# Christmas carol lyrics we questioned as kids
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [December 19, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396 "2020-12-19T13:33:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/1 "2020-12-19T13:33:41Z")
As kids, we would sing Christmas carols without having a clue of what the words meant. It was a long time before I found out what a “round yon virgin” or a “door hymn” was. And where was “Orientare”, where three kings came from? Who was “Good King Wences”? I always thought he was related to “Senor Wences” - the ventriloquist who appeared regularly on “Ed Sullivan”. Why would a baby want to be kept awake by a “little drummer boy”? What are “tidings of comfort and joy”? What is “gay apparel”? And so on…
Others?
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/2 "2020-12-19T14:43:10Z")
I still have questions about what constitutes “no blarney” to be given - the likes you’ve never known. "Hey, could ya give me some of that no blarney? You mean you’re telling me the truth? And you presume I’ve never known the likes of such truth.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/3 "2020-12-19T14:47:05Z")
I still don’t know if it’s “Up on the rooftop, reindeer paws” or “Up on the rooftop, reindeer pause.”
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/4 "2020-12-19T14:52:49Z")
I always insisted as a kid that it should be “hooves”.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/5 "2020-12-19T14:58:09Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#):
>
> What is “gay apparel”?
Who, exactly, is Don Wenow? The head of the Wenow crime syndicate family?
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/6 "2020-12-19T15:05:09Z")
And why would God want to make “merry gentlemen” rest? Too much partying? 🤨🤔
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/7 "2020-12-19T16:17:53Z")
Lo, he abhors not the virgin’s womb? Why would someone hate a virgin’s womb, let alone a little baby?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/8 "2020-12-19T16:31:56Z")
And what did trolls have to do with ancient yuletide carols?
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/9 "2020-12-19T16:40:14Z")
Should I even bring up that Lang Syne that is, apparently, pretty Auld?
mmm
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/10 "2020-12-19T16:50:16Z")
And, who is Round John Virgin?
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/11 "2020-12-19T16:51:24Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> Who, exactly, is Don Wenow? The head of the Wenow crime syndicate family?
He’s a clothing designer, specializing in gay apparel, of course!
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/12 "2020-12-19T16:54:46Z")
If the men are “merry.” how can they be dismayed? 🤨
If the Three Kings “from Orient are,” does that mean they’re Chinese? Or is “Orien-Tar” a different place altogether? 🤔
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/13 "2020-12-19T16:55:15Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#):
>
> And where was “Orientare”, where three kings came from?
I wondered what “Orient Are” was, but I don’t think I thought it was a place.
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/14 "2020-12-19T16:57:01Z")
A fat Swedish guy? 🤔
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### Author:  [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/15 "2020-12-19T17:34:53Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> Should I even bring up that Lang Syne that is, apparently, pretty Auld?
>
> mmm
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdOCBFfB2Wo) should address your question.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/16 "2020-12-19T18:01:41Z")
Why is Gloria “in eggshell seas”? Also, were the songwriters trying to capitalize on Harry Belafone’s success when they stuck an extraneous “day-o” at the end of the line?
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/17 "2020-12-19T18:10:18Z")
Rudolf will go down in whose story?
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### Author:  [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/18 "2020-12-19T18:34:07Z")
If we already KNOW Dancer and Prancer and Donner and Vixen, why are we asked if we RECALL the MOST FAMOUS reindeer of all?
They could’ve used any other word other than “famous” but they picked the only lyric that totally destroyed the premise of the song.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/19 "2020-12-19T19:16:15Z")
Santa Claus was coming to town to bring us lots of toys like little tin horns and little toy drums. But I could never figure out what “elephant’s boats” were.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-carol-lyrics-we-questioned-as-kids/928396/20 "2020-12-19T19:25:46Z")
> [@bibliophage](#):
>
> Rudolf will go down in whose story?
And Olive, the other reindeer, was sure mean for laughing at him and calling him names.
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