Sunday, June 4, 2017

Rhymes: Lady from Niger; Pelican

As I explained in Songs and Rhymes, limericks are fun way to train your pronunciation.

Young lady from Niger


There was a young lady from Niger,
ðeə wɒz ə jʌŋ ˈleɪdi frɒm ˈnaɪʤə,
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
huː smaɪld æz ʃiː rəʊd ɒn ə ˈtaɪgə.
They came back from the ride
ðeɪ keɪm bæk frɒm ðə raɪd
With the lady inside,
wɪð ðə ˈleɪdi ɪnˈsaɪd,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.
ænd ðə smaɪl ɒn ðə feɪs ɒv ðə ˈtaɪgə.


A wonderful bird is the pelican

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
ə ˈwʌndəfʊl bɜːd ɪz ðə ˈpɛlɪkən,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
hɪz bɪl wɪl həʊld mɔː ðæn hɪz belican,
He can take in his beak
hiː kæn teɪk ɪn hɪz biːk
Enough food for a week
ɪˈnʌf fuːd fɔːr ə wiːk
But I'm damned if I see how the helican!
bʌt aɪm dæmd ɪf aɪ siː haʊ ði helican!




"hellican" in "how the hellican" is a nonsense (invented) word, but it rhymes with "how the hell he can" which makes the limerick funny.

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