# Silly rhymes your parents told you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751 "2013-06-11T21:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/61 "2013-06-17T14:59:24Z")
Patience is a virtue; Secure it if you can. Seldom possessed by a woman, And _never_ by a man. and… I do not like thee, Doctor Fell, The reason why, I cannot tell. But this I know, and know full well: _I do not like thee, Doctor Fell!_ ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/62 "2013-06-17T15:04:02Z")
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house the whole damn family was drunk as a louse ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/63 "2013-06-17T15:06:00Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I do not like thee, Doctor Fell, > The reason why, I cannot tell. > But this I know, and know full well: > _I do not like thee, Doctor Fell!_ This is actually really old. Ancient, in fact. It’s an English translation an epigram by Martial (1st Century A.D.), that’s also been translated as: I do not like you, Sabidius, Do not think me overfastidious, But if you ask why, I can only reply, I do not like you, Sabidius. The story for yours is that it was an off-the-cuff translation of Martial’s Latin delivered by an aggrieved student at Oxford when the school’s dean (Dr. Fell) demanded an immediate translation. It makes for a good story. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/64 "2013-06-17T15:06:50Z")
Water water wash me I’ve got water here and soap I’ve been in here long enough, I think I’m clean–at least I hope (Commenting on my younger sister’s lack of thoroughness in bathing) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/65 "2013-06-17T16:28:41Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Did anyone else hear this on the playground? > > On top of Old Smoky > All covered in blood, > I found my poor wolfman, > His face in the mud. > A knife in his belly, > An axe in his head, > I just to conclusions: > My wolfman was dead! At camp we always sang On top of spaghetti All covered with cheese I lost my poor meatball When somebody sneezed It rolled of the table And onto the floor And now my poor meatball Is yummy no more ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/66 "2013-06-17T17:05:36Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > My mother would sit me on her knees and bounce me up and down while saying > > Trot trot to Boston > Trot trot to Lynn > Be very careful that you don’t fall innnnnnnn… > > She’d open her legs at the very last word and dump me on the floor. > > I still do this with young child I know. They love it. Our family, instead of “be very careful…” has “Watch out Janie or you’ll fall in!” (Using the child’s actual name, of course.) I think this is the first I’ve heard of any other family using this rhyme. We have four generations brought up on “trot-trot” now. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/67 "2013-06-17T17:19:11Z")
I got it this way: Pony Boy, Pony Boy, won’t you be my Pony Boy Don’t say No, there you go, right around the track Oh won’t you win for me, win for me, the ladies pride and joy, Giddyup, Giddyup Giddyup Whoa!, the winner is my Pony Boy Which would make it a racetrack song - a bit less romantic! Mum would bounce us faster on the Giddyups and dump us off on the Whoa! > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > My dad would dandle me on his knee and sing Pony Boy: > Pony Boy, Pony Boy, won’t you be my Pony Boy; > Don’t say know, here we go, ride across the plains. > Marry me, carry me, ride away with you, > Giddyup, giddyup, giddyup go! My Pony Boy. > > Of course, he bounced me much faster on the giddyups. > > I loved it, so did my sisters, and when I became a dad, I did it with my daughter, and since then with my grandson. > > You’re right, it’s just such fun. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/68 "2013-06-17T21:21:58Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > A whistling woman > and a crowing hen > always come > to a no good end! > > If you sing at the table > and dance at your bed > the devil’s gonna get ya > by the hair of your head. > > Those two came from my grandparents. The version I was told is _Whistling girls and cackling hens come to no good ends._ From my grandmother as well. There wasn’t (or I don’t remember) any parts about singing or dancing, but there was discouragements against those. Not a lot, but it’s funny how cultural baggage like these filter through the generations. I’m reminded how I had to explain to my spouse (who was raised in a different culture) what exactly the “Ring around the Rosy” song is about. They were shocked. ---
**Author:** ![dubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dubs)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/69 "2013-06-17T22:11:16Z")
My mom was fond of: Beans, beans the magical fruit The more you eat the more you toot The more you toot the better you feel, So let’s have beans at every meal! Looks like there are several variations and verses. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/70 "2013-06-19T02:09:38Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Did anyone else hear this on the playground? > > On top of Old Smoky > All covered in blood, > I found my poor wolfman, > His face in the mud. > A knife in his belly, > An axe in his head, > I just to conclusions: > My wolfman was dead! We found our _teacher_ in the puddle of blood. There was also: Ta-ra-ra-BOOM-te-ay! We had no school today! Our teacher passed away. We shot her yesterday. Her body in the bay Scared all the fish away. Ta-ra-ra-BOOM-te-ay! We had no school today! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/71 "2013-06-20T16:31:14Z")
My Mom told me this–I don’t know where she got it: _I’m going to town to smoke my pipe, And I won’t be back 'till broad daylight. So don’t let the old witch in Or I’ll beat you black-and-blue With my old rubber shoe._ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/72 "2013-06-20T19:21:55Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > _The cough is cousin to the sneeze, > cover them both with your handkerchief, please._ I know it’s an old poem, and my Dad didn’t make it up, but whenever one of us kids had a cold or bronchitis, he’d adopt a phony Cockney accent and recite: _It isn’t the cough that carries you off, It’s the coffin they carries you off in._ I have no idea where that came from. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/73 "2013-06-20T19:28:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I know it’s an old poem, and my Dad didn’t make it up, but whenever one of us kids had a cold or bronchitis, he’d adopt a phony Cockney accent and recite: > > _It isn’t the cough that carries you off, > It’s the coffin they carries you off in._ > I have no idea where that came from. I heard it as a limerick: There once was an eccentric old boffin, Who remarked, in a fine fit of coughing: “It isn’t the cough That carries you off, But the coffin they carries you off in.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/74 "2013-06-20T19:54:34Z")
My Dad used to recite some bastardized German which I heard as: "De Topoly Lohs, De Topoly Lohs, Mach Schnell, Mach Schnell \ Which he translated as: “The devil is loose! The devil is loose! Make haste! Make haste, and you will be great!” Google Translates that into German as: “Der Teufel ist los! Der Teufel ist los! Eile! Eile, und Sie werden großartig!” Anybody recognize where that might have come from? My Google fu comes up empty. My father had no german ancestors, and was in the Pacific theater in WWII (except for the North Africa Invasion). I don’t know where he got it. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/75 "2013-06-20T20:02:41Z")
Ice a-cream, a penny a lump The more you eat, the more you jump The more you jump, the better you feel So eat your ice cream at every meal. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/76 "2013-06-20T20:14:06Z")
Not so silly, but my mom had a nice rhyming nighttime prayer that she taught us; she’d learned it in her own youth in Elizabeth, N.J.: _Father, we thank thee for the night And for the pleasant morning light For rest, and food, and loving care And all that makes the world so fair Help us to do the things we should And be to others, kind and good For all we do, in work and play, To grow more loving day by day._ ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/77 "2013-06-20T22:50:12Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Not so silly, but my mom had a nice rhyming nighttime prayer that she taught us; she’d learned it in her own youth in Elizabeth, N.J.: > > _Father, we thank thee for the night > And for the pleasant morning light > For rest, and food, and loving care > And all that makes the world so fair > Help us to do the things we should > And be to others, kind and good > For all we do, in work and play, > To grow more loving day by day._ These lyrics are by Rebecca Weston. I remember singing this in church growing up, also in New Jersey, although not Elizabeth. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/78 "2013-06-20T23:02:01Z")
Not a rhyme but ABCD fish? _ **L** _, MNO fish. OSAR! CMP? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/79 "2013-06-21T01:44:30Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > These lyrics are by Rebecca Weston. I remember singing this in church growing up, also in New Jersey, although not Elizabeth. Very close - thanks!: [Father, We Thank Thee \> MIDI | Rebecca J. Weston / Daniel J. Batchellor](http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Father_We_Thank_Thee/midi_2/) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751/80 "2013-06-21T06:22:49Z")
Oh another one from my grandparents I just recalled: Bless the meat, damn the skin, open yer mouth and shove it in! (said before a meal as a blessing) When I was a kid the ol’ smokey was: On top of old smokey all covered in blood I shot my poor teacher with a [gun that rhymes with blood which I can’t remember] And then the rhyme went on to describe other grizzly things that the singer did to the teacher. It was pretty horrible. How about this one: One bright day in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight back to back they faced eachother drew their swords and shot one another “and that’s the truth, I saw it all” said the blind man, “through a hole in the wall” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silly-rhymes-your-parents-told-you/660751.md?page=5)