~ a pink trip slip for a three-cent
fare ~
The above is an early documentation of the phenomenon of
the earworm, one that drove Twain crazy. The phrase itself has been rendered innocuous
by extraction from its original maddeningly sing-song context -- like a vaccine
of capsid protein minus the viral RNA.
Indeed, we can characterize this little wordstring as being deadly as a
ditty, but harmless as a monostich.
The connoisseur
will note the rhythmic and assonantial similarity to the classic
definition of the made-up word blivvit:
~ six
pounds of sh*t in a
five-pound bag ~
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