feed of what???

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:06 AM -0700 10/22/09, Michael McKernan wrote:
>Sounds to me like it could be a replacement for "feet over arse"
>
>-Michael McKernan
>Benson, Arizona

I concede the point; your guess is (even) more plausible than mine.

LH

>  >
>>  > 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"
>>
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>>
>
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