suggestive names

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Mon Jun 12 02:43:47 UTC 2006


I'm glad to see that someone has ben kind enough to supply the
solutions to the riddles. They're both new to me. The only one such
similar riddle that I know I learned in the _first grade_:

Q. What's the difference between an army and a baby?
A. An army goes from city to city. A baby goes from titty to titty.

-Wilson





On 6/11/06, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: suggestive names
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >How many of these can there be ?  I was told in 1973 or ' 74 that
> >the pygmies are cunning runts and the nun has a soul full of hope.
> >Do the two riddles usually travel in tandem ?
> >
> >   JL
>
> Another in the category of misogynistic spoonerism riddles involved
> the Suez Canal's status as a busy ditch...
>
> LH
>
> >
> >Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU> wrote:
> >   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender: American Dialect Society
> >Poster: Charles Doyle
> >Subject: Re: suggestive names
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Many of these phrases occur in the minor genre of riddling
> >questions that folklorists term "spooneristic conundrums";
> >usually they follow the formula "What's the difference
> >between x and y?" (or "How is x like y"?). Often, in order
> >to accomplish "disingenuous taboo avoidance," only the first
> >half of the two-part answer is uttered, leaving the second
> >half to be inferred or guessed:
> >
> >What's the difference between a band of pygmies and a
> >women's track team?
> >
> >What's the difference between a nun and a girl in the
> >bathtub?
> >
> >--Charlie
> >__________________________________
> >
> >---- Original message ----
> >>Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2006 17:28:19 -0400
> >>From: Benjamin Zimmer
> >>Subject: Re: suggestive names
> >>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >
> >>------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >>On 6/10/06, Laurence Horn wrote:
> >>>
> >>>  >Another good example is the chain of bars "Fuddpuckers".
> >>>  >
> >>>
> >>>  cf. "You ain't so muckin' fuch." I guess metathesis is a
> >common form
> >>>  of disingenuous taboo avoidance...
> >>
> >>Wikipedia's list of spoonerisms includes many more:
> >>
> >>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spoonerisms
> >>
> >>Some might consider it more clever when the spoonerization
> >results in
> >>actual words, as in "holy shucking fit". There's
> >also "Cunning
> >>Stunts", which has been used as an album title by at least
> >three bands
> >>(Caravan in 1975, The Cows in 1991, and Metallica in 1998).
> >>
> >>--Ben Zimmer
> >
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