Euphemisms and their overuse

Tchaikovsky and other Russians

My second cousin Kora always spoke well of Danny Kaye when she met him in conjunction with her UNICEFF work. I remember listening to a record of his songs at home. And of course watching him on tv. Wow I must be old!
Anyway just in case you want to practice singing this. According to the Word Spy, 54 Russian composers are mentioned in the space of 38 seconds! Impressive!

Onomatopoeia

Trolley Song lyrics

With my high starched collar and my high top shoes
And my hair piled high upon my head,
I went to lose a jolly hour on the trolley,
And lost my heart instead.
With his light brown derby and his bright green tie,
He was quite the handsomest of men.
I started to yen, so I counted to ten,
Then I counted to ten again.
Clang, clang, clang went the trolley,
Ding, ding, ding went the bell.
Zing, zing, zing went my heart strings,
From the moment I saw him I fell.
Chug, chug, chug went the motor,
Bump, bump bump went the brake,
Thump, thump, thump went my heart strings,
When he smiled, I could feel the car shake.
He tipped his hat and took a seat.
He said he hoped he hadn't stepped upon my feet.
He asked my name; I held my breath;
I couldn't speak because he scared me half to death.
Buzz, buzz, buzz went the buzzer,
Plop, plop, plop went the wheels,

Stop, stop, stop went my heart strings.
As he started to go, then I started to know
How it feels when the universe reels.
The day was bright, the air was sweet.
The smell of honeysuckle charmed you off your feet.
You tried to sing, but couldn't squeak.
In fact you loved him so you couldn't even speak.
Buzz, buzz, buzz went the buzzer,
Plop, plop, plop went the wheels.
Stop, stop, stop went my heart strings.
As he started to leave I took hold of his sleeve
With my hand, and as if it were planned,
He stayed on with me,
And it was grand just to stand
With his hand holding mine
To the end of the line.

Pig Latin

"Fun fact about this scene; in Ginger Roger's autobiography she talks about how she had been rehearsing this song for a very long time and started singing it in pig latin because she was so bored. Well Darryl Zanuck, Warner's production chief came in and Ginger thought that she was going to be fired for fooling around in rehearsal, but he had her sing it in pig latin again and decided to put it in the number. So Ginger Rogers is to thank for the pig latin part of the song."

Palindromes

We are enjoying our readings from "The Word Spy" by Ursula Dubosarsky. After today's reading we found a u-tube video of this song.Here are the lyrics:
, man, am regal a German am I
Never odd or even
If I had a hi-fi
Madam, I'm Adam
Too hot to hoot
No lemons, no melon
Too bad I hid a boot
Lisa Bonet ate no basil
Warsaw was raw
Was it a car or a cat I saw?

Rise to vote, sir
Do geese see God?
"Do nine men interpret?" "Nine men," I nod
Rats live on no evil star
Won't lovers revolt now?
Race fast, safe car
Pa's a sap
Ma is as selfless as I am
May a moody baby doom a yam?

Ah Satan sees Natasha
No devil lived on
Lonely Tylenol
Not a banana baton
No "x" in "Nixon"
O, stone, be not so
O Geronimo, no minor ego
"Naomi", I moan
"A Toyota's a Toyota"
A dog, a panic in a pagoda

Oh, no! Don Ho!


Nurse, I spy gypsies -- run!
Senile felines
Now I see bees I won
UFO tofu
We panic in a pew
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo
God! A red nugget! A fat egg under a dog!
Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog

Quite the quote!

“The mission statement defines where we wish to be in terms of the objective which I referred to before, against which particular timeframe and thirdly whether all the assets, civilian or military, are in order to achieve that and then against that benchmark, when you should therefore consider withdrawing Australian forces or drawing them down.” (The Advertiser, Saturday April 26 2008, 18)

No prizes for guessing the "author" of this one...and of course you understand every word,right?!

Have you anything to say?

This animated clip of a poem is absolutely brilliant (and funny and, sadly, true)

So who do you think this is?

Two individuals proceeded towards the apex of a natural geologic protuberance, the purpose of their expedition being the procurement of a sample of fluid hydride of oxygen, the exact size of which was unspecified. One member of the team precipitously descended, sustaining severe damage to the upper cranial portion of his anatomical structure; subsequently, the second member of the team performed a self-rotational translation orientated in the same direction by the first team member. (Source unknown)