# "I'm Gonna Wash That Man . . ." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013 "2012-05-24T22:12:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [May 24, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/1 "2012-05-24T22:12:16Z")
“. . . Right Out of My Hair” “. . . Right Outta My Hair” “. . . Right Outa My Hair” “. . . Right Out-a My Hair” I’ve got several recordings of this famous song from \*South Pacific, \*and the spelling seems to be random. But I’m working on a new CD design for my chorus, and I need to know the “authentic” spelling. Even on the Original Cast Recording it’s spelled two different ways. Same for sheet music. And online searches don’t give me consistent results either. Wiki prefers “outa,” yet just Googling the words “outta” vs. “outa” gives overwhelming preference for “outta.” Right now, I’m prepared to go with “outa,” even though “outta” is consistent with “gonna,” and is the more common colloquial spelling. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/2 "2012-05-24T22:53:11Z")
I vote for “outta” – that’s the one that looks right. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyMac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@JohnnyMac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyMac)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/3 "2012-05-24T23:00:42Z")
Another vote for “outta” here. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/4 "2012-05-24T23:11:56Z")
You could go to the copyright office and get a copy of the original lead sheet as filed. But what would that prove? Take it from me, someone who produced lead sheets for copyright for many years ca. 1970’s, whatever was filed for copyright (which I would call “official”) isn’t necessarily what the original composer/lyricist intended. N.B.: from 1909 to 1976, copyright required written music to be filed, and lead sheets were the most common method of fulfilling that requirement after the recording era began. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/5 "2012-05-24T23:18:02Z")
I vote for whatever spelling is going to raise the least amount of fuss. Although, if it were me, I’d find the earliest sheet music I could and use that spelling. Alternatively, whatever spelling was used on the sheetmusic the chorus used. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/6 "2012-05-24T23:24:36Z")
‘Outa’ according to [this image](http://store.cc.cc/z1i_SOUTH_PACIFIC_SOUNDTRACK_LP_RCA_SB_2011_1958_276915_3) of a CD version of the soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/7 "2012-05-24T23:25:49Z")
I would use the only one that is actually words. “out of” ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/8 "2012-05-24T23:35:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Any suggestions? Auwxdaargh? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/9 "2012-05-24T23:41:14Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > … and I need to know the “authentic” spelling. Why? And what constitutes “authentic”? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/10 "2012-05-25T00:24:28Z")
I like “outta.” “Out of” sounds wrong and “outa” looks like a typo. I love that song. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/11 "2012-05-25T13:35:38Z")
I’d use “out of”. The reader can swap in different words if they choose. But at least all readers will see the most understandable version. Exception is if the original artist intentionally misspells something like OU812 or “I’m a Slave 4 U”. Personally, I’d swap in “jizz” for “man”, but that’s just my interpretation of the song. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/12 "2012-05-25T13:52:25Z")
…right out o’ my hair… If, you know, you want to be correct. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/13 "2012-05-25T17:07:01Z")
No, “out of” is clearly wrong. The same title contains “gonna,” and there’s no doubt about that one. Plus, I’ve never heard a singer actually say “out of,” and it obviously wasn’t Oscar Hammerstein’s intention. In the musical, the song is sung by a woman who is a self-proclaimed “hick,” and the Queen’s English would be out of character. The contraction is correct, the only question is the spelling. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/14 "2012-05-26T02:14:20Z")
Just to be different: out o’ ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/15 "2012-05-26T02:20:10Z")
On a purely phonemic basis, I think we can eliminate out o’. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/16 "2012-05-26T02:46:11Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Just to be different: out o’ …and how is that different to me saying the same thing two posts above yours? ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/17 "2012-05-26T02:50:08Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > On a purely phonemic basis, I think we can eliminate out o’. Surely that would depend on whether you pronounced the o’ as OWE or (correctly) as UH. The apostrophe indicates a missing letter, but it also implies the informal pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/18 "2012-05-26T03:12:01Z")
Clearly it doesn’t or the outta/outa spellings would not have arisen. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/19 "2012-05-26T04:47:25Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > ‘Outa’ according to [this image](http://store.cc.cc/z1i_SOUTH_PACIFIC_SOUNDTRACK_LP_RCA_SB_2011_1958_276915_3) of a CD version of the soundtrack. I vote for this. Thanks for posting that so I don’t have to hike downstairs to find the LP. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013/20 "2012-05-26T05:32:53Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Clearly it doesn’t or the outta/outa spellings would not have arisen. No, it does _to people who understand what it means_. The fact that less literate people have invented a bastardised version doesn’t change that fact. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-gonna-wash-that-man/623013.md?page=2)