The Shallot

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a shallot as:

1. a small bulb which resembles an onion and is used for pickling or as a substitute for onion.
2. the plant which produces shallots, each mature bulb producing a cluster of smaller bulbs.

A pathetic attempt at an onion.

I know because I looked it up. Because I had no idea what a shallot was. The OED also offered this helpful spelling (t)ip: “Spell shallot with a double l.” Anyway, I’ll make this short since the shallot holds no interest for me. Onions are plentiful, so I would never feel the need to find a substitute. To address the second and more admirable point that the Oxford English Dictionary brings up: while I have no need for shallots, I am quite fond of bulbs.

In conclusion, the shallot is redundant and unnecessary.

On either side the river lie

Long fields of barley and of rye,

My tum lets out a gentle sigh:

A tender inkling for a pie.

But, perhaps, on second thought

There is no time to make the dough

No need for pie, therefore forego

Devoid of food, but full of woe--

Alas! There's only the Shalott*

*Tennyson evidently did not receive the OED's memo.