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Absurd Ditties
Absurd Ditties

Chapter II

Cover illustration for Absurd Ditties
Context Illustration Reading 1/84 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.
_He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.
So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.
But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.
It _was_ a blow.
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LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Absurd Ditties

Chapter II

Reading 1/84 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.
Line 2
_He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.
Line 3
So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.
Line 4
But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.
Line 5
It _was_ a blow.

Learner Dictionary

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, audio, and collocations from this reading.

Half noun US /half/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “_He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.”

Looked noun US /looked/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “_He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.”

Mysterious adjective US /mɪˈstɪriəs/

difficult to explain or understand

From this reading “But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.”

Name noun US /name/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.”

Seemed noun US /seemed/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.”

Speak noun US /speak/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading “_He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.”

Whose determiner US /huːz/

belonging to which person

From this reading “So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.”

All words in this reading · 54

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

adeterminerUS /ə/

used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

afraid

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

AndconjunctionUS /ənd/

used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

assistants

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

atprepositionUS /æt/

in or near a particular place or position

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

beauxiliary verbUS /biː/

used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

blow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading It _was_ a blow.

boy

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

Brown

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

Brown's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

ButconjunctionUS /bʌt/

used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

conversation

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

custom

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

didauxiliary verbUS /dɪd/

the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

didn't

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

fear

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

flow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

ForprepositionUS /fɔːr/

intended to be given to, or used by, somebody

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

halfnounUS /half/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

happened

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

He'd

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

hisdeterminerUS /hɪz/

belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

InprepositionUS /ɪn/

inside something, or within a place, period, or state

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

ItpronounUS /ɪt/

a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned

From this reading It _was_ a blow.

Knopp

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

Knopp's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

lookednounUS /looked/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

man

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

meek

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

mysteriousadjectiveUS /mɪˈstɪriəs/

difficult to explain or understand

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

namenounUS /name/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

neighbour

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

nodeterminerUS /noʊ/

not any; not one

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

ofprepositionUS /ʌv/

belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

rival

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

seemednounUS /seemed/

an important story-specific word used in this passage

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

shop

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

SoconjunctionUS /soʊ/

for that reason; with the result that

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

some

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

somehow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

sort

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

speak

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

swept

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

thedeterminerUS /ðə/

used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

theirdeterminerUS /ðer/

belonging to the people or things already mentioned

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

theypronounUS /ðeɪ/

the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

tittered

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

toparticleUS /tuː/

used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive

From this reading _He'd_ no flow of conversation, And looked half afraid to speak.

unaccountably

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

very

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But they didn't fear their neighbour, For the man seemed very meek.

wasauxiliary verbUS /wɑːz/

the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun

From this reading It _was_ a blow.

way

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading But somehow unaccountably Brown's custom seemed to flow In some mysterious sort of way To Knopp's.

whopronounUS /huː/

which person or people

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.

WhosedeterminerUS /huːz/

belonging to which person

From this reading So Brown tittered at his rival (Whose name happened to be Knopp); And—a—so did his assistants, And—the boy who swept the shop.