that it's FOUR COLLY BIRDS, not "calling birds," in the Twelve Days of Christmas song.
In “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” one’s true love bestows, among other things, a partridge, two turtle doves, three French hens, and four calling birds. Right? Maybe not. The “calling” birds were originally “colly” birds, according to a blog post by Peter Armenti, the literature specialist for the Digital Reference Section at the Library of Congress. “Colly bird?”
It’s essentially a black bird, Armenti said Wednesday. Although both “calling” and “colly” have appeared in versions of the song, “colly,” which is derived from the Old English word for coal, predates “calling” by more than a century, he wrote. And the reference is to the color of the bird, not its voice.
I'll never be the same!
12 comments:
The thimgs we never knew!
And the "War against Christmas" marches on...
Check your headline Shaw..
I was over 60 when i learned that! In fact, I just learned it today and will use that little factoid to look smart at a Holiday/Christmas party tonight.
bluzdude
LOL!
RN Ain't it the truth!
I'm still traumatized by that whole Bowling Green Massacre thing. But please, SHHHHH I hear the microwave is stalking me and snapping pictures. I'm hoping to sneak by it wile it's asleep.
Ya know, every time one of these mental midgets on the right says or does something stupid and absurd, I think "okay Bull, that's it. That's the dumbest thing you'll ever hear." Then the hour changes and it gets worse. How can anyone follow these morons still?
Dave Help me out. What needs to be changed in my headline? Maybe I didn't drink enough coffee, because I'm not seeing the mistake! (That's happened more than once.)
Ms Shaw,
I don't know how old today years old is.
Blueballs, How did it go from a song to a massacre in a blink. You really do need to chill a bit and pack for your trip.
WHAT?! And Wikipedia says other words have been modified. So I'm 8 hours older than you were when you found out.
Could be me? Maybe I was todays years old? Maybe now I get it, you just figured it out today? Like me?
“Today years old” does mean “I just found out today!”
I think it describes that phenomenon quite well.
Poor Skidmark can't even keep up with the lies his buddies in the Trump regime have spilled. Well, there have been far far more than all the rest of the Presidents combined, so I guess it's not all that hard to accept the fact that a slow learner like Skiddy would have trouble keeping up.
Packed and ready to walk with my elders, Skiddy. Thanks for the thin veneer of concern.
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