Poems from my Merriam-Webster Word of the Day project. For more information, look here.
misnomer : a wrong name or inappropriate designation
Bridge party
in the antique past
“Party” a
misnomer
for the no-holds-barred combat
my mother relished
shadorma 454 : 9/23/22
doctrinaire : stubbornly or excessively devoted to a doctrine or theory without regard to practical considerations
I had a bad cold.
Old-style doctrinaire healer –
Mom’s best friend – stepped in.
I drank the potion. I retched.
Good, it’s working, Mom said. See?
tanka 388: 1/28/23
yankee : used as a code word for the letter y
Forks tap out
dinner table code
we kids know
what it means
Yankee Uniform Kilo
meatball stew tonight
shadorma 421 : 7/4/22
Attributions:
“Misnomer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misnomer. Accessed 23 Sep. 2022.
“Doctrinaire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctrinaire. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.
“Yankee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Yankee. Accessed 4 Jul. 2022.
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
Buckley’s Original Mixture is a cough syrup invented in 1919 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada – “It Tastes Awful. And It Works.” Some kids would see the bottle and the spoon coming, and they would get well immediately (especially on school days). 😀
I can imagine. It seems similar to the old cod liver oil threat.
The first one made me laugh. I remember you told me your mom had bridge parties.
I don’t understand Yankee Uniform Kilo, but I assume meatball stew was not a well-liked meal.
Yankee Uniform Kilo =YUK in military alphabet. No, meatball stew, Not good!
Oh! I’ll take your word for it. 🙂
I can’t remember any meals my mom made that I didn’t like.
My mom didn’t like to cook. The result is that naturally some meals just aren’t pleasant! It didn’t help that my grandmother was a great cook and I think my mom lost even more interest in trying since she couldn’t compare.
My mom was a good cook, but she told me her mother wasn’t. But my mom always worked outside the home, and I cooked many of our dinners when I was in junior high and high school.
My mom preferred sewing and there she shone. She made all our clothes and did beautiful work.
😊
I always enjoy your dictionary poems…the bridge one made me think of my mother and her competitive spirit in bridge and I almost missed the YUK but got it immediately when I said ‘wait a minute how does yankee fit here and rechecked the definition which revealed the code :)))
Thank you. My mom also was quite competitive, I remember. I also remember how we looked forward to the party food leftovers. As for yankee, I was at a total loss until I saw that definition. Oh thank goodness. Sometimes the word of the day really takes ingenuity.