# What does "foam" mean in "Show me the way to go home"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311 "2016-05-21T18:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/1 "2016-05-21T18:07:53Z")
Wherever I may roam, on land or sea or foam… What does “foam” mean here? I’d have thought it meant the ocean, but “sea” already covers that. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/2 "2016-05-21T18:21:40Z")
Yeah, it pretty much refers to the ocean. In spite of the redundancy, they needed a rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/3 "2016-05-21T18:25:55Z")
To the oceans white with foam. Not many rhyme choices for “home”, since “orange” doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/4 "2016-05-21T18:44:49Z")
Pretty pathetic effort, if you ask me. _Everywhere I roam On clay or sand or loam_ _Everywhere I roam With elf or dwarf or gnome_ _Everywhere I roam Even if I Acquire Immune Deficiency Syndrome_ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/5 "2016-05-21T20:53:15Z")
Show me the way to my habitual abode I’m fatigued and I want to retire Had an alcoholic beverage 60 minutes ago and it went straight to my cerebellum. Wherever I may rambulate On land or sea or agitated water You can always hear me chanting this melody Show me the way to my habitual abode ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/6 "2016-05-21T21:01:30Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Show me the way to my habitual abode > I’m fatigued and I want to retire > Had an alcoholic beverage 60 minutes ago > and it went straight to my cerebellum. > Wherever I may rambulate > On land or sea or agitated water > You can always hear me chanting this melody > Show me the way to my habitual abode Trivium - only one other song contains the word “rambulate”. [Spoiler: it's totally awesome] ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/7 "2016-05-22T03:19:23Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Trivium - only one other song contains the word “rambulate”. Video not cromulent. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/8 "2016-05-22T05:15:35Z")
Well, dang, that seems pretty repetitious or repetitious. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/9 "2016-05-22T05:19:31Z")
[Quint]“Here’s ta swimmin’ with bowlegged wimmen!”[/Quint] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/10 "2016-05-22T06:17:19Z")
Foam refers to the froth often seen at water’s edge. It’s not repetitious so much as a form of emphasis – land and sea cover everything on the surface of the Earth, but just to be safe we’re including the border between the two, which is foam. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/11 "2016-05-23T11:08:38Z")
Well, consider my ignorance fought. I always assumed that the foam in the song was the frothy head of a pint of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/12 "2016-05-23T18:40:26Z")
> [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](#): > > Well, consider my ignorance fought. I always assumed that the foam in the song was the frothy head of a pint of beer. Who’s to say it can’t be a double entendre? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/13 "2016-05-23T19:04:13Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Foam refers to the froth often seen at water’s edge. It’s not repetitious so much as a form of emphasis – land and sea cover everything on the surface of the Earth, but just to be safe we’re including the border between the two, which is foam. I think you’re on the right track, but thinking too small. It’s obviously anticipating interstellar and intergalactic travel, and contemplating the homesick emotional state of the tipsy astronaut. > **[Quantum foam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_foam)** > > Quantum foam or spacetime foam is a theoretical quantum fluctuation of spacetime on very small scales due to quantum mechanics. The theory predicts that at these small scales, particles of matter and antimatter are constantly created and destroyed. These subatomic objects are called virtual particles. The idea was devised by John Wheeler in 1955. > With an incomplete theory of quantum gravity, it is impossible to be certain what spacetime would look like at small scales. However, there is no defin... ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-foam-mean-in-show-me-the-way-to-go-home/755311/14 "2016-05-24T04:06:17Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Wherever I may roam, on land or sea or foam… > > What does “foam” mean here? I’d have thought it meant the ocean, but “sea” already covers that. Who knows the whys or wherefores?