Education

The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form

Here at Commonplace Fun Facts, we love words. We also love limericks. When we stumbled across The OEDILF, we thought someone had been taking a peek at our Christmas gift wish list.

The OEDILF is The Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form. According to the website, the goal of The OEDILF is to produce a comprehensive dictionary of the English language with the definition of each word being in limerick form.

Consider, for example, the thing that inspired the creation of Commonplace Fun Facts. As we explain here, it was a reference to Sherlock Holmes’ “commonplace book” that sent us scrambling for a dictionary to discover what such a thing could be. If The OEDILF had been available at that time, we would have found this entry, submitted by OEDILF contributor SheilaB:

It is a massive project with volunteers throughout the world. Thus far, 119,816 limericks have been submitted. Of these, 117,540 have been approved. Despite this impressive start, the editors still have quite a few words to cover. The projected completion date is November 3, 2063.

The OEDILF is looking for contributors who can help move the completion to an earlier date. Whether you have limerick writing skills or simply want to be entertained by the brilliant poetic pieces, be sure to visit The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form.


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