Phrasing For Fun

Hello!  I taught Gregg Shorthand for years (20+) in a secretarial science program at a two-year college.  I still use shorthand ALL the time.  My favorite lesson was teaching phrasing with this poem … how many phrases can you make?
I’d rather be a could be, if I could not be an are
For a could be is a may be, with a chance of touching par.
I’d rather be a has been than a might have been by far,
For a might have been has never been, but a has was once an are.

(by bab988 for everyone)


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  1. Don't even get me started on that! The once a year I might say "in due course", n-d-u-k-r-s isn't going to flow out of my pen, as obvious as it may seem in retrospect. Some phrasing principles are still highly useful though 🙂 I love the attachment of "than" to the adjective, for example!

    I guess for the weird phrases, it's just due to how much English has changed. I definitely notice it in some of the really odd-sounding phrases found in the Anni manual, like "under the date of", or the mysterious absence of any "-one" words (someone/everyone), even in the Simplified manual.

    Let's compare notes. I put an asterisk where you could do some "x-treme" phrasing, maybe. It's a shame "by far" looks like "before-a" if you try to blend it.

    I'd-rather-be(1) a could-be(2), if I-could-not-be(3) an are
    For a could-be(4) is a may-be(5), with a chance-touching(*) par,
    I'd-rather-be(6) a has-been(7)-than(*) a might-have-been(8) by far,
    For a might-have-been(9) has-never-been(10), but a has was once an are.

  2. Good.  I was worried I missed some… I have an Anniversary Phrase book and there are phrases I would never even think of….

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