feed of what???

[Jonathan Lighter]

Needless to say, nothing like it is in Partridge. I suppose it could be an
eggcorn, but of what?

JL

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 11:35 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: feed of what???
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 11:22 AM -0400 10/22/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >There is a ribald song about Aladdin sung widely in the Royal Navy for the
> >past sixty-odd years that employs the following refreain:
> >
> >
> >Fa la la la, fa la la lee,
> >
> >Sixteen annas, one rupee,
> >
> >Feed of arse up a sycamore tree,
> >
> >Poor bugger Janner!
> >
> >
> >
> >Remarkable, wot?  "Janner" is a West Countryman, a name often used in
> >reference to Plymouth dockyard workers. But nobody seems to know what
> "feed
> >of arse" means.
> >
> >
> >  Or do they>
> >
> There was a posting about this song, and verse, on the Straight Dope
> message board, but without relevant clarification:
> http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=189398
>
> and 11 actual (which apparently counts as "about 3,800") hits on
> google for "feed of arse" without the sycamore restriction, but I'm
> not sure any resolve the query.
>
> LH
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
Platypus"

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org