Friday, May 9, 2008

Knick, knack patty...What??


My 2-year-old nephew, Miguel, just learned a new song, "This Old Man," and he sings it soooo well! It goes a little somethin' like this "Dis Ole Man, he play seven, he play knick, knack on my shoe widda knick, knack, paddy wack, nima noma noo, dis ole man came rowing home."

As I was changing his diaper, I thought to myself, "What the heck is a 'Knick, knack, patty wack?'" And "Does the old man die when he plays 7?" And "Why is he giving a dog a bone, when he's playing a knick, knack, patty wack?" AND lastly, "Why does he roll home?" But seriously, why can't he just walk like a normal person??

I looked up "Knick, Knack, Patty Wack" on Urbandictionary.com and I found an interesting answer: What Ludricrous still is even in late 2004 with the release of "Get Back"

"Cause its the knick knack paddy whack still riding cad-E-llacs, family off the street made my homies put the baggies back."

Now, I'm even more confused.

But when you really think about it, which I don't know if anybody really wants to think this hard about children songs, most of those songs are a little violent and odd.

Take for example, Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
What I'm getting from this twisted song, is that Jack and Jill were forced into child labor by their parents, and in doing so, Jack got a concussion and Jill could have possibly broken her coccyx.

Then there's Humpty Dumpty's story:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
First they make fun of the poor bloke, by calling him "Humpty Dumpty," which means a short, fat, clumsy man...real nice. And then the poor guy falls and breaks into pieces. ONCE again, showing how mean and violent these nursery rhymes really are!

FOR EXAMPLE:
"Jack be nimble" refers to the yellow fever.
"Georgie, Porgie" refers to sexual harrassment.
"Hey Diddle, Diddle" refers to adultery
"I'm a little teapot" refers to anger management issues
"Little Boy Blue" refers to depression
"I love little Pussy" - enough said

I could keep going, but I'm gonna stop while I'm ahead...

...Dang it, now I'm talking in rhymes!


2 comments:

Dave said...

So a loan officer is sitting in a bank when a frog hops in, dressed in a pin-striped vest. He hops up on her desk, looks at the name sign ("Patty Black, Loan Officer), and says "I'd like to take out a loan, please."

Surprised, she can only think to say "Um, do you have any collateral?"

The frog pulls out a miniature ceramic skunk and puts it on the desk. She says "What's that?"

The frog says "It's a ceramic skunk. It's my collateral."

She says "Um, just a moment, sir, let me get my supervisor."

She calls the supervisor over and explains the situation.

The supervisor looks at the frog, looks at the ceramic skunk, then turns to her and says:

"It's a knick knack, Patty Black, give the frog a loan."


I think paddy whack refers to Irishmen, like paddy wagon. What a racist song!

Dave said...

Ring Around the Rosie: refers to the Black Plague

Pop Goes the Weasel: Working class poor pawn their coats for drinking money

Hush Little Baby: spoiled child and an overindulgent father

Little Bo Peep: smuggling and bootlegging

Little Miss Muffet: arachnophobia

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary: Mary Queen of Scots aka Bloody Mary

Rub A Dub Dub: describing otherwise respectable tradesmen attending a peep show