# Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852 "2009-11-17T01:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/21 "2009-11-17T04:04:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **dropzone** , the only one of those I guessed was the last one, and I’m a lot younger than 110. It’s occasionally heard around Boy Scout campfires. Ah, the Boy Scouts, repository of songs from days gone by! It was only recently that my interest in songs from the Turn of the Last Century revealed to me that “There’s a Hole in My Bucket” and “Rueben, Rueben” were, based on the names of the principals (Liza, Henry, Rueben, and Rachel), were not not about white characters and the songs were (ahem) [Coon Songs.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_song) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/22 "2009-11-17T05:13:26Z")
FWIW, the category was “Classic songs from movies.” Yes, it’s a classic song, and yes, it’s from a movie . . . but since the quoted line isn’t from the movie, it’s very misleading . . . and not up to _Jeopardy!_'s usual standards. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/23 "2009-11-17T05:27:38Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > It was only recently that my interest in songs from the Turn of the Last Century revealed to me that “There’s a Hole in My Bucket” and “Rueben, Rueben” were, based on the names of the principals (Liza, Henry, Rueben, and Rachel), were not not about white characters and the songs were (ahem) [Coon Songs.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_song) :eek: I don’t think they were. Reuben and Rachel was a 19th century comic song, but there’s nothing particularly “coon” about it (and Reuben and Rachel are Jewish names, if anything), and “There’s a Hole in the Bucket” is a translation of a German/Pennsylvania Dutch song. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/24 "2009-11-17T12:41:51Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Was he a geek? I thought he might be a dork…or maybe even a dweeb. 🙂 I consistently identified him as “the pencil-neck” while the show was on. There was one clue that the pencil-neck got (I cannot remember exactly which one it was, early-onset CRS strikes again) but The Wife said she was impressed that he got it. I said “I said it, too. Aren’t you impressed by that?” She answered “But you aren’t getting any money on the couch, are you?” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/25 "2009-11-17T12:48:13Z")
His profession is “medievalist.” I guess that’s kinda geeky. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/26 "2009-11-17T13:30:52Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > > [@postcards](#): > > > > The geek in the middle. > > Was he a geek? I thought he might be a dork…or maybe even a dweeb. 🙂 He’s a Jeopardy player. They’re _all_ geeks/dweebs/dorks. 🙂 (This said from someone who is a big fan of the show, who linked to this thread on the [Jeopardy message board](http://boards.sonypictures.com/boards//forumdisplay.php?f=11) that I frequent, who watches the shwo every day and keeps track of his scores (I average about $20K per show) and whos lifetime goal is to get on the damn show. And yes, I’ll gladly call myself a geek. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/27 "2009-11-17T13:47:01Z")
The category was something like Classic Musical Films? And the clue was “The house fell on her head and the coroner pronounced her dead?” So you need to come up with a song that has a six-word title from a classic musical that has a house falling on a woman and killing her. Hmmmm. It is my dream to get a question so easy. And next Friday is six months since my audition. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/28 "2009-11-17T13:53:15Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > A six-letter title to that song? Um, “Wake Up?” [Sticky?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiqT6CuhYPo) ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/29 "2009-11-17T14:01:24Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The category was something like Classic Musical Films? And the clue was “The house fell on her head and the coroner pronounced her dead?” So you need to come up with a song that has a six-word title from a classic musical that has a house falling on a woman and killing her. Hmmmm. It is my dream to get a question so easy. This. Anbody who would miss this question either (a) never saw _The Wizard of Oz_ or (b) is a pedantic, overthinking nit-picker. Most normal people would have the answer in a second. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/30 "2009-11-17T14:09:45Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The category was something like Classic Musical Films? IIRC, Music From Film. Or Songs From Film. One or the other. Either way, point holds…you know it’s a song from a movie. Likely a musical. It references a house falling on and killing a female… It’s the kind of clue Jeopardy loves - lets you puzzle out the correct question by general knowledge of the subject, rather than being strictly trivia. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/31 "2009-11-17T17:13:55Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > His profession is “medievalist.” I guess that’s kinda geeky. We got a laugh out of that–I was hoping he’d win so we could get more clarification. Is he a scholar, or does he roam the country going from one Rennaissance Faire to the next? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/32 "2009-11-17T17:45:53Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I don’t think they were. Reuben and Rachel was a 19th century comic song, but there’s nothing particularly “coon” about it (and Reuben and Rachel are Jewish names, if anything), and “There’s a Hole in the Bucket” is a translation of a German/Pennsylvania Dutch song. Reuben and Rachel have been used in some songs sung in Black dialect, but Liza and Henry are two of the most common ones. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/33 "2009-11-17T17:52:12Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Reuben and Rachel have been used in some songs sung in Black dialect, but Liza and Henry are two of the most common ones. As Coroner, I vouch for them… ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/34 "2009-11-17T18:03:47Z")
Really? Most sincerely? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/35 "2009-11-17T19:28:53Z")
But none of those people have ever been in my kitchen! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/36 "2009-11-18T04:54:57Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Reuben and Rachel have been used in some songs sung in Black dialect, but Liza and Henry are two of the most common ones. Maybe, but There’s a Hole in the Bucket doesn’t show up in English until the 1940s. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852/37 "2009-11-19T14:50:21Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > And I will add it to my list. My church holds a regular Trivia Night fundraiser and I want to assemble a category of “Name That Tune From Its Intro.” Examples, from [the easy:](http://www.trilulilu.ro/JuliaAgripina/a37d582a7b3c8c) > > _The loveliness of Paris > Seems somehow sadly gay > The glory that was Rome > Is of another day > I’ve been terribly alone > And forgotten in Manhattan > I’m going home to my city by the bay._ > > To [the harder](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrY33J8qUpM) (In this case, extra points for naming that shy young swain): > > \*When she mentioned how her aunt bit off the spoon, > She completely done me in. > And my heart went on a journey to the moon, > When she told about her father and the gin. > And I never saw a more enchanting farce > Than that moment when she shouted > "move your bloomin’ "… \* > > To the [nearly impossible](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkbE4URVcKY) for anybody under the age of 110: > > You don’t know who you’re lookin’ at, now just you look at me > I’m a bit of a nob I am, belong to royalty > I’ll tell you how it got about: I married Widow Burch > And I was King of England when we doddered out the church > Outside, the people started shoutin’ “Hip-hooray” > Said I “Go down upon your knee it’s Coronation Day!” Didn’t get the Middle one, but I am Waaaaay under 110. 1. I Left My Heart In San Francisco 2. On The Street Where You Live 3. I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/517852.md?page=1)