Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

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Le Baron
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Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby Le Baron » Sat Jul 02, 2022 11:32 pm

Or humorous poetry? Here's an old classic:

There was a young lady from Hyde
Who ate some green apples then died.
The apples fermented,
Inside the lamented,
And made cider inside her inside.

And a few more old classics:

A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His bill will hold more than his belly can.
He can take in his beak,
Enough food for a week,
But I'm damned if I see how the hell he can!

A London policeman named Pete
Was found asleep on his beat.
The English bobbies,
Don't have any hobbies,
They just have arrest in the street.

There was a young lad in the choir,
whose voice seemed to get higher and higher,
It reached such a height,
It went clean out of sight,
And they found it impaled on the spire.

A pretty young maid from Berlin.
Was born so incredibly thin.
That when she essayed,
To drink lemonade,
She slipped through the straw and fell in.
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby tractor » Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:53 am

The late sports commentator Jon Herwig Carlsen worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (Norsk rikskringkasting, NRK) for over 40 years, and he used to read limericks during sports events, so most Norwegians are somewhat familiar with the genre.
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby rdearman » Sun Jul 03, 2022 3:20 pm

There once was a man from Nantucket...
:oops: No

In Dublin lived a lovely young lass ....
Errr. No. :oops:

Nope don't know any.
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby Le Baron » Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:31 pm

rdearman wrote:There once was a man from Nantucket...
:oops: No

In Dublin lived a lovely young lass ....
Errr. No. :oops:

Nope don't know any.

I was also limited. All the good ones are rather crude doggerel. :lol:
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby Doitsujin » Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:36 pm

I only found this German website with mostly godawful limericks: Sammlung deutschsprachiger Limericks

This might be a German thing as this classic US Becks ad shows.

Le Baron wrote:Or humorous poetry?
How about Fisches Nachtgesang (=a fish's night song) by Christian Morgenstern, which doesn't require any translation:

Image

All other Morgenstern poems, e.g. Der Werwolf, require translations:

Code: Select all

Der Werwolf               The Werewolf  (Gary Bachlund translation)   
      
Ein Werwolf eines Nachts entwich            One night a Were-wolf slipped away
von Weib und Kind und sich begab            From his Were-wife and his Were-wolf child,
an eines Dorfschullehrers Grab               To the grave of a rotten schoolmaster
und bat ihn: Bitte, beuge mich!               To decline himself as noun-beguiled.
      
Der Dorfschulmeister stieg hinauf         Ghost-like gray the schoolmaster rose
auf seines Blechschilds Messingknauf         From out of the gravestone’s head,
und sprach zum Wolf, der seine Pfoten      And spoke to the Wolf, crossed paws suppose
geduldig kreuzte vor dem Toten:         To beseech a philologist long dead:
      
»Der Werwolf« – sprach der gute Mann,      “The Were-wolf,” spoke the spirited man,
»des Weswolfs«, Genitiv sodann,               “Of the Were-wolf, in the genitive penned,
»dem Wemwolf«, Dativ, wie man’s nennt,   To the Were-wolf, is the dative scan,
»den Wenwolf«, – »damit hat’s ein End«.      And objective, a Were-wolf; that’s the end.”
      
Dem Werwolf schmeichelten die Fälle,         Such cases flattered the wolf called Were,
er rollte seine Augenbälle.                        Its Were-wolf eyeballs rolling widely wide.
Indessen, bat er, füge doch                     “However tense, all remains a blur;
zur Einzahl auch die Mehrzahl noch!         What’s singular? What’s plural?” he cried.
      
Der Dorfschulmeister aber mußte               Alas the corrupted schoolmaster confessed
gestehn, daß er von ihr nichts wußte.         “Incorruptible are most grammatical rules.
Zwar Wölfe gäb’s in großer Schar,            While wolves is plural, as you’ve guessed,
doch »Wer« gäb’s nur im Singular.            Wolf is singular, in most of our grammar schools.”
      
Der Wolf erhob sich tränenblind --               With this, the Were-wolf howled and cried,
er hatte ja doch Weib und Kind!!               “I am not singular! I’ve a wife and child!”
Doch da er kein Gelehrter eben,               And so the Were-wolf rushed home to bride
so schied er dankend und ergeben.            And Were-wolf child, tensely reconciled.
 
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby Le Baron » Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:24 pm

A poem actually concerned with language. I like it. It's rather complicated. I'm not sure it translates in English all that easily.
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby ManuelH » Tue Jul 05, 2022 4:05 pm

A nice one if you want to play with your German knowledge:

Der Mördermarder

Der Mardermörder hockt vorm Bau,
der Marder ist vor Angst ganz blau.
Er weiß, daß ihm vor seinem Tod
die Qual der Mardermarter droht,
wenn er nicht kurzentschlossen handelt,
sich kühn zum Martermarder wandelt
und marternd dem entgegenspringt,
der mordend in sein Reich eindringt.
Gedacht, getan, er hüpft ans Licht,
der Mardermörder sieht das nicht,
da der sich, scheinbar unbemerkt,
grad für die Mardermarter stärkt.
Der Martermarder zählt bis vier,
der Mardermörder trinkt ein Bier.
Der Mardermörder beißt ins Brot,
der Mördermarder beißt ihn tot.
--- Robert Gernhardt
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby AroAro » Fri Sep 30, 2022 4:33 pm

Last year, I read a biography of Wisława Szymborska and learned that she wrote limericks all her life and she was a big fan of the genre. She never really published them because, from what I remember, they were mostly "birthday gifts" she wrote on postcards that she sent to her friends (good idea, otherwise it could’ve hurt her chances with the Nobel Committee!).

Here are some examples, the translation were done by DeepL (with some minor corrections from me) so I’m sorry for lack of rhymes in English:

Pewien Chińczyk nieboszczyk w Kantonie / A certain dead Chinese in Guangzhou
Ukazywał się nocą żonie. / Appeared to his wife at night.
A że obok małżonki / And that next to the wife
Spał tylko marynarz z dżonki, / Only a sailor from the jonka slept,
Noc mijała im w niedużym gronie. / The night passed for them in a small group.

Raz Mozarta bawiącego w Pradze / Once Mozart playing in Prague
Obsypały z kominka sadze. / Was sprinkled by soot from the fireplace.
Fakt, że potem, w ciągu pół godziny, / The fact that later, within half an hour,
Wymorusał aż cztery hrabiny, / He smudged with soot as many as four countesses,
Jakoś uszedł biografów uwadze. / Somehow escaped the attention of biographers.

Pewien młody wikary w Lozannie / A certain young curate in Lausanne
Lubił chodzić w rozpiętej sutannie. / He liked to walk around in an unbuttoned cassock.
Lecz na widok kardynała / But at the sight of a cardinal
Gasła w nim fantazja cała / All the fantasy faded out in him
I zapinał się starannie. / And he fastened himself carefully.
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby urubu » Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:08 pm

These guys are legendary for their Limericks here in Germany:

https://youtu.be/ePbek_er5WI?t=273

Quote:

Ein Bergsteiger aus der Biskaya,
der wollte auf den Himalaya.
Doch als er in Lhasa
das Ding von nah sah,
da sagte er leise: "Au, weia!"
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Re: Do you have any 'limericks' in other languages?

Postby ryankopf » Sun Mar 19, 2023 8:42 pm

小鳥が鳴く森の中、(Kotori ga naku mori no naka)
静かに過ごしたい私。(Shizuka ni sugoshitai watashi)
でも猫が現れたら、(Demo neko ga araware tara)
私の平和はもう終わり。(Watashi no heiwa wa mou owari)

Translation:

In the forest where birds sing with glee,
I just want to be still and free.
But if a cat were to appear,
My peace would quickly disappear.
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