# Don we now our \*bright\* apparel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388 "2011-12-07T17:30:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/1 "2011-12-07T17:30:11Z")
[Michigan teacher changed lyrics from “gay” to “bright”](http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/bizarre&id=8456072) because the pupils kept laughing. Wanna weigh in on this? ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/2 "2011-12-07T17:31:32Z")
I’m cool with it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/3 "2011-12-07T17:42:05Z")
I don’t know about your apparel, but mine is still in the closet. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/4 "2011-12-07T17:50:36Z")
I’ve had some friends on Facebook debating this. Most people are OK with it, citing that language changes, and “gay” unfortunately does not mean what it used to mean. Given that the song is not some ancient and sacred piece of writing (aka, it’s not a Shakespeare sonnet), lots of people think the change is unfortunate but necessary. And then you add in the teachers, who talk about dealing with the snickers and elbow-jabs from 12- and 13-year-old boys singing the song, and I see why some people might REALLY like the change. Me? I guess I just don’t care either way. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/5 "2011-12-07T17:55:27Z")
So, maybe if they redid [this old pen commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q98WrVhaTg) nowadays, they’d say, “so bright and BRIIIIIIIGHT.” ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/6 "2011-12-07T18:03:21Z")
I’m with the principal. The teacher missed a chance to, you know, TEACH. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/7 "2011-12-07T18:11:42Z")
It’s not like this is some variant created by the teacher, either. I’ve heard produced music use the single modified word. I’ve also heard other carols updated; for instance: \*Angels we have heard on high, Singing sweetly through the night, And the mountains in reply Echoing their brave delight. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why these songs of happy cheer? What great brightness did you see? What glad tiding did you hear?\* ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/8 "2011-12-07T18:16:48Z")
It’s the ‘Don we now’ that gets to me. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/9 "2011-12-07T18:34:48Z")
“Changed because the kids were being little turds” is better than “changed preemptively to avoid controversy.” The principal’s response was a bit much, though. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/10 "2011-12-07T18:36:42Z")
Sounds like he’s just trolling (the ancient yuletide carol). ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/11 "2011-12-07T18:49:14Z")
They’ll just have to change it again when “bright” becomes synonymous with irreligious. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/12 "2011-12-07T19:02:05Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I don’t know about your apparel, but mine is still in the closet. Consider yourself decked with a bough of holly 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/13 "2011-12-07T19:31:45Z")
People named Don find this offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/14 "2011-12-07T19:37:25Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > People named Don find this offensive. Unless they wear gay apparel. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/15 "2011-12-07T19:41:31Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Unless they wear gay apparel. Bright apparel. Actually, this song is really sexist. I say we change Don to Dawn. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/16 "2011-12-07T19:52:39Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > So, maybe if they redid [this old pen commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q98WrVhaTg) nowadays, they’d say, “so bright and BRIIIIIIIGHT.” Was that Charles Nelson Reilly? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/17 "2011-12-07T19:56:03Z")
Sounds sensible to me. Scans fine, too. > [@Scarlett67](#): > > I’m with the principal. The teacher missed a chance to, you know, TEACH. Nah. The kids will know what full well what gay means in this context - there’s no way they think it’s a carol about homosexual clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/18 "2011-12-07T20:47:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > \*Angels we have heard on high, > Singing sweetly through the night, > And the mountains in reply > Echoing their brave delight. > Gloria in excelsis Deo. > Gloria in excelsis Deo. > > Shepherds, why this jubilee? > Why these songs of happy cheer? > What great brightness did you see? > What glad tiding did you hear?\* This makes less sense than the change in the OP. What’s confusing about the original words? \*Angels we have heard on high Sweetly singing o’er the plain And the mountains in reply Echoing their joyous strain. Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? What the gladsome tidings be Which inspire your heavenly song?\* Are they trying to avoid the word _strains_? Does it make10 year old boys think of being constipated? ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/19 "2011-12-07T21:25:29Z")
My 8 year old was singing that the other night, stopped in the middle and said, ‘All the other kids in my class think that ‘gay apparel’ is funny. They just don’t know what it means.’ I asked her what it meant and she said ‘fun and happy.’ Which was good. I asked her if she knew what the other meaning was and she said, ‘When boys love boys or girls love girls the way I love Justin Bieber.’ So, on the one hand, total parenting win because she knew what it was and it doesn’t throw her at all. On the other hand, Justin Bieber. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388/20 "2011-12-07T21:30:15Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > I asked her what it meant and she said ‘fun and happy.’ Which was good. I asked her if she knew what the other meaning was and she said, ‘When boys love boys or girls love girls the way I love Justin Bieber.’ Oh lord. I was actually taking a sip of water while reading the last few words of that. We nearly had a keyboard emergency! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-we-now-our-bright-apparel/605388.md?page=2)