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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Clai Rice wrote:
> I distinctly remember an episode from the kid's book Ramona the
> Pest involving "dawnzer lee light." It was published in 1968, and
> I would have read it before 1974.

Here are some details from a recent edition of "Ramona the Pest" that
is visible via Amazon Look Inside. Of course, the text may have been
revised at some point between 1968 and 2013.

Year: 1968 Copyright; edition examined 2013
Title: Ramona the Pest
Author: Beverly Cleary
Quote Page 15
Database: Amazon Look Inside

[Begin excerpt]
Next Miss Binney taught the class the words of a puzzling song about
"the dawnzer lee light," which Ramona did not understand because she
did not know what a dawnzer was. "Oh, say, can you see by the dawnzer
lee light," sang Miss Binney, and Ramona decided that a dawnzer was
another word for a lamp.
[End excerpt]

Garson


>
> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Gerald Leonard Cohen" <gcohen at MST.EDU>
>> Sent: Monday, April 25, 2016 11:34:41 AM
>> Subject: Child's misunderstanding: "the donzerly light"
>>
>> 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
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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