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Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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Happy birthday to you...without a shirt
Ron Draney
721 Posts
(Offline)
1
2015/11/25 - 9:19pm

I know the invitation was to share "enhanced" versions of the "Happy Birthday" song as above, but I'm aware of other running jokes of adding lines to things and thought I'd run through a few:

The "...between the sheets" mentioned by Martha added to hymns is familiar to me as a tag for fortune cookies. Someone opens the cookie, reads "Through adversity comes prosperity" and someone else adds "between the sheets".

Don Albert's Dixieland band recorded a version of "The Sheik of Araby" where every line of the lyric is answered by the band "...with no pants on!"

And let's not forget the Simpsons' classic take on "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

deaconB
744 Posts
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2
2015/11/25 - 10:44pm

5-year-old:  Rudolph's nose is red, right?

Me: Yeppers

5: What color are the noses of the other reindeer?

Me: Sorta brown

5: I know why.

Me: How's that?

5: Rudolph flies in front.

Me:  And?

5:  Santa makes a lot of sudden stops on all those rooftops.

Me: (gobsmacked)

 

 

[1980s+; fr gob,''mouth,''and smacked, ''hit, struck,'' the theatrical gesture of clapping a hand over the mouth as a gesture of extreme surprise]

As used today, I think of someone "catching flies" because he has no response, rather than someone clapping a hand over his mouth.

 

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3
2015/11/26 - 11:09am

Ron Draney said: The “…between the sheets” mentioned by Martha added to hymns is familiar to me as a tag for fortune cookies. Someone opens the cookie, reads “Through adversity comes prosperity” and someone else adds “between the sheets”.

We did something like that back in the 60s with the titles of popular songs (usually rock). The results were equally amusing. Some examples: I want to Hold Your Hand, I Can't Get No Satisfaction, Foxey Lady, Light My Fire, Touch Me, etc.

Ron Draney
721 Posts
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4
2015/11/29 - 8:27pm

I guess another form of the same thing would be the fad a couple of years ago of answering "that's what she said" to every remark that could even remotely be considered suggestive.

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5
2015/11/30 - 1:56pm

Ron Draney quoted: "That's what she said"

I coulda' sworn that was a line used by Dick Martin on Laugh-In. Sounds really familiar, but I couldn't find it here.

deaconB
744 Posts
(Offline)
6
2015/11/30 - 9:43pm

Supposedly, Edmond G. Addeo in his 1973 EgoSpeak said:

The cheapest shot of all, of course, is the ancient one-liner, "That's what she said." This reply can be used after virtually any remark, however innocent, and the speaker can summon up some hint of double-entendre.

Rowan and Martin were on from 1967-1973, so it's possible that Addeo has different ideas as to "ancient" than I do.  The first I remember hearing it was about the time Wayne's World came out.

Some people assert that it morphed from "as the actress said to the bishop", but I have done even less research on this flavor of double-entendre.  I don't recall anything on Laugh-In that was very contemporary; the whole idea seems to have been "inside" jokes and  jokes with not just whiskers but fill beards, so that half the joke was the funny story, and half was the fact that we were laughing at ourselves for laughing at it.

If someone wants to dig, I'd be interested in reading what you find.

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