"Mighty Lak A Rose"

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Sun May 30 18:44:28 UTC 2010


Some of the more readers may recall that popular "Negro-dialect" song
from the '40's.  Personally, I found the song rather pleasant.
Hooever, I was never able to make any sense out of the opening verse,
refrain, or whatever it was:

Sweetis' little feller
Ev'rybody knows
Don't know what t' call 'im
But he's _mighty lak a rose_


After dekkids of thought, I've conclded that the title/phrase in question means:

"... very much resembles or is very similar to, in some unspecified
sense, a rose."


Analyzing it as "strong like a rose," which makes no kind of sense,
had been driving me nuts.

-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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