone has some talents, Even talentlessness is a talent, A sort of Zen Master mastery Of a centering zero at the bone.

Some want to make sure that they  Are more talented than you, Or at least try to take away Whatever it is that you are talented at.

Others—the good ones—want to Join all the talents of the world together. Together with all our talents We will triumph.

Not everyone has someone Who nurtures talents, But as humans we each rely on our wits To make it through this messy life.

And, at this, some are indeed more talented than others!

Okay, my brain seems to just keep whirling around! Here is another homophone game, where you are to match the clues on the left with the pairs of homophones on the right. (Interestingly, the 3.0 version of ChatGPT couldn’t do these homophone games, but the new Bing and the 4.0 version of ChatGPT both get them all right.)

1.  The cry of a humpback.	A.   Sight site.
2.  The chimney duct took wing.	B.  Wrote rote.
3.  What the eye is.	C.  Sole soul.
4.  Put the curdled milk liquid on a scale.	D.  Heirs airs
5.  The smell of a penny.	E.  Sail sale.
6.  Spell correctly.	F.  Whale wail.
7.  The spirit of a flat fish.	G.  Write right.
8.  The pretensions of one’s descendants.	H.  Weigh whey.
9.  Reduced price on a spinnaker.	I.  Cent scent.
10.  Spelled by memory.	J.  Flue flew.

Okay boys and girls (and non-binary others), here is a variation of the “Match the Homophone Pairs” game I posted a year ago (in the “Silly Riddles and Lists” folder on this website).  The rules here are to match the clues on the left with the homophones on the right.

1.  Mean embroidery?	A.  Hare hair.
2.  Phaeton?	B.  Ate eight.
3.  Put on Ares?	C.  Duck duct.
4.  Naked Yogi?	D.  Sun son.
5.  What Mickey might hum?	E.  Wore war.
6.  Rabbit fur?	F.  Don dawn.
7.  Consumed all the octopus legs?	G.  Bare bear.
8.  A good price?	H.  Cruel crewel.
9.  Wear Aurora?	I.  Toon tune.
10. Where Daffy’s tears come out?	J.  Fair fare.

And here is a bonus question:  The stupefied look of the impotent on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?

[If you are stuck, message me for the answer sheet.]

Here’s one about white privilege:

I must have too much time on my hands! Here is another cliché poem:

This is my reaction to recent reports about a Paleolithic proto-writing system. It is a prolegomena to a short story I might write in my “First” series.