HELLICON

The nine muses of the Modern Arts:

Effluvia, goddess of arthouse cinema
Nibia, goddess of novels by journalists
Amphigore, goddess of post-avant poetries
Migrainia, goddess of German techno
Gaspanthrome, goddess of physical theatre
Subside, goddess of wheelchair dance
Koldanempte, goddess of conceptual art
Wende, goddess of light verse
Venerea, goddess of R&B

Source: Heritage Department

 
BIRDSAKES

10 first names which are also names of birds:

1 Colin (a partridge)
2 Jay
3 Lory (a parrot)
4 Martin
5 Mavis (a thrush)
6 Noddy (a seabird)
7 Rhea (a flightless bird)
8 Robin
9 Roger (a goose)
10 Shirley (a tanager)

Source: RcL

 
MARY / MARIE

Common Mistakes No. 376:

The Mary Celeste - a half-brig which was found adrift off Gibraltar in late 1872. Ten people are thought to have drowned after setting off in a small boat after abandoning the MC, wrongly convinced it was sinking.

The Marie Celeste - an early story by Conan Doyle which elaborated and embroidered the above facts. Also, a ballad of the same name which popularised the myth of the still hot cups of tea, possible mutiny and so on.

 
ORANGE RHYME

An age-old quandary - what rhymes with 'orange'?

In 2000, La Sierra University (Riverside, Ca.) asked locals at the Orange Blossom Festival to offer suggestions.

These included (in order of popularity, with variant spellings thereon):

...Porridge / Storage / Courage / Sorange / Nothing / Lorange / Burnge / Forge / Floorage / Forage / Sporange / Florange / Stonehenge / Fringe / To rage / Seepage / Gorgeous / Flange / Torrance / Florence / Lorlorn / Arrange / Syringe / Door-hinge / Stone Age / College / Norange / Discourage / Galorange / Strange / Morning / A range / Or Mange / Thorn / Gerund and, um, Orange...

Both dictionary.com and OUP online claim that there is NO full rhyme for orange in the average dictionary. However, for non-dictionary rhymes (can't guarantee ALL the pronunciations), try these:

Worange (Worange Point in New South Wales - probably WO-RAN-GAY)
Borange (a small record label)
Blorenge (a hill in Wales - definite rhyme)
porange (a cosmetic product, 'porange' stick OR a nonce word describing pinky or purply orange - definite rhyme, but a 'made-up' word; see also gorange etc, various 'pseudo-neologisms' for hybrid colours, juices etc)
Torange (a Middle Eastern male first name - probably not full rhyme)
Soranj / Sorange (a food distribution company)
Lorange (Kirk Lorange, famed slide guitarist - probably LO-RAYNGE)
Gorange (a US fighting robot)
Gorange (a Native American spy-novel by Charles H Thomas)
corringe (a variety of rhododendron)
porringe (an old variant of porringer, a soup bowl - definite rhyme and IS in some dictionaries)

The (originally British) surnames Corringe, Lorringe, Worringe, Morringe, Gorringe (eg Chris Gorringe, leading tennis official), Horringe (eg Sir Thomas Horringe, a Kipling character who 'specialises in tripe') and Torringe* all exist and most, I'd imagine, rhyme with orange.

The word 'sporange', a word from botany for a spore case on a fungus has been suggested as a full rhyme for orange. This is debatable due to pronunciation.

*Not to be confused with Torringe, the German word for the goal rings in quidditch!

 
THE LITTLE PEOPLE

33 miniature subjects of nursery rhymes:

1 Little Betty Blue
2 Little Betty Pringle
3 Little Betty Winkle
4 Little Bo-peep
5 Little Boy Blue
6 Little Brown Betty
7 Little Dickey Dilver
8 Little General Monk
9 Little Goody Tidy
10 Little Jack Dandy-prat
11 Little Jack Horner
12 Little Jack Jingle
13 Little Jenny Flinders
14 Little John Jiggy Jag
15 Little Johnny Morgan
16 Little Johnny Stutter
17 Little King Boggers
18 Little King Pippin
19 Little Mary Ester
20 Little Miss Hetty Cote
21 Little Miss Mopsey
22 Little Miss Muffet
23 Little Nancy Etticoat
24 Little Peg a Ramsey
25 Little Polly Flinders
26 Little Shon a Morgan
27 Little Tammie Tyrie
28 Little Tee-Wee
29 Little Tom Dandy
30 Little Tom Tittlemouse
31 Little Tom Twig
32 Little Tommy Tacket
33 Little Tommy Tucker

Source: Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Opie & Opie 1951)

 
THE KIT

The basic Female Body comes with the following accessories:

garter-belt, panty-girdle, crinoline, camisole, bustle, brassiere, stomacher, chemise, virgin zone, spike heels, nose-ring, veil, kid gloves, fishnet stockings, fichu, bandeau, Merry Widow, weepers, chokers, barrettes, bangles, beads, lorgnette, feather boa, basic black, compact, Lycra stretch one-piece with modesty panel, designer peignoir, flannel nightie, lace teddy, bed, head.

Source: The Female Body (from Good Bones by Margaret Atwood)

 
Welcome to VitaminQ

Just to remind you again: this blog site belongs to Roddy Lumsden, a puzzle writer and former poet from Scotland now living in Bristol in England. It's a place where I post lists, curiosities and fragments which please me as a lover of trivia, lists, reference. They are bound to reflect some of my interests which include pop, nature, words, Scotland, food, folklore and literature. I'll post a few items most weeks, so do bookmark and return. If you wish to reprint any of these lists, please include the source, or credit both me and this site if it is an original list. Now read on, and don't forget there's tons of stuff in the archive - just click on the dates to the left...

 
HAPPY FAMILIES

I wrote a poem a while back which mentioned Master Bun and looked in vain on the net for the rest of the Happy Families surnames. Happily, a family friend has tracked them down for me (though these may not be the only names ever used):

Mr Sole the FISHMONGER
Mr Bun the BAKER
Mr Stamp the POSTMAN
Mr Bud the FLORIST
Mr Field the FARMER
Mr Bacon the BUTCHER
Mr Constable the POLICEMAN
Mr Green the GROCER
Mr Chalk the TEACHER

Source: thanks to May McGregor

 
TIPS FOR TOES

1 Apparently, if you rub vodka on your feet, all aches and pains disappear for a while enabling you to dance till dawn.

2 Apparently, if you rub an onion on your feet, you will have the taste in your mouth approximately 30 minutes later.

 
PLAYING UP

10 toy catastrophes of the 1970s:

1 Unreplaceable, frayed strings which spelled the end for Battling Tops.
2 Broken Wrists all over Scotland from 'clackers madness' (The Daily Record).
3 A Swingball shiner.
4 A lump of Blu Tac in which a balanceless, broken Subbuteo man stood.
5 Stunt kite no one could fly.
6 Any board game connected to a TV series.
7 Grade 3 blisters from whole Boxing Day playing Crossfire.
8 The green man who was never quite seesawed into the tub.
9 Grim-faced parents of singletons grasping the finer rules of Haunted House.
10 Coppit or Home You Go (sorry, this is a family in-joke)

Source: RcL. Apologies for the lame nostalgia, but tis the season.

 
TWO KNOTWORDS

hellspawn - are you a pawn of hell or the spawn of hell?

cowslip - are you the lip of a cow or a slip for a cow?

 
WHAT THE MOON IS

A google found list-poem:

the moon is in control
the moon is like a mother
the moon is out at night
the moon is a harsh mistress at the vintage library
the moon is mine
the moon is where i'll be
the moon is king tonight
the moon is hell
the moon is also a satellite
the moon is full? dear cecil
the moon is currently 18
the moon is still young
the moon is a very minor source of light in most women's lives
the moon is no door
the moon is interested in development
the moon is larger than it really is
the moon is round and the chinese people mark their moon
the moon is void of course
the moon is about one
the moon is completely inside the shadow
the moon is at the top of the list of things that students seriously misunderstand
the moon is favorable at best fishing days
the moon is crying
the moon is a reproduction of the 675 plates contained in bowker and hughes
the moon is in the seventh house
the moon is the element of water
the moon is more than one

Source: googlism.com - why / why not make your own found paratactical poems?

 
ALIAS SMITH AND JONES

10 famous people who were originally named Smith or Jones:

1 PJ Proby
2 Wolfman Jack
3 Mary Pickford
4 Sugar Ray Robinson
5 Jay Silverheels
6 Kim Wilde (and Dad Marty)
7 Edward German
8 Mark Lamarr
9 David Bowie
10 Edith Wharton

1-6 Smith, 7-10 Jones

Source: various

 
Q WEST

Vitamin Q reporting from the Lazy Q ranch:

quaker - an aspen tree
quarter horse - a horse used in short races
quick-draw artist - one who can draw a gun real fast
quien sabe - I don't know (from the Spanish)
quirly - a cowboy's ciggy
quirt - short whip with three thongs
quisto - a slang name for a quirt

Source:Western Words (R F Adams 1944)