crambo-clink
An old Scottish term for bad, clunky poetry — the kind of rhyming verse that clangs along without elegance, forcing rhymes that don't quite work and landing on rhythms that trip over themselves.
Definitions
An old Scottish term for bad, clunky poetry — the kind of rhyming verse that clangs along without elegance, forcing rhymes that don't quite work and landing on rhythms that trip over themselves. 'Crambo' was a historical word game based on finding rhymes, and 'clink' suggests the metallic, mechanical sound of forced rhymes knocking together. It's a delightfully specific insult for verse that tries hard but fails. Poets and critics with a classical bent might still deploy it with affection.
He called his rival's ode nothing but crambo-clink, fit for a schoolroom notice board and nothing more.
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(Scotland, archaic) Bad poetry; doggerel.
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