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Lothar Frings
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 3:56 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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| Quote: | Lothar Frings wrote:
Now, the third one of the two questions:
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And here's #4:
(4) From Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol:
"Kill the turkeys, ducks, and chickens"
Of course I'm aware that in the song,
it has to rhyme with "Dickens" and "sickens",
but isn't the plural of "chicken" "chicken"?
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:29 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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Lothar Frings <da_lodda@gmx.de> spake thusly:
| Quote: | Lothar Frings wrote:
Now, the third one of the two questions:
And here's #4:
(4) From Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol:
"Kill the turkeys, ducks, and chickens"
Of course I'm aware that in the song,
it has to rhyme with "Dickens" and "sickens",
but isn't the plural of "chicken" "chicken"?
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Not for the live birds. I suspect that you are thinking of the non-
count noun used for the meat of the chicken bird, for which there is
no plural. When it comes to the birds in the field, they are one
chicken, many chickens, just like the ducks and turkeys.
It's *just* possible that there is a farming use where "chicken"
could be used as the plural when referring to a whole flock, but it
would be very specialised.
--
David
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Salvatore Volatile
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:50 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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Blue Hornet wrote:
| Quote: | "lobsters" ("lobstahs" in New England)
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"Lwobstahs" in Eastern Massachusetts, more precisely.
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Lothar Frings
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:34 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | Lothar Frings <da_lodda@gmx.de> spake thusly:
Lothar Frings wrote:
Now, the third one of the two questions:
And here's #4:
(4) From Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol:
"Kill the turkeys, ducks, and chickens"
Of course I'm aware that in the song,
it has to rhyme with "Dickens" and "sickens",
but isn't the plural of "chicken" "chicken"?
Not for the live birds. I suspect that you are thinking of the non-
count noun used for the meat of the chicken bird, for which there is
no plural. When it comes to the birds in the field, they are one
chicken, many chickens, just like the ducks and turkeys.
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To my shame I have to admit that I indeed thought of
"1 chicken - 2 chicken", dict.leo.org was down, and so
the disaster began. |
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the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:22 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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Lothar Frings <da_lodda@gmx.de> spake thusly:
| Quote: | the Omrud wrote:
Lothar Frings <da_lodda@gmx.de> spake thusly:
Lothar Frings wrote:
Now, the third one of the two questions:
And here's #4:
(4) From Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol:
"Kill the turkeys, ducks, and chickens"
Of course I'm aware that in the song,
it has to rhyme with "Dickens" and "sickens",
but isn't the plural of "chicken" "chicken"?
Not for the live birds. I suspect that you are thinking of the non-
count noun used for the meat of the chicken bird, for which there is
no plural. When it comes to the birds in the field, they are one
chicken, many chickens, just like the ducks and turkeys.
To my shame I have to admit that I indeed thought of
"1 chicken - 2 chicken", dict.leo.org was down, and so
the disaster began.
|
Be not ashamed. Many creatures have plurals which look like the
singular: deer, sheep, fish (sometimes).
--
David
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Lothar Frings
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:39 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | Be not ashamed. Many creatures have plurals which look like the
singular: deer, sheep, fish (sometimes).
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The fish must be really lucky when they're called
"fishes" because the song goes "joy to the fishes in the
deep blue sea". |
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Blue Hornet
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:09 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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Lothar Frings wrote:
| Quote: | the Omrud wrote:
Be not ashamed. Many creatures have plurals which look like the
singular: deer, sheep, fish (sometimes).
The fish must be really lucky when they're called
"fishes" because the song goes "joy to the fishes in the
deep blue sea".
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If the writer couldn't have used "fishes", he could have used
"lobsters" ("lobstahs" in New England), which are generally deeper,
anyway, since they live on the bottom. |
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R H Draney
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:10 pm
Post subject: Re: Two questions from song lyrics |
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Lothar Frings filted:
| Quote: |
the Omrud wrote:
Be not ashamed. Many creatures have plurals which look like the
singular: deer, sheep, fish (sometimes).
The fish must be really lucky when they're called
"fishes" because the song goes "joy to the fishes in the
deep blue sea".
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And then there's:
"I wish, I wish,
I wish I were a fish.
'cause fishes have a better life than people."
.....r |
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