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Fun page: Tom Swifties

"Tom Swifties" are named after the famous science-fiction series for young readers. The author used a LOT of adverbs to explain the actions of our improbably successful hero. Purist collectors (like me) insist that only an adverb can follow the verb.

We'll start gently:

• "In fact sometimes I feel like a tree myself," said Tom woodenly.
• "I've had this flu now for seven days", said Tom weakly.
• "You don't have the pH high enough," said Tom acidly.
• "Our marriage must be dissolved", she said acidly.
• "I've eaten all the canned pineapple," said Tom dolefully.
• "Hamlet's overeaten again," Tom said disdainfully.
• "I've eaten all the hay," Tom said balefully.

• "There isn't any wind," said Tom disgustedly.
• "I'm going to send the code message again," said Tom remorsefully.
• "I've grown only one kind of herb in my garden," said Tom ruefully.
• "One of my flowers seems to be missing," said Tom lackadaisically.

OK, brace yourself for some serious ones:

• "I'm trying to get some air circulating under the roof," said Tom fanatically.
• "Bingo!" said Tom benignly.
• "Dere goes da drone," said Tom disbelievingly.
• "I have no respect for the writer of this letter," Tom said dismissively.
• "In fact I have some theories about relatives," said Tom generally.
• "It's an amphibious sheep," Tom said wolfishly.
• "It's Jack the Ripper," Tom said horrendously.
• "Kitty loves pastrami," said Tom delicately.
• "Macintosh is the best computer," said Tom applaudingly.
• "My arm!", said Captain Hook offhandedly.
• "My terminal broke," said Tom, disconsolately.
• "Ouch! When I get stung, I want revenge!" said Tom begrudgingly.
• "Rover is a shiftless pup," said Tom dogmatically.
• "That young insect is a male," said Tom buoyantly.
• "The lion has its head caught in the skylight," said Tom uproariously.

MORE FUN:
definitions ... Latin ... movies ... Murphy's Law
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thoughts about business life ... Grammar Hall of Shame