[Ads-l] RES: Apparently brainless reporting on alternative 3rd person pronouns

[David Daniel]

>Like a bird on the wire
>Like a drunk in a midnight choir

I always thought the first line of that song was "Like a turd on fire." Now
it makes even less sense.
DAD






I seem to recall other songwriters (and poets?) using
=E2=80=9Cthee=E2=80=9D=
 for the same reason (possibly for the same =E2=80=9Cme=E2=80=9D/=E2=80=9C=
thee=E2=80=9D rhyme), although I can=E2=80=99t think of specific =
examples off the top of my head. =20

Then, as the entry sort of suggests, there=E2=80=99s the motivation of =
self-conscious archaism for "thou=E2=80=9D/=E2=80=9Cthee=E2=80=9D/=E2=80=9C=
thy=E2=80=9D/=E2=80=9Cthine", especially to provide a vivid contrast =
with contemporary slang elsewhere in the immediate vicinity, as in the =
Rodgers-Hart standard:

   Thou swell! Thou witty!
   Thou sweet! Thou grand!
   Wouldst kiss me pretty?
   Wouldst hold my hand?
   Both thine eyes are cute too;
   What they do to me.
   Hear me holler=20
   I choose a sweet lollapaloosa in thee.

In any case, I agree that there=E2=80=99s nothing in the wiki-entry or =
elsewhere that points to a third-person use.



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