[Ads-l] bawdy = 'rowdily humorous; slapstick'

[Barretts Mail]

FWIW, the Wikipedia article is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anacreontic_Song <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anacreontic_Song>. While frequently not followed, original research is prohibited on Wikipedia as it is a tertiary-sourced encyclopedia. 

The comment about the song being bawdy is not sourced, so that is original research, but I think "To Anacreon in Heav’n” is clearly bawdy even if judged by today’s standards. 

###
"And, besides I'll instruct you, like me, to intwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine.”
###

The LA Times says that the song is a paean to drinking and sex (https://tinyurl.com/y4nv6xbp <https://tinyurl.com/y4nv6xbp>).

Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
Formerly of Seattle, WA

On 21 Jan 2021, at 04:54, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Wikipedia considers the turgid English song, "To Anacreon in Heav'n"
> (ca.1770), to be "bawdy":
> 
> "The song, through its bawdy lyrics, gained popularity in London and
> elsewhere beyond the Anacreontic Society."
> 
> The lyrics irreverently and humorously imagine the enthusiasm of the gods
> to desert Olympus and join the harmonious singers of the Anacreontic
> Society, against the wishes of Zeus.
> 
> (N.b., a Brit at Quora.com assured followers that the U.S. national anthem
> was based on a "pornographic song," but nothing could be less pornographic
> than a bunch of drunks trying to sing these lyrics to the same melody as
> the "Star-Spangled Banner.")
> 
> JL


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