Go ahead, take a whack at it,
Tell a tale about someone wacky.
Like Harlequin, the zany clown
Who someone whacked till he fell
down?
Who fell down? The
wacky zany—
or the one whacking the wacky?
Both: the whacker
always fell after
he whacked the zany
to the ground.
Sounds like Mo, Larry and Curly:
The masters of the slapstick form.
Slapstick was a zany’s
double stick;
Its bark was
much worse than its bite.
No, slapstick is physical comedy:
Pie in the face, mishandled whacks.
All a bully’s
favorite tricks
Nothing wacky
about real bricks.
Copyright © 2013 S.L.Chast
"The word meaning very bad or of dubious quality is wack, with no h. Your spell check might disapprove ofwack, but the word has been in English at least a quarter of a century, and it has another sense—an eccentric or crazy person—that is even older, so spell check is wrong. In the newer sense, the word arose out of U.S. hip-hop culture, probably around 1980. More specific origins have not been definitively established. It could descend from the older adjective wacky, which means peculiar or odd.
"Whack‘s main definitions are (1)
to strike with a sharp blow, (2)
a sharp blow, (3)
the sound of a sharp blow, and (4)
to kill someone deliberately. It’s also in the
idioms take a whack at, meaning
to try;
out of whack, meaning
improperly balanced or
not functioning correctly; and
whack off, whose meaning you can find elsewhere.
Whac-a-mole is properly so spelled as that’s how the name of the game is spelled, though it’s often spelled
wack-a-mole or
whack-a-mole.
"Given the older definition of wack, this spelling might seem to make sense in wack-job, which refers to an eccentric or crazy person, but that term is usually spelled whack-job. Perhaps we are to infer that a whack-job is someone who has been whacked in the head, figuratively or otherwise."
Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteOkay, you had me laughing and I still have a smile on my face. I really liked your poem and it was a little wacky but in a fun and good way. And when I had looked up "wacky" and saw all the different meanings, I could not believe it. And wacky jobs were quite unexpected as was wacking the balls. So many ways to use this word and all the different meanings seems like it would be an easy one to use.
Oh and I cannot even imagine what it would have been like to have not grown up with The Three Stooges. They whacked each other so many times and we would just laugh and laugh with their wacky antics. I do not think that anyone has even been able to compare with them.
Thank so much for sharing this wacky poem and info with us for this weeks Theme Thursday, it was a lot of fun. I hope you are having a great weekend and with maybe only a few wacky things happening around you.
God bless.
there is nothing fun in a bully's brick for sure...sad what some kids have to go through...we are watching our way back through dr quinn...old tv is so much better...ha...and they had a couple slapstick clowns on there...its pretty funny until it crosses the lines into reality
ReplyDeleteof course this raises whole questions of our entertainment selections as well...
ReplyDeleteSo very true...there is nothing wacky about real bricks. And so true, when you think about it, slapstick is not very funny at all!!
ReplyDeleteQuite a whack Susan! Stimulating writing... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com
ReplyDeleteQuite a whack Susan - stimulating writing... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com
ReplyDeleteWhy do bullies always think they are clever? Food for thought tucked inside every line.
ReplyDeleteI recall these funny guys, but really I wonder what's so funny about getting hurt and falling on the ground ~ It hurts, yikes ~
ReplyDeleteI have often wondered in America's Funniest Videos, why the audience finds it so funny when people are falling and hurting themselves. This is a whimsical piece, Susan, but you bring it home with the strong message in the closing lines. So well done.
ReplyDeleteloved how you wove the comic and the serious together.
ReplyDeleteGreat message!!The last line is immaculate--and definitely,'there is nothing wacky about real bricks.' Nicely written, Susan.
ReplyDeleteLoved the wittiness of this Susan! So well done!!
ReplyDeleteWhoa. The last line hits hard as intended. Well done.
ReplyDeleteAll a bully’s favorite tricks
ReplyDeleteNothing wacky about real bricks...
...indeed. Moe, Larry & Curly...now those are three faces I haven't seen in a long time.
Good for laughs and entertaining. After a little while one gets bored. But for kids the 3 stooges are real fun. They see themselves in them! Nicely Susan!
ReplyDeleteHank