# Salmonella of the Valkyries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510 "2008-08-10T17:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/1 "2008-08-10T17:35:03Z")
Whenever I hear the word ‘salmonella’ I mentally put it to the tune of _Ride Of The Valkyries_. ISTR there was a PSA on TV back in the '70s in SoCal that did this. Was there such a PSA? Or is it all in my head? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/2 "2008-08-10T21:52:22Z")
Yeah, I remember that one… two germs singing about what they are about to do to their host, set to a “possibly recognizable tune”. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/3 "2008-08-11T03:21:27Z")
And now you’ve got me thinking of Elmer Fudd, singing “Sawmonewwa, sawmonewwa . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/4 "2008-08-11T05:53:41Z")
…Oh, I hate you _so much_ right now, Johnny L.A. _goes off to bed still humming_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/5 "2015-10-11T22:58:10Z")
Looks like [I asked about this again four years ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619267). **BrotherCadfael** remembered it (both times). Does anyone else remember it, and (hoping against hope) have a video link? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/6 "2015-10-11T23:15:35Z")
One of the song’s lyrics was “let’s really teach this guy a lesson!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/7 "2015-10-12T00:28:07Z")
I found a series of PSAs from the 70s featuring a pair of characters called “Arnie and Sal,” who run around infecting food until a disembodied voice from the USDA tells them to fuck off. None of them have Flight of the Valkyries, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/8 "2018-11-20T18:56:51Z")
This popped into my head just now. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Looks like [I asked about this again four years ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=619267). **BrotherCadfael** remembered it (both times). > > Does anyone else remember it, and (hoping against hope) have a video link? Are **BrotherCadfael** and I the only ones who remember this? (Unless **Bryan Ekers** ’s post means he remembers it as well.) Or all we both/all deluded? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/9 "2018-11-20T21:16:48Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > …Oh, I hate you _so much_ right now, Johnny L.A. > > _goes off to bed still humming_ He’s despicable. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/10 "2018-11-20T21:24:42Z")
You can sing paradimethylaminobenzaldehide to the tune of The Irish Washerwoman. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/11 "2018-11-20T21:44:05Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > You can sing paradimethylaminobenzaldehide to the tune of The Irish Washerwoman. But can you make a dirty limerick with it? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/12 "2018-11-20T21:47:10Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > You can sing paradimethylaminobenzaldehide to the tune of The Irish Washerwoman. Huh. I found a video [showing exactly this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agWsYExaW80) From the first comment on that video: "This is based on Isaac Asimov’s 1963 essay, YOU TOO CAN SPEAK GAELIC. It’s all about his revelation that some chemical names have perfect dactylic tetrameter and can be sung perfectly to the tune of the IRISH WASHER WOMAN. Asimov is dead and we’ll never see his likes again, I’m afraid." ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salmonella-of-the-valkyries/459510/13 "2018-11-20T23:44:19Z")
I think I got it from one of his autobiographies. I don’t know if he ever wrote a third one, but I read the first two.