Knife & Fork, Like My Peaches & Shake My Tree (1944) and more

[Jonathan Lighter]

"See a PENNY, pick it up,
All the day you'll have good luck."

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: Knife & Fork, Like My Peaches & Shake My Tree (1944) and more
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On Feb 15, 2005, at 1:24 AM, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject: Knife & Fork, Like My Peaches & Shake My Tree (1944) and
> more
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
> Pg. 790:
> See a pin and pick it up,
> _All that day you will have luck_;
> See a pin and let it lay,
> You'll have bad luck all that day.

All the day you'll have good luck

>
>
> Pg. 795:
> Betty, Betty, stumped her toe
> On the way to Mexico;
> On the way back she broke her back
> Sliding on the railroad track.

"... _stumped_ her toe" and not "... _stubbed_ her toe"?

Is this of BE or other Southern origin?

>
> Pg. 799:
> If you don't like my apples,
> Then don't shake my tree;
> I'm not your boy friend,
> He's after me.

These versions with "apples" instead of "peaches" are really strange.
And, in this particular case, the latter two lines make no sense when
combined with the first two.

Or, maybe, it's simply beyond my experience.

-Wilson Gray


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