limerick的词源

英文词源

limerick

limerick: [19] The best-known writer of limericks is of course Edward Lear, but ironically the term limerick was not born until after Lear was dead. It is first recorded in 1896, and is said to have come from a Victorian custom of singing nonsense songs at parties, in the limerick rhymescheme (aabba), which always ended with the line ‘Will you come up to Limerick?’ (Limerick of course being a county and town in Ireland).

limerick (n.)

nonsense verse of five lines, 1896, perhaps from the county and city in Ireland, but if so the connection is obscure. Often (after OED's Murray) attributed to a party game in which each guest in turn made up a nonsense verse and all sang a refrain with the line "Will you come up to Limerick?" but he reported this in 1898 and earlier evidence is wanting. Or perhaps from Learic, from Edward Lear (1812-1888) English humorist who popularized the form. Earliest examples are in French, which further complicates the quest for the origin. OED's first record of the word is in a letter of Aubrey Beardsley. The place name is literally "bare ground," from Irish Liumneach, from lom "bare, thin." It was famous for hooks.

The limerick may be the only traditional form in English not borrowed from the poetry of another language. Although the oldest known examples are in French, the name is from Limerick, Ireland. John Ciardi suggests that the Irish Brigade, which served in France for most of the eighteenth century, might have taken the form to France or developed an English version of a French form. ... The contemporary limerick usually depends on a pun or some other turn of wit. It is also likely to be somewhat suggestive or downright dirty." [Miller Williams, "Patterns of Poetry," Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1986]

中文词源

limerick：五行打油诗

爱尔兰地名，通常认为来自在1896年在Limerick举行的一次诗人聚会上，有人提议轮流用“will you come up to Limerick”起头做一首打油诗，因而引申该词义。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：limerick 词源，limerick 含义。

limerick（打油诗）：来自爱尔兰城市利默里克

打油诗（Limerick）是一种谐趣诗的体裁，由五行组成，韵式为aabba。用词俚俗浅白，迥异于流行于英格兰的主流诗体。爱德华·李尔在他的《谐趣之书》（1846年）中推广了这种诗歌，但他并不是这种诗歌的创始人。相传这种谐趣诗最早是爱尔兰城市利默里克（Limerick）的一群年轻人用爱尔兰语开创的。还有人说是因为在爱尔兰传统娱乐形式的聚会上，邀请客人参加作诗和诵诗比赛，赛后要合唱歌曲《来到利默里克》（Come up to Limerick）。

下面是爱德华•李尔写的一首limerick：

有个老头儿胡子长，

他说：“这事儿真让人恐慌！

一只母鸡，两只猫头鹰，

一只蒙鸠，四只百灵，

全把窝做在我的胡子上！”

limerick：['lɪmərɪk] n.打油诗，诙谐诗