# Question about a childhood song...opinions wanted... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205 "2004-06-02T04:40:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dan\_Turk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dan\_Turk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Turk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/1 "2004-06-02T04:40:53Z")
“There was a farmer who had a dog, Bingo was his name-o…” Is the dog named Bingo or is the farmer? I’d like to hear your opinion, since I doubt the question is able to be answered with a hard fact. Slainte. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/2 "2004-06-02T05:02:25Z")
I have always assumed that Bingo was the dog. The other two people in the room with me agree. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/3 "2004-06-02T05:27:05Z")
Bingo was the dog. The farmer’s name was Old McDonald. _“Old McDonald had a farm, ee - I -ee - I - oh. And on that farm he had a dog named B-I-N-G-O…”_ No… wait… nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/4 "2004-06-02T06:57:11Z")
I always sang it with an “and” between “dog” and “Bingo” which sort of sets off that second clause as being in reference to the dog, not the farmer. But that might just be me. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2004, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/5 "2004-06-02T10:02:35Z")
> [@TeaElle](#): > > I always sang it with an “and” between “dog” and “Bingo” which sort of sets off that second clause as being in reference to the dog, not the farmer. But that might just be me. No, an “and” would have no effect on the meaning. But I agree, Bingo is the dog’s name. Unless the farmer’s name is (Old) Bingo McDonald. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/6 "2004-06-02T10:42:05Z")
Wow, I’ve just always “known” that it was the dog. Until I looked at this Thread, the grammatical ambiguity never even dawned on me. Thanks, **Dan Turk** , while you’re shaking my mind’s grasp of all reality you might as well now suggest that up is down and that black is white. I still believe that Bingo is the dog, if for no other reason than that “Bingo” is more of a dog kind of a name than a human kind of a name. If Bingo is the farmer, then I would guess that the dog has a name like “Steven” or something like that. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/7 "2004-06-02T10:49:45Z")
I agree with the others. It seems obvious to me that Bingo is the dog. _There was a farmer had a dog, And Bingo was his name-o B-I-N-G-O B-I-N-G-O B-I-N-G-O And Bingo was his name-o_ ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/8 "2004-06-02T12:28:03Z")
Well, if the farmer’s name was Bingo, why mention the dog at all? It’s not as if it’s particularly unusual for a farmer to have a dog, and the dog isn’t mentioned anywhere else in the song (apart from when the line is repeated, of course). If old Farmer Bingo had an aardvark, that would be a different story… I suppose you could reverse the question - if the dog’s name was Bingo, why mention the farmer at all? But I’d argue that there is a reason: our society is very anthropocentric. A farmer’s existence needs no further explanation. A dog, on the other hand, needs human context. Who owns the dog? Is he a farmer’s dog? Does he belong to a little boy named Billy? Is he a feral dog? The dog’s ownership needs to be explained explicitly so we can wrap our narrow, human-centred minds around the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/9 "2004-06-02T12:29:15Z")
If you can’t be bothered reading my last post, my conclusion is this: Bingo was the dog. ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/10 "2004-06-02T13:00:48Z")
I’m not Bingo. (he’s coming, you know) ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/11 "2004-06-02T13:38:50Z")
'nother vote for Bingo the dog. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/12 "2004-06-02T14:44:42Z")
And another vote for Bingo being the dog’s name. But I am also another who had simply never questioned it until now. ☹ Oh dear. I love the SDMB cos it’s full of people who, like me, get all interested in useless information, but , OH!!! , now I am going to be pondering farmer\>\>\>dog\>\>\>Bingo all day! btw - the “MacDonald” reference was a joke, I assume? (I’m a bit slow tody, due to a caffeine shortage.) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/13 "2004-06-02T14:52:10Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Bingo was the dog. The farmer’s name was Old McDonald. > > _“Old McDonald had a farm, ee - I -ee - I - oh. And on that farm he had a dog named B-I-N-G-O…”_ > No… wait… > > nevermind. :eek: My daughter butchers the song in exactly this way… Her little mind just goes on cruise control and she switches right from one to another. The other two kids and I actually have fun with it… Chicken… Cow… (snicker, snicker - do it Mom!) DOG! ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/14 "2004-06-02T15:00:06Z")
Bingo was the dog. But boy, am I going to have fun posing this one to Mr2U tonight - it’s going to make him crazy! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/15 "2004-06-02T15:07:16Z")
Bingo is the dog, of course. Never crossed my mind that it wasn’t. As someone else said, it’s a dog’s name, and why mention the dog at all if it’s the farmer’s name. Now go clean your room. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/16 "2004-06-02T15:19:57Z")
Follow up: Lets say it was the dog. Did he have one dog named B-I-N-G-O and another dog named B-I-N-G CLAP! and . . . ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/17 "2004-06-02T22:59:01Z")
> [@Dan Turk](#): > > “There was a farmer who had a dog, Bingo was his name-o…” > > Is the dog named Bingo or is the farmer? > I’d like to hear your opinion, since I doubt the question is able to be answered with a hard fact. > > Slainte. Well, since you asked for me by name, 😉 my opinion is that Bingo is the dog’s name-o. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/18 "2004-06-02T23:49:14Z")
According to [this](http://clickit.go2net.com/search?pos=4&ppos=0&plnks=0&uplnks=20&cat=web&cid=239170&site=srch&area=srch.noncomm.inktomi&shape=textlink&cp=info.wbcrwl&cluster-click=0&pd=0&coll=1&query=farmer+dog+bingo&rawto=http://www.deadbrain.com/news/article_2003_12_05_3529.php) site, neither the dog nor the farmer was actually named Bingo. Apparently, the farmer’s name was Irving and the dog’s name was Stanley. However, in the song the dog is called Bingo not the man. Amazing the crap you can find out there in cyber-spaced. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/19 "2004-06-03T01:41:09Z")
I know there’s gramatical evidence to support Bingo being the dog’s name. The dog is the object of the sentence or something. Does anyone who paid more attention in grammar class want to chime in? ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205/20 "2004-06-03T01:56:14Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Did he have one dog named B-I-N-G-O > > and another dog named B-I-N-G CLAP! Wait a minute here! You clap and take a letter from the end? We always clapped and took the letters off from the front. B-I-N-G-O CLAP-I-N-G-O and so forth… very interesting! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-a-childhood-song-opinions-wanted/248205.md?page=2)