# Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 6, 2002, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589 "2002-08-06T12:14:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/1 "2002-08-06T12:14:46Z")
[Euty’s Report](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msupercali.html) describes a copyright suit from 1949 thusly: > [@](#): > > Our research first took us to a lawsuit that was filed after the movie came out by Life Music, Inc., against Wonderland Music, the publisher of the Mary Poppins song. It was a copyright infringement suit brought by Barney Young and Gloria Parker, who had written a song in 1949 entitled “Supercalafajaistickespeealadojus” and shown it to Disney in 1951. They asked for twelve million dollars in damages. The suit was decided in the Shermans’ favor because, among other reasons, affidavits were produced from two New Yorkers, Stanley Eichenbaum and Clara Colclaster, who claimed that “variants of the word were known to and used by them many years prior to 1949.” > > The decision makes for fairly humorous reading. Apparently the judge got tired of writing out the whole word, so every time it had to be mentioned it was replaced by the phrase “the word” as if it were some loathsome artifact that had to be held at arm’s length. I have a simple inquiry: Is it a published decision, and if so, what’s the citation? Fun article, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/2 "2002-08-06T13:16:30Z")
The thing that struck me about that ruling was that > [@](#): > > The suit was decided in the Shermans’ favor because, among other reasons, affidavits were produced from two New Yorkers, Stanley Eichenbaum and Clara Colclaster, who claimed that "variants of the word were known to and used by them many years prior to 1949. How does the fact that two New Yorkers had heard of the term before 1949 prove that the Shermans coined the term, or even that they showed it to Disney in 1951? Sounds incongruous to me. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/3 "2002-08-06T13:34:03Z")
It didn’t prove that the Shermans coined the word. It proved that Young and Parker did _not_ create the word, and hence couldn’t have any copyright on it. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/4 "2002-08-06T14:51:25Z")
My mistake; I misread. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/5 "2002-08-06T15:02:05Z")
My question is: will this guy win his bet? While his friend’s claim about the word may be BS, if the friend read it in Maxim maybe he was taking it as statement of fact which means that one of the other 3 stories is BS. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/6 "2002-08-06T20:31:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > \*\*[Euty’s Report](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msupercali.html) describes a copyright suit from 1949 thusly:I have a simple inquiry: Is it a published decision, and if so, what’s the citation? > > Fun article, by the way. \*\* LIFE MUSIC, INC., Barney Young also known as Don Felton and Gloria Parker also known as Patrician Smith, Plantiffs, v. WONDERLAND MUSIC COMPANY, Walt Disney Productions, Buena Vista Records, Julie Andrews, Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman and Broadcast Music, Inc., Defendants UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 241 F. Supp. 653; 1965 U.S. Dist LEXIS 9716; 145 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 603 May 24, 1965 ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/7 "2002-08-06T22:08:01Z")
Cool. Thanks, Euty! And in case anyone was wondering, it wasn’t a decision on the merits–just a ruling on the plaintiff’s motion for a temporary injunction against performance of the Julie Andrews version. Here’s the key decision regarding the preexistence of “the word”: > [@](#): > > As far as the lyrics are concerned, both songs use some spelling of ‘the word.’ Of course, even if defendants copied only ‘the word,’ they conceivably might still be liable for infringement. Plaintiff Young claims to have coined ‘the word’ when he was a child in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1921, but asserts that it was ‘not known to the public until the publication of ‘plaintiffs’ song’.’ However, defendants have submitted several affidavits of presumably disinterested persons who swear that variants of ‘the word’ were known to and used by them many years prior to 1949, when plaintiffs claim to have written their song. On the basis of the record before me, and for the purpose of this preliminary motion only, I find that ‘the word’ was known to and used by members of the public for many years prior to 1951, the date when plaintiffs allegedly published their song. The significance of this is not that defendants are immunized from infringement liability if they, in fact, copied from plaintiffs; a copier can hardly escape liability merely by asserting his right to appropriate the underlying ideas or public domain aspects of the copyrighted work. Rather, the fact that ‘the word’ was known to the public, coupled with affidavits by the defendant composers that they knew of ‘the word’ before plaintiffs composed their song, effectively negates, for purposes of this motion, the inference of copying which plaintiffs would have me draw merely from the highly questionable allegations of access plus the fact that ‘the word’ appears in both songs. (citations omitted). Further litigation in the dispute is reported at _Life Music v. Broadcast Music, Inc._, 41 F.R.D. 16 (S.D.N.Y. 1966) (referring to the composition as the “Super Song”) and _Parker v. Wonderland Music Co._, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7996 (S.D.N.Y. 1967) (reporting that the first case had been dismissed and barring subsequent claims as res judicata). ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/8 "2002-08-07T02:46:40Z")
Explain to me again why Julie Andrews is named in the lawsuit? All she did was sing. 😕 Why wasn’t Dick Van Dyke named, too? He sang a verse of it, too. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/9 "2002-08-07T04:53:10Z")
She was singing a song that the plaintiffs claim belonged to them, without any compensation for that performance. Also, there’s no obligation on the part of a plaintiff to sue everybody who’s caused them harm, and Dick was probably perceived as small potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/10 "2002-08-08T07:56:57Z")
Wait, > [@](#): > > This article is assumed to be satirical as it also stated that Lumiere, the candlestick from Beauty and the Beast, was based on > self-immolating Buddhist monks. _That_’s the line that made you think it was satirical, and not > [@](#): > > Flubber, the “flying rubber” in The Absent-minded Professor (and the heartwarming Robin Williams remake), was in fact a real product created by DuPont in the late 1950s. It was never marketed because of problems with the shipping and shelving of levitating inventory. or > [@](#): > > Woody, the action-figure hero of Toy Story, is a rip-off of the cowboy from The Village People. Check out the way he moves; it’s pretty obvious. ??? ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/11 "2002-08-08T20:17:25Z")
There were quite a few lines I could have quoted from the Maxim article. And if debunking the article were the point of my piece, I would have done all of them. As it was I felt that a single quote was enough to make my point. My apologies for not choosing your favorites. Besides, the one about flubber is true. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/12 "2002-08-08T21:38:06Z")
i’m thinking of the headlines when Scottish soccer club Caledonian Thistle beat the old firm club Celtic in a cup final. “Super Cally go Ballistic, Celtic were Atrocious” made me smile! ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/13 "2002-08-08T21:50:42Z")
Yeah that even made **me** smile irishgirl, and I’m a CP season-ticket holder … ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/14 "2002-08-10T17:44:20Z")
With credit to Gerard Alessandrini and Forbidden Hollywood: So if you’re stuck for a rhyme, there’s no need for despair. Make up a word nonsensical and say it like you care. Better use it carefully, or it could be a hit. You’ll always be identified with this piece of shit. It’s stupidcarelessfictionalnonsensicalverboseness… ---
**Author:** ![NYNJVATXPA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NYNJVATXPA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYNJVATXPA)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/15 "2003-11-27T19:32:42Z")
I lived in Rosedale, Queens, NY in 1964. I was 10 years old in fifth grade at PS 138, and my sister was in 7th grade at JHS 231 in Springfield, Queens, NY. I decided to use the alphabet blocks to write the longest word I can. As the blocks had the front and backs as follows: A-N, B-O, C-P, D-Q, E-R, F-S, G-T, H-U, I-V, J-W, K-X, L-Y, M-Z, The word would use as many A’s as possible, so no Ns, and no Bs to keep all the Os available. The word would use at least one of each letter combination block. The sets were such that there was more of the first blocks than the last blocks. The sets were either 28 and 20, or 32 and 16. One B-O was missing. There were 5 A-N, 4 B-O - one missing, 4 C-P, 4 D-Q, 4 E-R, 4 F-S, and 3 each of the rest. The word was set up in 7 two syllable little words, as I composed it as follows: SUPA - CALO - FRAJA - LISTIC - EXPE - ALO - DOSHEZ. Yes, I claim I created the word!! I started with SUPER but later changed it to SUPA to have the Es available. New Yorkers tend to say SUPER like SUPA I changed the second little word around from CAJA, to CALA, to CALO. I made sure to use the X and Z to have one of each block used. When I was finished I kept the blocks laid out on the basement floor and kept saying it. My sister said it and them asked we where I got it from and I told her I made it up but she didn’t believe me. She said it at school (JHS 231) and then said everyone was saying it. Later everyone was saying it at my school (PS138). One friend questioned , “Where did this come from. It had to come from somewhere. Someone must have made it up”. I responded, “I did”, but he did not believe me. After that, I believe it was said over a New York radio station, and then on Mary Poppins. My mother several times questioned, "For all I know you may have made up something well kmown, but never say anything about it. In later years, I told my mother about it, and she said, I thought you may have made it up. I believe she saw the blocks on the floor but never said anything about it. She said she also feared the noteriety. Sadly, she died last year. I did a presentation on the word using my own flash cards in 1984 at the university of Texas and also coined another word that sounded like Hebrew, OXSKI-METCHA-DETCHA-TZALY-JIMOD- KADOSH- JITEPKU. In 1993, I had my story about SUPA\_CALO-FRAJA-LISTIC-EXPE-ALO-DOSHEZ in the Trenton newspaper, Trentonian, entitled “The Word According to the Creator” That’s all for now ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/16 "2003-11-27T20:21:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NYNJVATXPA \* > \*\*I lived in Rosedale, Queens, NY in 1964. Yes, I claim I created the word!! > When I was finished I kept the blocks laid out on the basement floor and kept saying it. My sister said it and them asked we where I got it from and I told her I made it up but she didn’t believe me. She said it at school (JHS 231) and then said everyone was saying it. Later everyone was saying it at my school (PS138). One friend questioned , “Where did this come from. It had to come from somewhere. Someone must have made it up”. I responded, “I did”, but he did not believe me. After that, I believe it was said over a New York radio station, and then on Mary Poppins. > That’s all for now \*\* Thank goodness. Either you omitted a smilie face when you claim that you invented the word, or you failed to read the parts before your post that offer the word was known by many _before_ 1951. ---
**Author:** ![NYNJVATXPA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NYNJVATXPA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYNJVATXPA)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/17 "2003-11-28T02:12:51Z")
Correction My sister said it and then asked me where I got it from, and I told her I made it up but she didn’t believe me. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/18 "2003-11-28T03:04:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NYNJVATXPA \* > \*\*Correction > > My sister said it and then asked me where I got it from, and I told her I made it up but she didn’t believe me. \*\* Okay, since I’m the author of the report and since your story is backed up by … well, let’s see … _air_, can you show me anywhere that my scholarship is in error? I’d also be interested in the kind of time warp you live in since you “created” the word in 1964 and the Sherman Brothers song was copyrighted in 1963. ---
**Author:** ![NYNJVATXPA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@NYNJVATXPA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYNJVATXPA)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/19 "2003-11-28T08:11:51Z")
I first presented a long explanation of how the word was done with letter blocks and I remember doing it. I did not know that the Sherman’s had the word before. I thought they found it for Mary Poppins at the end of 1964. Are you sure it was 1963? I read that they got it from somewhere. I remember it said in the schoolyard before hearing it on Mary Poppins. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589/20 "2003-11-28T11:37:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NYNJVATXPA \* > \*\*I first presented a long explanation of how the word was done with letter blocks and I remember doing it. I did not know that the Sherman’s had the word before. I thought they found it for Mary Poppins at the end of 1964. Are you sure it was 1963? I read that they got it from somewhere. I remember it said in the schoolyard before hearing it on Mary Poppins. \*\* Did you actually _read_ my report? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious/122589.md?page=2)