feed of what???

[Laurence Horn]

At 12:43 PM -0400 10/22/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Needless to say, nothing like it is in Partridge. I suppose it could be an
>eggcorn, but of what?
>
>JL

Well, let's see, we start with a blend of "feet of clay" and "Wizard of Oz"...

LH
>
>On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 11:35 AM, 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: feed of what???
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  At 11:22 AM -0400 10/22/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>  >There is a ribald song about Aladdin sung widely in the Royal Navy for the
>>  >past sixty-odd years that employs the following refreain:
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >Fa la la la, fa la la lee,
>>  >
>>  >Sixteen annas, one rupee,
>>  >
>>  >Feed of arse up a sycamore tree,
>>  >
>>  >Poor bugger Janner!
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >Remarkable, wot?  "Janner" is a West Countryman, a name often used in
>>  >reference to Plymouth dockyard workers. But nobody seems to know what
>>  "feed
>>  >of arse" means.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >  Or do they>
>>  >
>>  There was a posting about this song, and verse, on the Straight Dope
>>  message board, but without relevant clarification:
>>  http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=189398
>>
>>  and 11 actual (which apparently counts as "about 3,800") hits on
>>  google for "feed of arse" without the sycamore restriction, but I'm
>>  not sure any resolve the query.
>>
>>  LH
>>
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>
>
>
>--
>"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
>Platypus"
>
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