"ho ho ho" should be in the dictionary [was Re: Ho ho ho!]

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jan 30, 2005, at 8:50 AM, Fred Shapiro wrote:

> On Sun, 30 Jan 2005, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
>>> poetical, or similar use, as in "the tintinnabulation of the bells,
>>> bells,
>>> bells" (Edith Sitwell?),
>>
>> I thought it was Poe, "The Bells".
>
> You are clearly both wrong.  All quotations are derived from Irish
> sources, as I demonstrate in my forthcoming quotation dictionary.
> Neither
> Sitwell nor Poe was Irish.

What makes you so sure?  I haven't thought through Sitwell yet -- I
suggest a long hard look at the Sit- element -- but Poe is obviously
Pogue, from an Irish word meaning 'kiss'.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu), noting that Poe's "The Bells" is
pretty much the only occasion for most people to utter, or hear, the
wonderful word "tintinnabulation"