Register Log In Wordsmith Talk Forums General Topics Q&A about words Who was the father of our country, Sidney? Search Advanced Forum Search Forums Calendar Active Threads

Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Who was the father of our country, Sidney? #177409 06/15/2008 5:05 PM Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 1 Marcos stranger Marcos stranger Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 1 In the NYT today, William Safire writes:  Quote: Let me recall this gag, a literary chestnut but apropos: What is the question to which “Washington Irving” is the answer? The question: “Who was the father of our country, Sidney? I don't get it. Help, please! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Who was the father of our country, Sidney? Marcos #177411 06/15/2008 6:45 PM Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park of troy Carpal Tunnel of troy Carpal Tunnel Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park Sydney and Irving are both ethnic names its easy to pair them in a joke.. who was the father of our country, sidney?(asks Irving) Washington, Irving (replies Sidney) Last edited by of troy; 06/15/2008 6:45 PM. my other obsession Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Who was the father of our country, Sidney? of troy #177413 06/15/2008 7:44 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass it seems that Safire, for one, has been promulgating this lame joke for some time. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Who was the father of our country, Sidney? Marcos #177424 06/16/2008 2:48 AM Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania The Pook old hand The Pook old hand Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania Wasn't Yossarian confused about Washington Irving or Irving Washington in Catch 22? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Who was the father of our country, Sidney? The Pook #177440 06/16/2008 10:15 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 There was a Washington Irving/Irving Washington thing, but it wasn't Yossarian being confused about it. He used the names alternately when signing soldier's censored letters. IIRC he censored out the signature after having blacked out everything but the articles, or all the nouns, or all the verbs, or some other arbitrary choice of words. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

Default Style BlackNTan Drab eBay GooG v2 infopop new dark new light original dark original stock rounded corners Slate snow sunny dropshadow theblues Touch Of Grey UBB.threads UBB.threads - Dark UBB.threads - Light UBBCentral UBBCentral - Crimson UBBCentral - Lime UBBCentral - Marshmallow UBBCentral - Mocha UBBCentral - Zen UBBT77 UBBT77 - Dark ubbthreads ubbthreads-dark Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith Talk