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My name is Bob Land. I am a full-time freelance editor and proofreader, and occasional indexer. This blog is my website.

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Friday, June 24, 2011

Haiku Monday: Short

Take it any way you want.
Haiku on "short" in 5-7-5 format.
Post in comments field below.

Main Entry: short
Pronunciation:*sh*rt
Function:adjective
Etymology:Middle English, from Old English sceort; akin to Old High German scurz short, Old Norse skortr lack
Date:before 12th century

1 a : having little length  b : not tall or high  : LOW
2 a : not extended in time  : BRIEF  *a short vacation*  b : not retentive  *a short memory*  c : EXPEDITIOUS, QUICK  *made short work of the problem*  d : seeming to pass quickly  *made great progress in just a few short years*
3 a of a speech sound   : having a relatively short duration  b : being the member of a pair of similarly spelled vowel or vowel-containing sounds that is descended from a vowel that was short in duration but is no longer so and that does not necessarily have duration as its chief distinguishing feature  *short i in sin*  c of a syllable in prosody    (1) : of relatively brief duration  (2) : UNSTRESSED
4 : limited in distance  *a short trip*
5 a : not coming up to a measure or requirement  : INSUFFICIENT  *in short supply*  b : not reaching far enough  *the throw to first was short*  c : enduring privation  d : insufficiently supplied  *short of cash*  *short on brains*
6 a : ABRUPT, CURT  *I'm sorry I was short with you*  b : quickly provoked  *a short temper*
7 : CHOPPY 2
8 : payable at an early date  *a short loan*
9 a : containing or cooked with shortening;  also   : FLAKY  *short pastry*  b of metal   : brittle under certain conditions
10 a : not lengthy or drawn out  *a short speech*  b : made briefer  : ABBREVIATED
11 a : not having goods or property that one has sold in anticipation of a fall in prices  b : consisting of, relating to, or engaging in the sale of securities or commodities that the seller does not possess or has not contracted for at the time of the sale  *short sale*  *a short seller*
12 : near the end of a tour of duty
  –short£ish \*sh*r-tish\  adjective 
  –short£ness \*sh*rt-n*s\  noun 
  –in short order : with dispatch  : QUICKLY

***
Main Entry: short
Function:noun
Date:circa 1586

1 : the sum and substance  : UPSHOT
2 a : a short syllable  b : a short sound or signal
3 plural    a : a by-product of wheat milling that includes the germ, fine bran, and some flour  b : refuse, clippings, or trimmings discarded in various manufacturing processes
4 a : knee-length or less than knee-length trousers —  usually used in plural  b plural   : short drawers  c : a size in clothing for short men
5 a : one who operates on the short side of the market  b plural   : short-term bonds
6 plural   : DEFICIENCIES
7 : SHORT CIRCUIT
8 : SHORTSTOP
9 a : SHORT SUBJECT  b : a brief story or article (as in a newspaper)
  –for short : as an abbreviation  *named Katherine or Kate for short*
  –in short : by way of summary  : BRIEFLY

***
Main Entry: short
Function:transitive verb
Date:1904

1 : SHORT-CIRCUIT
2 : SHORTCHANGE, CHEAT
3 : to sell (a security) short in expectation of a fall in prices

19 comments:

Aunty Belle said...

Ho! this is too wunnerful--very nifty examination of meaning-ful(l).

Monday will be a free-fer-all.

Congrats on yore Haiku win, Czar.

moi said...

I like the conciseness of this theme. I already have my idea firmly in mind. Now, if only it transfers to the page.

Karl said...

Good afternoons Czar,

So this should be short?
With word verification,
glyexab, not likely.

czar said...

Aunty: I am expecting haiku from you this week. I'm sure you can form 17 worthy syllables in the time it takes to crack open a bag o' pork rinds.

Moi: I filled up the announcement with words not my own. So while the theme is concise, I'm already messing up on my promises.

Karl: Good evening. I'm given to understand that some folks don't like word verification. No apologies here. If you've seen the spam that "visitors" to Moi's blog throw off, that's the reason. I need to keep the ol' blog tidy for potential paying customers. Glyexab indeed.

fishy said...

1) Yellow

Riding the short bus
to Sesame Street at Main
is simple exclaimed

2) Yum!

Southern style short ribs:
pan seared in bacon drippin's
braised in home brew'd ale

3) Gene:

Contestants enter
hoping to make the short list
for organ transplants

Karl said...

Good evening Czar,

I can understand your problem and was simply making light. Or was that lite. Help, I need an editor.

My contribution for "short".

Two with five, the short
And the seven are the long
Haiku, long and short

moi said...

Clever, Karl!

Only time for one:

A Dozen Mr. Right Nows; One Mr. Right

Too tall at thirteen,
too fast, too smart. Only one
man since measured up.

chickory said...

congrats on your win last week! I was indisposed with the plague but i just had a nice shot to the hip with steroids. might clear things up

thanks for the detailed, editor like deconstruction of the word. that was good reading.

*********************************

go, go, go shorty
you were born this way and got
no reason to live

*with my apologies to FIddy, Gaga and Randy Newman

chickory said...

@ Karl. i like both!

Anonymous said...

Nouvel Homme

les personnes courtes

n'ont obtenu aucune

raison de vivre

Kymical Reactions said...

lol @ chicky. :)

My entry:

I spend most all day
Looking at belly buttons.
It's hard to be short.

moi said...

Bwahahahahaha to Chickory.

But why is Troll speaking French? First we find out he may actually BE Al Gore and now this? The sky is falling.

Anonymous said...

10 Bottles or Less

Nasty brutish clerk
short-changed short-tempered drunk.
Long wait behind this.

Kymical Reactions said...

scattered, smothered and
covered. the greasy life of
a short order cook.

Aunty Belle said...

Uh oh....this is gonna be a good stash of haiku--I like both of Kymmie's but that first one? Hilarious an' true.

I better git the dinner cooked and git back over heah to rustle up 17 syllables.

j'adore French Troll.

darkfoam said...

Pint of foamy beer.
pint-sized woman drinks it all ..
in 1, 2, 3, ..Gone!

fleur said...

Another Internet Date

Not OK, Cupid.
Nice guy, claimed to be five feet.
Was four-eleven.

czar said...

Great entries, all. Still short a few, I think.

Aunty Belle said...

Help! I'se held captive to Uncle who done run amok thinkin' up "short" Haikus.

Uncle:
Sclerotic Mind

Old men like short shorts.
Old wimmen think they's cheeky
Last line? Short memory.


Kumbaya

Short on change. Long on
shortfall. One term president
If thar's any hope.


* * *

The dishes be done, the ole geezer's in bed--mebbe Aunty can think a minute...

Not shure of the rules this time around, but iffin' it's *one* entry, please take the first as fun, shameless panderin', the second one as official, an' the third as an overwrought mind near midnight.


Editor's Rule

No verbosity:
Abbreviate or truncate
your prolixity.


Birth Day

Kym's long winter wait
is done. Summer's son in six
short pants and a PUSH!


Myopia

Ancient metronome
swings the pendulum-shorter
now. We do not see.