Subj : More Word Play
To   : Paul Quinn
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Wed Dec 27 2017 17:12:17

Hi, Paul!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 AH>  #11 has to do with a kid who, according to a primary
 AH>  teacher I once worked with, is by her rule of thumb
 AH>  ready to begin learning to read.

 PQ>  :)  Sore gums & insufficient skills with forming words
 PQ>  without tongue pressure on pearly whites makes them
 PQ>  quietly studious.


          Interesting thought.  The kid in the song was anxiously awaiting his 
new chompers because then... as he said with a lisp... "I could wish you Merry 
Christmas." AFAIK he didn't complain about having to read aloud in class.  :-)



 AH>  Dallas says I should have mentioned that these are
 AH>  all Christmas carols or popular songs associated with
 AH>  the season... information which would have made the
 AH>  task easier.

 PQ>  He's incorrect.  I saw it from my second eyeball browse.


          I assumed many native speakers probably would, so I cut out a lot of 
the rather wordy preamble in the version I was working from... then I began to 
wonder if I'd pruned it too severely.  WRT this example you clearly understand 
what the song is about, but it may never have been widely known beyond Z1.



 AH>  #12 has to do with a herd animal domesticated in northern
 AH>  Eurasia & used for pulling sleds, according to my OXFORD
 AH>  CANADIAN DICTIONARY.

 PQ>  I used to think it was sled dogs.  I was recently corrected
 PQ>  by a bloke from the Aland Islands that it's more likely as
 PQ>  you intend.


          Yes, in Scandinavia & parts of Russia the mode of transportation I'm 
thinking of involves a species of rangifer.  There are very similar animals in 
Alaska & northern Canada... AKA "caribou"... but I reckon they are a different 
subspecies &/or nobody thought of trying to domesticate them years ago.

          In North America sled dogs haul things over the frozen tundra, which 
BTW appears to be much like the taiga north of the Russian steppes.  :-)



 PQ>  My wrist got slapped.


          Maybe he feels invisible... just as Canadians often do... because he 
finds himself swamped by USAian culture.  OTOH I'm far more motivated to learn 
about SomePlace Else when I know somebody who actually lives there.  :-)



 AH>  Maybe you can fill us in on the "Six White Boomers" I
 AH>  remember from my youth.  I can see how readers from
 AH>  various countries might have fun with the song, anyway.

 PQ>  This is not easy for me.  I'm mentally stuck on a bawdy
 PQ>  ballad I learned from my dad who was a WWII vet having
 PQ>  fought in New Guinea, with close ties with USA troops.
 PQ>  I can't get past the (later) lyrics in the "She'll Be
 PQ>  Coming Round the Mountain" song. Oops.  ;-)


          Ah.  I was thinking of how many North American traditions, including 
the name "Santa Claus" & the names of a pair of reindeer, seem to have come to 
us from... using the term loosely... northern Europe.  Our friends from Russia 
&/or Scandinavia may be able to tell us more about reindeer.  Our friends from 
the UK may be able to tell us more about the romanticized "Dickens Villages" I 
see around these parts.  And while I have some theories about the etymology of 
the names I'd like to chat with somebody who speaks Dutch &/or German....  :-)

          I know very little about what goes on nowadays in parts of the world 
close to or south of the Equator.  I do remember reading as a child about some 
folks in Australia who went swimming on Christmas Day, and I also remember the 
version of "Six White Boomers" recorded by children's entertainer Rolf Harris. 
Although my father was a WWII vet he didn't share any bawdy ballads with me... 
but I understand how early experiences can take precedence in one's mind.  And 
perhaps we make more fuss about Christmas where it's cold & dark outside.  :-Q




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

.