Way OT: "Mademoiselle from Armentieres"

[David Daniel]

When I was a little kid in the 50's. We sang this both as "Mademoiselle from
Armentieres" and "The first marine went over the wall, parlez-vous" and so
forth.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Spanbock/Svoboda-Spanbock
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2014 2:26 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Way OT: "Mademoiselle from Armentieres"


oster:       Spanbock/Svoboda-Spanbock <spanbocks at VERIZON.NET>
Subject:      Re: Way OT: "Mademoiselle from Armentieres"
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I knew a few verses back in the 1970's. I remember one about not being =
able to propose to her properly because the singer could no longer bend =
his knee.

My recollection was that the whole thing was a kind of joke about the =
fact that she was unattractive but they were after her anyway, being =
starved for comfort - like that later song about army food, whatever it =
was? The biscuits in the army, they say they're mighty fine...?

--
Kate

On Aug 2, 2014, at 6:01 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Way OT: "Mademoiselle from Armentieres"
> =
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>=20
> Am finishing a pedantic study of this once-famous WW1 song, which I
> mentioned here many years ago.
>=20
> I was surprised recently when a somewhat younger colleague admitted to
> having heard the name at one point but knew nothing whatever beyond =
that.
> Nothing.
>=20
> OK, silly question: does the song or the name have any particular
> associations for members of this distinguished forum? (Beyond the fact =
that
> the Mlle. hadn't been kissed in 40 years.)
>=20
> The popular image is/was that, being French, she was some kind of sex
> kitten.  Yet the only verse most people know suggests the opposite.
>=20
> I'm interested in the Mademoiselle as Rohrschach test. The song was a =
big
> deal 100 years ago and was frequently commented on in the postwar =
press.
> Has it any resonance left?  Does anyone here know more than the =
best-known
> stanza? (There once were many.)
>=20
> If the subject is too far afield for the list, email me.
>=20
> JL
>=20
> --=20
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the =
truth."
>=20

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