UBC graffiti (1969)

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Fri, Oct 14, 2005 at 02:13:50PM -0400, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 09:40:35 -0700, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> >I recognize the following, though I can't always say just when I heard
> >or saw them.
> [...]
> >"Ice cream has no bones." [I think was a charades challenge in an "I
> >Love Lucy" episode.]
>
> I can't find any evidence that "ice cream has no bones" was ever used in
> "I Love Lucy"... but doesn't this old non-sequitur trace its roots back to
> the song "I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones" by the Hoosier Hot
> Shots (1936)?

Presumably this trope is alluding to the classic riddle song "I gave my
love a cherry that had no stone/I gave my love a chicken that had
no bone"? (Probably best known now from _Animal House,_ where
folk singer Steven Bishop is playing it, before John Belushi grabs
his guitar and smashes it.) I'm pretty sure this is in the Child
Ballads (Jon?) and almost certainly centuries older.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED