Alphabet Game

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Alphabet Game

Postby Aldus Marius on Sun Aug 24, 2003 11:43 pm

Avete, amici!

This is a sampling from the Alphabet Game that I used to play with my young Roman disciples. The rules are simple: Each player tries to make a sentence, or a few of them. Each word in the sentence begins with a different letter of the alphabet...in order. The sample I gave in CollLat, where I first mentioned the game, starts out: "Aurelius Began Canning Dried Eggplant..."

X, of course, being something of a 'special' letter, gets an eXception. It may be the second letter of its word. 'Bridge words' are also allowed (see how I went L-to-M in the first example below), but only one per transition.

No points or competition in this one; I just like to see if people can do it, and how creatively. You ready...? I'll go first:


Aurelius Began Canning Dried Eggplant For General Hatarius' Impending Journey. Killing Lots of Moldavian Nomads Over Petty Quarrels, Roman Soldiers Took Unmerciful Vengeance While eXcitedly Yelling "Zama!!"


As it said on the back of my "I survived Basic Training" T-shirt: Now It's Your Turn! [feg]

Abecedarianish,
>({|;-p
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Postby Horatius Piscinus on Mon Aug 25, 2003 2:58 am

As Bloated Cod Dared Eat Foreign Green Herbs, I Joined Kylin's Lauging Menagerie, Now Opened Publicly, Quietly Reclining, Sleepily Talking Under the Veranda, While Xavier Yawned Zestily.
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Postby Gnaeus Dionysius Draco on Mon Aug 25, 2003 2:43 pm

"All of Beotia climbs down to evade f***ing great hunters of Ithaca," jested Kallimachos laughingly, "Memnon never once pondered Quintus rejoiced in sending them up, very wary of Xantippe's Yugoslavian zombies"

Draco :)
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Postby Marcus Pomponius Lupus on Mon Aug 25, 2003 6:27 pm

And what about "f" Draco ? ;-)
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Postby Gnaeus Dionysius Draco on Mon Aug 25, 2003 7:04 pm

Meh. Satisfied? :)

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An Equestrian Suggestion.

Postby Aldus Marius on Thu Aug 28, 2003 10:36 pm

Avete iterum, amici, and it's good to see we have several participants...

And now for a word from our sponsor, Honest Horatius' Horsey Haven:


All Barbarians Come Down Early For Grabbing Horses In Junkyards. Kindly Lead Mares. Nobody Ought to Pass Quiet Rivers. Should They Use Velvet Whips, eXpect Yearling Zebras.

Master of the Horse,
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A Helpful Thing

Postby Aldus Marius on Thu Aug 28, 2003 10:40 pm

...and I realize all this Bolding, Underlining, and other Special Effects for the initial letters is a bear to code; so here's a template:

[u]A[/u] [u]B[/u] [u]C[/u] [u]D[/u] [u]E[/u] [u]F[/u] [u]G[/u] [u]H[/u] [u]I[/u] [u]J[/u] [u]K[/u] [u]L[/u] [u]M[/u] [u]N[/u] [u]O[/u] [u]P[/u] [u]Q[/u] [u]R[/u] [u]S[/u] [u]T[/u] [u]U[/u] [u]V[/u] [u]W[/u] [u]X[/u] [u]Y[/u] [u]Z[/u]

(This can be easily converted to Bold, etc. To make an actual entry, just type the remainder of each word after the [/u] or whatever.)


Tryin' to make things easier for the guy behind him,
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One more, my best

Postby Aldus Marius on Sat Oct 11, 2003 11:39 pm

(Where is everybody??)

A Battle Can Damage Everyone's Fields, Giving Harvesters In Jerusalem Kneebends. Later, Many Noble Oriental Princes Query Roman Senators, "Taxing Us Viciously While eXpecting Your Zucchini?!?"

Betcha can't top that. >({|;-)
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More!

Postby Aldus Marius on Fri Aug 06, 2004 3:31 am

Reviving our sleepy little game...

Archaeologists Believe Certain Digs Exceptionally Frustrating. Generic Handaxes Incite Jaded, Knowledgeable Ladies and Men in Niggling, Obscure Publications to Quibble Relentlessly. Styles and Terminology Unwittingly Vanquish Willingness to eXcavate Yonder Ziggurat!

I have a couple more; do you...? >({|;-)

In amicitia,
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More fun

Postby Aldus Marius on Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:13 am

No takers...? --Very well, I shall carry on alone... ** strikes noble-heroic pose **

After Buying Cato's Deluxe Edition, Festus Gave His Incompetent Janitor, Kernunnos, Liberty. Marcellus, Needing Overtime Praetorians to Quell Rebellions, Shanghai'd The Unfortunate Vaporhead With eXtra-Yeomanly Zeal.


Ahh, the hazards of the unemployment line...!

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Postby Gnaeus Dionysius Draco on Wed Aug 11, 2004 12:28 pm

A Badly Constructed Dam Erupts. "Fuck" Gaius Hollers, "I" Jeopardised Kingston. Let Me Not Obey Papal Queries Regarding Such Tragedies." Under Very Wary Xenophobics: "Yeah ZZ top."

This didn't make sense at all.

Draco
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Make sense!

Postby Aldus Marius on Thu Aug 12, 2004 2:08 am

Salve, mi Draco!

Actually, it does make sense. Apprentice engineer wipes out whole town his first week at work...yeah, I'd be inclined to throw in the towel and go all random m'self. I mean, what else is there for the poor schmoe to do?? He can't fix it...and, short of fixing it, his whole life's gonna be hell for quite a while.

I have one coming up that ends oddly, but the oddness of the ending complements the story. Before I stumbled on those two words, it was going to be "Yay, Zeno!!" (Now how lame is that.)

Carry on...and, hey, tell Gaius that maybe the dam broke because you and I were butting heads into it about that Trivial Pursuit game last week.

As for Not Obeying Papal Queries...how very, very Bushian. That man's forgotten who he works for. He don't think he gotta answer questions to nobody. >({|:-p - - Feh.

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The Odd Bit

Postby Aldus Marius on Sat Aug 14, 2004 11:27 pm

Salvete conlusores! (now that I know I've got at least one of 'em again)

As promised, the odd bit...a short meditation on Roman Law.

Advocates Before the Curia Declaim Eloquently For Good, Hardheaded Imperial Justice. Knotty Legal Matters, Normally Obscure, Part Quickly (Rhetorically Speaking) To Utterances Verging on Wizardry eXemplified: Yappity-Zap!

All he wrote...

(Next up: An Actual X-Word!!)
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The X-Word

Postby Aldus Marius on Tue Aug 17, 2004 2:44 am

He'o...!

And Now...The X-Word!! [gasp!]

Aulus Bernardicus Cultivates Delightfully Exquisite Flowers. Gladiators, Haberdashers and Immigrants Jam his Kalendar with Large Monthly and Nundinal Orders. "Pray, Quickly Rush for Saturnalia--'Tis Urgent!!" "Very Well, but Xeriscape Your Zinneas!"



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Postby Gnaeus Dionysius Draco on Tue Aug 17, 2004 3:07 pm

What is to xeriscape??

Draco
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Postby Aulus Dionysius Mencius on Tue Aug 17, 2004 3:18 pm

Good question, Mi Draco.

I cannot find it in my dictionaries, either.

Fill us in, mi Mari!

Iubeo aliquem valere
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Hortus Marii

Postby Aldus Marius on Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:28 am

Salvete amici...

To xeriscape is to landscape in a way that is suitable for dry climates. One sees a lot of that out here in the American Southwest, where water conservation is a bear and one often sees days during the summer where rationing is in effect. People get tickets for washing their cars in the driveway, if there's any runoff; and lawn sprinklers, with mandatory rain sensors, can only be operated during certain hours of the day (generally the cooler ones). I believe I know what it must be like to live on Arrakis.

So what tends to show up in gardens here are a lot of rocks; plants that don't need much water; and peat moss and other bedding materials that retain moisture for a long time.

(Worth noting in my area is the invisible cultural and climatic boundary that separates the desert Southwest from the much more lush and rain-blessed Southeast. The weather seems to mostly identify with the former; the people, of course, with the latter. It is difficult to convince them to conserve.)

Another teaching moment from... >({|;-)
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Pet Parade

Postby Aldus Marius on Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:01 pm

I cast another pebble into the meditative piscina...

Animals Blessed with Cheerful Dispositions Escort First-Graders Home. If January's Kalends Leave Many Nettled, Obedient Pets Quiet Resentful Senators. Their Uncomplicated Virtue is Worth eXtra Yummies, Zookeeper!

(recall that in January newly-elected magistrates are inaugurated...including, quite likely, some you didn't vote for!) >({|8-p

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Here we go again!

Postby Aldus Marius on Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:47 am

Avete amici!

I kenna help ma sel'...even mere days before the move (and perhaps because I need to think about something besides Boxen and their contents), I have come up with an Alpha-bit.


After Bonking Consul Decius, Ennius Fled Government Headquarters. Inspector Justus Kept Large Mastiffs, whose Noses Often Produced Quick Results; he Steadfastly Tracked the Ungentlemanly Versifier, Who got eXiled that Year to Zimbabwe.

Mystery solved. >({|;-)

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Donkey Kong

Postby Aldus Marius on Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:04 am

Avete yet again, sodales...(are any of you planning to become conlusores, by any chance...?) >({(:-)

Atticus' Burro Can Dig, Excavating Friggin' Great Holes In Junius' Kinfolks' Lawn. Magister Nonnius Offered a Proposal: Quietly Rent Said Talent to Undertakers, Vinegrowers, and Wardens of eXtended Yard Zones!


Hey, if ya can't beat 'em--hire 'em... >({|;-)
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