# Oddly chosen words in songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153 "2013-10-13T19:15:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/61 "2013-10-14T21:05:44Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Faces smile down from a hoarding? > Evocative, strange and virtually incomprehensible. No, just British. A “hoarding” is a billboard. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/62 "2013-10-14T21:05:52Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Faces smile down from a hoarding? > Evocative, strange and virtually incomprehensible. [It’s a British word for a billboard.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hoarding?s=t) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/63 "2013-10-14T21:06:26Z")
Goddamned shrews. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/64 "2013-10-14T21:10:49Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The otherwise brilliant Warren Zevon had a few clinkers, the worst in _[Mr. Bad Example](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/warren_zevon/mr_bad_example.html)_ > > _I put my last few francs down on a prostitute > Who took me up to her room to perform the flag salute > Whereupon I stole her passport and her wig > And headed for the airport and the midnight flight, you dig?_ > > You dig? YOU DIG?! You’re right that it’s not as good as the rest of the song. But the song itself is so great and the rest of that verse is so funny that I can let it slide. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/65 "2013-10-14T21:26:19Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > He’s describing a pretty wild gal in the punk/post-disco era. High heels or platforms with tap cleats or hobnails doesn’t strike me as being at all odd in that context. Then Mr. Ocasek should call them high heels and I will stop cringing. Nobody uses the term “high shoes”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/66 "2013-10-14T21:46:52Z")
I’ve always wondered what “take on me” means. I know the songwriter was not a native English-speaker, but… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/67 "2013-10-14T21:54:22Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The otherwise brilliant Warren Zevon had a few clinkers, the worst in _[Mr. Bad Example](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/warren_zevon/mr_bad_example.html)_ Well, that’s WHY it’s called that. Zevon was alternately brilliant and SWTF in his rhymings. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/68 "2013-10-15T00:03:09Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > The Master Speaks in an old column: [In Steve Miller’s “The Joker,” what is “the pompatus of love”? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/972/in-steve-millers-the-joker-what-is-the-pompatus-of-love) That’s why I mentioned it. I thought it was something of a recurrent meme (is that the right word?) on these here message boards. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/69 "2013-10-15T00:17:12Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > That’s why I mentioned it. I thought it was something of a recurrent meme (is that the right word?) on these here message boards. That’s Rio, by Duran Duran. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/70 "2013-10-15T00:21:26Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > The Stray Cats had a song out the same year (1982) called “Rock This Town” which correctly evaluated the price of a jukebox play at one quarter. > > (I prefer the Joan Jett song, to be honest). Yes, different words can work in different songs. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/71 "2013-10-15T00:42:28Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Then Mr. Ocasek should call them high heels and I will stop cringing. Nobody uses the term “high shoes”. There were high shoes in the 70’s. Really high shoes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/72 "2013-10-15T00:56:36Z")
Casting about for a rhyme with **She’s Always A Woman To Me** prompted Billy Joel to claim that _“she can’t be convicted; she’s earned her degree.”_ Show of hands from each woman here who’s earned her degree? Yeah, okay. And how many of you can be convicted? I see no hands went down. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/73 "2013-10-15T05:10:05Z")
From Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top”: _Your words poetic are not pathetic. On the other hand, babe, you shine_ If her/his words are in fact not pathetic, and she/he, moreover, shines, then there is no “on the other hand” about it. I’d suggest “as a matter of fact, they shine”, though that does switch the action from the person to the person’s words. But it least it makes sense that way. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/74 "2013-10-15T08:12:24Z")
Wrap your legs round these velvet rims… What’s a velvet rim, Boss? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/75 "2013-10-15T12:38:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > That’s very clever and sophisticated wordplay – inventing a nonce word whose meaning is perfectly clear in context. See also: _“it’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s . . . de-lovely.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/76 "2013-10-15T14:31:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve always wondered what “take on me” means. I know the songwriter was not a native English-speaker, but… 😕 Could be a word by word translation of _“ta på meg!”_ = _“touch me!”_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/77 "2013-10-15T19:01:21Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > Could be a word by word translation of _“ta på meg!”_ = _“touch me!”_. Aha! Logical! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/78 "2013-10-15T21:20:57Z")
Not so much lyrics but pronunciation: In the Alicia Bridges disco classic [I Love the Nightlife](http://youtu.be/vT306cZL0pM) - she says: \*I want to go where the people dance, I want some action … I want to live! Action … I got so much to give, I want to give it. I want to get some too.\* Except she pronounces action “Ack-Shawn” - I’ve never heard anyone ever pronounce that word that way ever. Unless they were singing that song. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/79 "2013-10-16T01:04:07Z")
While we’re talking about bizarre pronunciations, how about “Everyday Is A Winding Road” by Sheryl Crow? There’s a line about “living on coffee and nicotine”. But the way she pronounces “nicotine” sounds a lot more more like nigger-teen. Why on earth would you pronounce it that way? ---
**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:** [October 16, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153/80 "2013-10-16T07:34:03Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > The oddly chosen word in that song is “dime” as in “put another dime in the jukebox” since all jukeboxes required a quarter by that point in time. She could have said “coin.” (I know, the original had come out earlier, during the dime period). 1975, not that much earlier. I was going to point out that the original was written/performed by an English band, but it turns out [the lead singer/lyricist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Merrill) is a yank after all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oddly-chosen-words-in-songs/671153.md?page=5)