OEDILF, The, n.
May 7, 2024 7:30 AM Subscribe
OEDILF, The, n.
The Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form, or OEDILF (oh-DILF), is a magnificent, ambitious, and slightly insane attempt to write a limerick for every word in the English language, one letter group at a time. Twenty years after it was first posted to Mefi, it's still going strong—which means that it's now celebrating its twentieth birthday.
In that twenty years, the OEDILF has racked up over 122,000 approved limerick definitions and made its way from A to Ho-, with a "current estimated date of completion" of 3 November 2063 (yes, that degree of precision is tongue-in-cheek—but hey, it's still going strong, so who knows?). 1174 members have contributed one or more limericks to the project, 162 over 100, and 27 over 1000. Two writers have contributed over 10,000 limericks each, including the site's originator and Editor-in-Chief Chris J. Strolin.
The OEDILF's workshopping and approval process ensures that its verses are as accurate and entertaining as possible, as well as conforming to limerick rhyme, rhythm and metre in a way that meets the needs of our international audience and writers. Contributions originally had to be G-rated, but before long a "curtained room" allowed writers to cover more adult terms and themes without frightening the horses—if that's your jam, you can switch off the filtering from the front page and search for four-letter words to your heart's content.
If you're coming to it as a reader, try browsing the dictionary by topic or check out the recently approved limericks on the front page of the site. And if you fancy your limerick-writing skills and enjoy words and their meanings, why not join us?
(I joined on the same day that I heard about it here at Mefi, and have been heavily involved since, give or take a few lean years at points—it's one of my longest-term online haunts, second only to here. As one of those 27 people who has written thousand(s) of verses there, I'd be happy to answer any questions about how it works.)
The Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form, or OEDILF (oh-DILF), is a magnificent, ambitious, and slightly insane attempt to write a limerick for every word in the English language, one letter group at a time. Twenty years after it was first posted to Mefi, it's still going strong—which means that it's now celebrating its twentieth birthday.
In that twenty years, the OEDILF has racked up over 122,000 approved limerick definitions and made its way from A to Ho-, with a "current estimated date of completion" of 3 November 2063 (yes, that degree of precision is tongue-in-cheek—but hey, it's still going strong, so who knows?). 1174 members have contributed one or more limericks to the project, 162 over 100, and 27 over 1000. Two writers have contributed over 10,000 limericks each, including the site's originator and Editor-in-Chief Chris J. Strolin.
The OEDILF's workshopping and approval process ensures that its verses are as accurate and entertaining as possible, as well as conforming to limerick rhyme, rhythm and metre in a way that meets the needs of our international audience and writers. Contributions originally had to be G-rated, but before long a "curtained room" allowed writers to cover more adult terms and themes without frightening the horses—if that's your jam, you can switch off the filtering from the front page and search for four-letter words to your heart's content.
If you're coming to it as a reader, try browsing the dictionary by topic or check out the recently approved limericks on the front page of the site. And if you fancy your limerick-writing skills and enjoy words and their meanings, why not join us?
(I joined on the same day that I heard about it here at Mefi, and have been heavily involved since, give or take a few lean years at points—it's one of my longest-term online haunts, second only to here. As one of those 27 people who has written thousand(s) of verses there, I'd be happy to answer any questions about how it works.)
Role: Associate Editor
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This is better than that, though.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:44 PM on May 14