I had a conversation with a colleague this afternoon. I asked Sue who's a 6-foot tall British lady, "Why are people your height called as daddy long legs?"
Sue candidly replied, "I've no idea actually. I would instead question why are spiders called daddy long legs in the first place."
I told Sue it is probably the same as someone exclaiming "oops a daisy!" when falling - no explanation.
We were giggling at "oops a daisy". Sue thought it was quite unusual for a foreigner to know about the phrase. She said it was for old people.
Sue immediately understood when I said, "Notting Hill." It was in the movie.
George, an elderly colleague, joined in and explained that it was the time when English people started with the "ring a ring of roses".
I drew a blank look. George asked if I've heard of that one before. I said no.
Sue exclaimed, "Oh I know that one!"
In unison they both recited, "Ring a ring of roses a pocketful of posies, atishoo atishoo, we all fall down!"
Even though none of them answered my earlier question, I asked them to repeat the rendition. I took out a piece of paper and wrote down the rhyme.
Forests in focus on International Day of Forests
4 weeks ago
4 comments:
I sang this rhyme as a child in Australia. It's actually well know to be quite a sinister rhyme about the Great Plague. Check out -- Wikipedia's explanation.
Well. I just read through the Wikipedia explanation for the plague interpretation and perhaps it isn't what I had believed...
I always sang "Ring a ring of roses" at kindergarten and we would do exactly what was in the picture. We would hold hands and sing the rhyme and then "all fall down".
Hi Alden, just read your interesting post. When you become a dad, all these will come naturally to you. "Oops a daisy" is a very friendly and easy phrase to use in a kids environment. Almost like Oh Dear.
Geraldine PM31
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