Different dialects, same error

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated  Wed, 8 Sep 2004 23:36:10 -0400,  Laurence Horn
<laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> quotes:

>  Who's peekin' out from under a stairway
>  Calling a name that's lighter than air
>  Who's bending down to give me a rainbow
>  Everyone knows it's Windy
>
>  Who's tripping down the streets of the city
>  Smilin' at everybody she sees
>  Who's reachin' out to capture a moment
>  Everyone knows it's Windy
>
>  And Windy has stormy eyes
>  That flash at the sound of lies
>  And Windy has wings to fly
>  Above the clouds (above the clouds)
>  Above the clouds (above the clouds)

Why do you assume that "Windy" is a person?  Granted I did so at first (I
don't recall if I heard the name as "Windy" or "Wendy") but once I had a chance
many years ago to see the lyrics written down, I came to the conclusion that
Windy was an anthromorphized weather phenomenon.  The imagery is less than
clear, but note "lighter than air", "give me a rainbow", "stormy eyes", "to fly",
"above the clouds"--all of which can be weather metaphors.  This makes a little
more sense than having a human girl who lives "under the stairway" and has
"wings to fly", and makes the name "Windy" (which in my experience is an
uncomplimentary nickname given only to boys) relevant.

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Two quickie comments on other threads:

If I remember correctly, the saying "it's raining pitchforks and [assorted
paraphenalia]|" is discussed in Mencken _The American Language_.

Back in the late 1960's, a caffeineholic friend of mine said "dead soldiers"
to refer to used teabags rather than empty beer cans.

           - James A. Landau