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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010Ring Out, O Nine!
Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow; Ring out the noughties, let them go, Most decadent of decades -- shoo! Ring in the good, ring out the bad. Ring in a teaser for the mind; For now we are obliged to find A name for this decenniad. Ring in the twenty-somethings now. Ring in the "tennies"? No, my son, The name should be a nobler one. Who said the "teeties"? Silly cow! Ring in the "tenties"? That I doubt. It conjures up those trouser tents; Victorians will take offence. Ring in the "dixies" is right out! Will people wonder what it means As I look back in ten years' time And tell, in poetry sublime, What I was doing in the "teens"? How will these ten years be described? What epithet will be au fait? Will they be roaring, swinging, gay? Shall we look back on them with pride? Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Of Ant and Dec, not Pete and Dud. Ring out all yesterdecade's men. Let's start this one by sending down D. Cameron and Mister Brown. Vote Liberal in twenty-ten! From an original idea by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Peter, Lord Duncanson. Note: The political views expressed by the Poet Laureate do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Her Majesty, the Queen.  SignatureJames Hogg >Vote Liberal in twenty-ten! I'll drink to that! [PS: Great poem] SignatureIan Ian Jackson set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time continuum: >>Vote Liberal in twenty-ten! >> > I'll drink to that! > > [PS: Great poem] Might consider UKIP but certainly not the British Irrational Party. Signatureξ:) Proud to be curly Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply <snip> > Ring out all yesterdecade's men. > Let's start this one by sending down > D. Cameron and Mister Brown. > Vote Liberal in twenty-ten! You bet! Vince for PM! When I was very young indeed the Liberal party slogan was "What's the time? Time we had the Liberals back!" and I was taught by my father to respond in this way whenever anyone asked the time, much to my mother's embarrassment. Even now, it flashes into my head whenever I'm asked the time, although I let my party membership lapse after breakfasting in a hotel in the 1980s in the vicinity of Paddy Ashdown whose behaviour was much like that of Malcolm Tucker. A canvasser for the Lib Dems knocked on the door on Xmas Eve and invited me to rejoin but I won't because of the Tonge woman. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) > <snip> >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > for the Lib Dems knocked on the door on Xmas Eve and invited me to > rejoin but I won't because of the Tonge woman. The political views expressed in the poem are not necessarily my own. Once I'd started my variations on the theme of ringing out the old, I was just tickled by the idea of a Poet Laureate like Tennyson blatantly preaching party politics. I also took the opportunity to improve his rhyme. He rhymed "blood" with "good", but he did not live long enough to enjoy Pete and Dud. SignatureJames > <snip> > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > on the door on Xmas Eve and invited me to rejoin but I won't because of > the Tonge woman. My Girl Back Home I almost forgot A blue-eyed kid I liked her a lot We got engaged Both families were glad And I was told by my uncle and dad That if I was clever and able They'd make me a part of the partnership: Cable, Cable -- and Cable. But Vince Price, I could vote for him, though he's hardly more healthy than G. Brown in the pallor department. Young LIbs did have an interesting social calendar, as I recall. But this is hardly vote-catching material in 2010. That Mr Asquith was the last Liberal to matter, because he was the last Liberal. -- franzi James Hogg filted: >Ring in the "tenties"? That I doubt. >It conjures up those trouser tents; >Victorians will take offence. >Ring in the "dixies" is right out! Harrumph....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? ... a thoroughly splendid ditty which included the following: >Ring out all yesterdecade's men. which reminds me: the pronunciation of "decade". I keep having my teeth set on edge by news-readers and other radioistas pronouncing it "decayed". I've always probnounced it "deck-aid" (and I'm not proposing to change). Your line above, therefore, cheers me up no end. SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ > ... a thoroughly splendid ditty which included the following: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > proposing to change). Your line above, therefore, cheers me up no > end. I pronounce it both ways with equanimity and lack of awareness. SignatureRob Bannister >> ... a thoroughly splendid ditty which included the following: >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > I pronounce it both ways with equanimity and lack of awareness. I resisted the temptation to rhyme/pun it with "decayed", choosing instead "most decadent of decades". For an even older pronunciation than "deck-aid", see Pope: "Can we engage, not decads, but an host?" SignatureJames "James Hogg" <Jas.Hogg@gOUTmail.com> wrote : >>> which reminds me: the pronunciation of "decade". I keep having my >>> teeth set on edge by news-readers and other radioistas pronouncing [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > For an even older pronunciation than "deck-aid", see Pope: > "Can we engage, not decads, but an host?" Statisticians and others still use "decad". For instance, climatologists divide the year into "pentads" and "decads" (consecutive five-day and ten-day periods, respectively, to try to damp down the noise in the system. Philip Eden > "James Hogg" <Jas.Hogg@gOUTmail.com> wrote : >>>> which reminds me: the pronunciation of "decade". I keep having [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > (consecutive five-day and ten-day periods, respectively, to try to > damp down the noise in the system. The OED has missed that, but it does give other useful information, such as that "decade" was introduced after the French Revolution as a ten-day period to replace the seven-day week. Do climatologists use "heptads"? SignatureJames James Hogg filted: >> Statisticians and others still use "decad". For instance, >> climatologists divide the year into "pentads" and "decads" [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >Do climatologists use "heptads"? Perhaps you mean "hebdomad"...(I see that Wiktionary additionally defines the word as "a group of seven superhuman beings")....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? > James Hogg filted: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Perhaps you mean "hebdomad"...(I see that Wiktionary additionally defines the > word as "a group of seven superhuman beings")....r And with their author they make an "ogdoad". SignatureJames >>> ... a thoroughly splendid ditty which included the following: >>> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >For an even older pronunciation than "deck-aid", see Pope: >"Can we engage, not decads, but an host?" I liked your line, James, "most decadent of decades", even though it better applies to the 1960s, IMO. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE >>>> ... a thoroughly splendid ditty which included the following: >>>> [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > I liked your line, James, "most decadent of decades", even though it > better applies to the 1960s, IMO. Yes, the sixties were quite noughty by comparison with everything that went before. SignatureJames >>>>> ... a thoroughly splendid ditty which included the following: >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >Yes, the sixties were quite noughty by comparison with everything that >went before. The naughty talk of the fifties was there, but it was hushed up by pillows, for those who remember Doris Day and Rock Hudson. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE > ... a thoroughly splendid ditty which included the following: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > proposing to change). Your line above, therefore, cheers me up no > end. The other day I drew people's attention to the "Dinner for One" sketch, virtually unknown in the country of its origin but shown on television on New Year's Eve in many other countries, including Sweden. Tennyson's New Year poem (I don't know if Peter had that one in mind when he mentioned Tennyson) is a curious parallel. If you look at the Wikipedia article for "Ring Out, Wild Bells", you will see that there is only one other language version of that entry: Swedish. That's because a translation of the poem is declaimed at Skansen, the open-air museum in Stockholm, at the stroke of midnight every New Year's Eve, a tradition dating back to 1895. It's been broadcast, first on radio and now on television, and it's a great distinction for the actor who is chosen to read it. So the poem is far better known in Sweden than in the English-speaking world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Out,_Wild_Bells SignatureJames >Tennyson's New >Year poem (I don't know if Peter had that one in mind when he mentioned >Tennyson) All I had in mind when I mentioned "Tennyson" was that its first syllable was the same as those of the various "ten-" suggestions for naming the ten years 2010 to 2019. I had no poetry in mind. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >> Tennyson's New >> Year poem (I don't know if Peter had that one in mind when he mentioned [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > syllable was the same as those of the various "ten-" suggestions for > naming the ten years 2010 to 2019. I had no poetry in mind. How appropriate, though, that Tennyson wrote the classic New Year poem. SignatureJames >>> Tennyson's New >>> Year poem (I don't know if Peter had that one in mind when he mentioned [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >How appropriate, though, that Tennyson wrote the classic New Year poem. Indeed. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > Ring out the old, ring in the new, > Ring, happy bells, across the snow; [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > -- > James Hogg "Ring in a teaser for the mind;..." on it's own is a positively winning angle. At least, until I looked up the actual meaning and found somewhere; "a. One that teases, as a device for teasing wool." which has a certain irony to it. I also found "Gnaw" is a synonym for tease, but The Gnawties" sounds too close to what has just past. Let's hope it'll be the Liberalties then shall we? (My spell checker has suggested Liberalities) > "Ring in a teaser for the mind;..." on it's own is a positively > winning angle. At least, until I looked up the actual meaning and [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Let's hope it'll be the Liberalties then shall we? (My spell checker > has suggested Liberalities) If there's a well-hung parliament, we'll get to see whether the Lib Dems dress to the right or the left. SignatureJames > > "Ring in a teaser for the mind;..." on it's own is a positively > > winning angle. At least, until I looked up the actual meaning and [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > -- > James Eh, I'm lost with that one. >> If there's a well-hung parliament, we'll get to see whether the Lib Dems >> dress to the right or the left. > > Eh, I'm lost with that one. Consult your tailor. SignatureJames >> "Ring in a teaser for the mind;..." on it's own is a positively >> winning angle. At least, until I looked up the actual meaning and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >If there's a well-hung parliament, we'll get to see whether the Lib Dems >dress to the right or the left. Oh dear, you've got this taped, haven't you? SignatureKaty Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ > "Ring in a teaser for the mind;..." on it's own is a positively > winning angle. At least, until I looked up the actual meaning and > found somewhere; > "a. One that teases, as a device for teasing wool." which has a > certain irony to it. A brain-teaser is a puzzle. --Jeff SignatureThe comfort of the wealthy has always depended upon an abundant supply of the poor. --Voltaire > > "Ring in a teaser for the mind;..." on it's own is a positively > > winning angle. At least, until I looked up the actual meaning and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > A brain-teaser is a puzzle. I would say that a puzzle is a form of brain-teaser, as would a riddle, intellectual challenge and even, to some extent, a tongue- twister; aquachimp filted: >> > "Ring in a teaser for the mind;..." on it's own is a positively >> > winning angle. At least, until I looked up the actual meaning and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >riddle, intellectual challenge and even, to some extent, a tongue- >twister; A "tongue-teaser", by contrast, would be a calque for "amuse-bouche"....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? > aquachimp filted: > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > A "tongue-teaser", by contrast, would be a calque for "amuse-bouche"....r I used to think amuse-gueule was just for the ladies, until I discovered Smirnoff. -- franzi |
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