[Ads-l] Child's misunderstanding: "the donzerly light"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

"Donzerly light" was published in a humor column in 1954. Perhaps some
phrases depicted as childhood misunderstandings have been deliberately
constructed to appear in wordplay jokes. On the other hand, some
genuine childhood misunderstandings might have been shared as jokes or
placed into comedy routines. Perhaps the joke below evolved via
embellishment.

Date: July 30, 1954
Newspaper: Detroit Free Press
Newspaper Location: Detroit, Michigan
Article: Sunny Side
Byline: James S. Pooler
Quote Page 3, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com (Publisher Extra)

[Begin excerpt]
>From Lansing, Jay Bundenthal writes, to ask if you folks had heard
about Mr. Donzerly, the inventor, who had just invented a new
underwater light for deep sea divers.

Hired a local diver named Jose Santos to try it out.

After Jose had got down a good depth, Mr. Donzerly called him on the
intercom and sang, "Jose, can you see by the Donzerly light?"
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Mon, Apr 25, 2016 at 12:34 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu> wrote:
> Yesterday a family friend drew "donzerly light" to my attention-- reportedly mentioned in a Reader's Digest article years ago (exact number: ?) as an example of a child's misunderstanding the lyrics of The Star Spangled Banner ("the dawn's early light").
> The child misunderstood "donzerly as an adjective describing "light." Btw, Google shows there's actually a book with the title "The Donzerly Light" (2010; by Ryne Douglas Pearson).
>
> Gerald Cohen
> P.S. Also, a Mondegreen came up in the conversation; "a nominal egg" (an arm and a leg), referring to an exorbitant cost.
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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