Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The MMOB Daily Quote - Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash - Funny Name, Funny Man

Since yesterday's spotlight was on Dr. Seuss, I thought I'd move on to another favorite.

According to Bartleby.com (another favorite quote source) here's some background on today's focus: Ogden Nash.

1902–71, American poet, b. Rye, N.Y., studied at Harvard. He was popular for a wide assortment of witty and immensely quotable doggerel verses, ranging from urbane satire to absurdity in their subject and rhyme. For several decades his work appeared regularly in The New Yorker magazine. Nash also wrote plays, e.g., One Touch of Venus (1943) in collaboration with Kurt Weill and S. J. Perelman, and children’s books. His collections include Hard Lines (1931), I’m a Stranger Here Myself (1938), Selected Verse (1946), Versus (1949), The Private Dining Room (1953), You Can’t Get There from Here (1957), Verses from 1929 On (1959), Everyone but Thee and Me (1962), and Bed Riddance (1970).


I discovered his short, pun-y poems at young age and loved them because they made me giggle. Not all of his work is of the stupid/silly variety, but I still find it strikes a chord with me.

But don't take my word for it, see for yourself:

These I remember:

"Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros, I’ll stare at something less prepoceros."

“The cow is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other, milk”

“Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”

“The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks Which practically conceal its sex. I think it clever of the turtle In such a fix to be so fertile.”

These are new to me:

“To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you're wrong, admit it; Whenever you're right, shut up”

“Do you think my mind is maturing late,Or simply rotted early?”

“People who work sitting down get paid more than people who work standing up.”

“A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.”

“Middle age is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't for you”

“Life is not having been told that the man has just waxed the floor”

“Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave, when they think their children are naïve.”

"One man's remorse is another man's reminiscence. "

“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them”

And a couple of my favorites:

"Better yet, if called by a panther, Don’t anther."

Camped on a tropic riverside,
One day he missed his loving bride.
She had, the guide informed him later,
Been eaten by an alligator.
Professor Twist could not but smile.
“You mean,” he said, “a crocodile.”


Cheers! - Jason

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