Whistling in the Dark

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, how are you?

Doing well. Who’s this?

My name’s Brent Bachman, and I, along with my freshman English class, are calling from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Oh, hi, Brent. Can we say hi to the class?

Hey, class!

How many people do you have in that class? 400?

It sounds like 400, but I think we’re at about 25.

Okay, good enough.

Much better.

Well, what are you in the class talking about that needs us?

Okay, so I used a phrase in class the other day. The phrase was called whistling in the dark. And I used it, we were actually reading a scene from To Kill a Mockingbird, and in that novel, Atticus Finch says something to the effect of, you know, simply because you’re beat 100 years before you begin doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try anyway. And I said, oh, it sounds like Atticus is whistling in the dark, which I think means hoping for the best when the outcome is not likely going to be in your favor.

But everybody in my class just kind of looked at me. They’d never heard that phrase. And then I started thinking that I had never really heard it. A friend of mine told it to me. We actually played in a band together. We recorded a song called Whistling in the Dark, and that’s how I had learned about it. But I’ve never met anyone else that knew that phrase, or if I’m even correct, if it means hoping for the best.

I’d say that’s close. It’s not that common. It kind of means putting on a brave face when things are literally dark. Like imagine you’re walking in a dark hallway. The lights aren’t working. You’re kind of scared because you don’t know if something’s going to leap out or an animal’s back there or you’re not sure what’s on the other end. And you just start whistling a jaunty tune to keep your spirits up. That is literally what it refers to. This idea that you’re in a dark place. Things are kind of hopeless. You’re not quite sure what the outcome is going to be, and you start whistling to buck yourself up.

Okay, so I didn’t have that quite right, but okay, that makes sense, yeah. What I think of is whistling past the graveyard.

Oh, that’s another one that’s very similar, right?

Yeah, well, it doesn’t bother me. But that’s kind of more about taunting death, right?

Well, yeah, I mean, it’s the same thing, you know, stiff upper lip, put on a brave face. Oh, I’m just walking past, you know, where people are buried.

Yeah, so whistling in the dark is known in English. It’s not that common. Dates back to about the 1930s. I don’t know that everyone should know it or feel ashamed for not knowing it, though. Did your students guess it? Could they infer what it meant?

Yeah, after we established that I was the only person in the room that thought I knew what it meant, we could infer kind of the meaning based on the original quote that I took from the text.

Okay, yeah. And the song that you all performed, it had the same meaning?

Yes, yeah.

Tell us more about the song. I’m curious.

You can look it up on Spotify.

Oh, yeah? What’s the name of the band?

The Knollwood Boys. K-N-O-L-L-W-O-O-D. Boys. The Knollwood Boys. Whistling in the dark.

All right. We’ll look for it, all right?

Okay. Brett, thank you so much for your call. Really appreciate it. And say, study hard to the class for us, will you?

Oh, will do. Thank you for taking my call. I appreciate it. Take care.

Okay. Thanks, Brett.

Bye-bye.

Bye, class.

All right. Thanks.

Bye.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Whistling in the dark. I’m just imagining like a…

Yeah, right. Kind of like your eyes are shifting from left to right as you try to stretch your peripheral vision to make sure nothing creeps up on you.

I’m not afraid.

No, really.

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