Juxtaposition

SIGNS, SIGNS
http://signs2.blogspot.com.au


JUXTAPOSITION

This sign was part of my childhood and it always raised a smile.
I was a child of Kent, before the war.
And still it's causing mirth today as hurrying passers-by
See a sign they've never seen before.
A 'ham' in Anglo-Saxon times was a 'meadow by a stream'
While a 'wych' was just an area or place.
A 'sandwych' meant a place of sand, nothing more than that;
So the meanings of the words aren't hard to trace.
So the sign you see in this picture merely says for all to see;
'This way to the river, then the beach'
And that's still as true today as it was many years ago;
Just the spelling's changed and little ways of speech.
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But how did a 'sandwich' get to be  the snack we know today?
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Well John Montague, Earl of Sandwich, was to blame.
While at the gaming tables he couldn't stop to eat,
And he invented the snack which bears his name.
'Bring me a good rich slice of beef between two hunks of bread!'
He cried 'I'm winning and I cannot stop to eat!'
His friends thought this a great idea and shouted for the same
And thus was born the 'bread and filling' treat.
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A road-sign which is comical and some history to boot!
(You get a lot for your money at this site!)
And some childhood nostalgia for the writer of this blog.
Maybe I will dream of Kent tonight!
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QUICK, QUICK, SLOW

Quick, quick, slow. A little phrase

From many years ago,

When we learned to dance the quickstep

With its mantra 'Quick, quick, slow.'

I recalled it at the swimming pool

When this scene came into view,

On a heavenly day when the whole world

 Seemed either gold or blue.

'Quick! Quick!' went the swimmers sliding

Through the water very fast

And 'Slow!' went the plodding walker

Heedlessly going past.

I snapped them in an instant,

Happy to have the chance,

On a day when life was blissful

With everyone in the dance.

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