nyaa nyaa/ naa naa (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Laurence Horn]

On Feb 13, 2012, at 6:42 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> Oddly, I've heard neither this nor "olly-olly-oxen-free" in the wild.
> Like the "razzberry," it's one of those things that white people write
> that they do or say.
>
> --
> -Wilson

I've heard it.  It is, however, pronounced "All-y all-y in free".  The ox is silent.

LH
> -----
> 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
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:48 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: nyaa nyaa/ naa naa (UNCLASSIFIED)
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> The number of nyaas cited is correct for my idiolect.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:06 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
>> <Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
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>>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
>>> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: nyaa nyaa/ naa naa (UNCLASSIFIED)
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>>> Caveats: NONE
>>>
>>> To me, the taunt has 6 naa/nyah's, not five (Naa-na naa naa NAA naa).
>>> And either Naa or Nyah would have been acceptable when I was in school.
>>> A good friend of my wife, who grew up on the Florida panhandle, doesn't
>>> say that, but rather "neener neener neener" with the same sing-song
>>> cadence.
>>>
>>> Besides the "The Band" song, another cultural referent may be the tail
>>> end of the Journey song "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'" (see 3:40 at
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRt0d1O4tiE ).
>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>>> Behalf Of
>>>> Jonathan Lighter
>>>> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 6:55 AM
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>> Subject: nyaa nyaa/ naa naa
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> ----------------------
>>>> -
>>>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>>> Subject: Â  Â  Â nyaa nyaa/ naa naa
>>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ------
>>>> -
>>>>
>>>> A while ago I indirectly called attention to the stereotyped childhood
>>>> taunt melody, "Nyaa nyaa nyah  NYAA nyaa!"
>>>>
>>>> I suggested ironically that that's what "all the people were singin'"
>>>> on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."
>>>>
>>>> Even though the lyrics there are clearly "Na na na na na na," etc.
>>>>
>>>> OK. Twice in the past couple of weeks CNN news anchor Soledad O'Brien
>>>> (b. 1966) has had occasion to do the taunt. But what she said clearly
>>>> both times was "Naa naa naa NAA naa!" (No /j /).
>>>>
>>>> To me (b. Neolithic) this variant is weird. (Really.) Â Is Suffolk Co.,
>>>> L.I., that different from NYC? Or is English going to hell like they
>>>> say?
>>>>
>>>> JL
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>>> truth."
>>>>
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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