[Ads-l] funky beat

[Jonathan Lighter]

Statistically, "boogie" is certainly more likely - and that's precisely
what Fred sings on this recording.

In the movie, however, the song is sung by Martha Tilton, who sounds to me
like she's singing "funky," even with maximum treble.

The clarity of the soundtrack may have suffered somewhat since 1941, so
I'll have to accept "boogie."

JL



On Mon, Oct 8, 2018 at 11:16 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Online transcriptions suggest it's actually "As his bride starts to stride
> to a boogie beat," and that's what it sounds like to me:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00caflStiWc
>
> (Unless the movie has a different version?)
>
> On Mon, Oct 8, 2018 at 10:28 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > A song in the H'wood musical _You'll Never Get Rich!_ (1941) called "The
> > Wedding Cake Walk" contains the line, "His bride's got to stride with a
> > funky beat!" The lyrics are credited to Cole Porter.
> >
> > This now ubiquitous collocation is unnoticed by OED, which has "funky"
> from
> > 1935 (but applied to the piano-player, not the beat) and nothing again
> till
> > 1954.
> >
> > HDAS I not handy at the moment.
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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."

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