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old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
In the Collectable/Collectible thread of Wordplay & Fun, the discussion turned to marbles. I was just having a conversation with someone who grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and he insists that marbles are played nothing like what of troy described... Marbles to UPers are apparently a small-scale version of golf. A "pot" is hollowed out in the middle of the playing field, and some sort of complex scoring system ensues that I'm not exactly clear on. Since I was not a marble-player as a child, I'm not fully apprised on the differences.
BUT... I am aware of a definite regional difference in The Way Things Are Done. In the "Extended Dance Mix" (if you will) of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer... you know, where extra words are added into the lyrics, i.e.:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose (Like a light bulb)
And if you ever saw it (Saw it)
You would even say it glows (Like a light bulb)
All of the other reindeer (Reindeer)
Used to laugh and call him names (Like Dumbo)
They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph)
Join in any reindeer games (Like football)
Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say (Ho, ho, ho)
"Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him (Loved him)
And they shouted out with glee (Yippee!)
"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Reindeer)
You'll go down in history!" (Like Lincoln)
There appear to be definite regional distinctions in the way the "expanded lyrics" are defined.
Last but not least, as a child I played a game called "Duck, Duck, Goose" in which one person walked around a circle of seated players, tapping each one on the head in passing and assigning them the identity of "Duck" or "Goose". If you were a duck, no problem. If you were the goose, however, you had to scramble up and tag the person who tapped you before they were able to run around the circle and assume your spot. Well, apparently in Minnesota, the recognized convention is "Duck, Duck, Grey Duck". Why? Don't ask me, I just live here.
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Last but not least, as a child I played a game called "Duck, Duck, Goose" in which one person walked around a circle of seated players, tapping each one on the head in passing and assigning
While my first acquaintance with said game came through watching a US sitcom at around 30 years of age - go figga!
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"Duck, Duck, Grey Duck"
At the risk of showing my strong partisan feelings on this matter (Grey Duck indeed), it seems that the Minnesotan version would lend itself to kids simply mumbling the "Grey" and making a run for it, leaving the hapless grey duck unaware what has transpired.
Perhaps this shows the rough-and-tumble, duck-eat-duck world I grew up in, but I think the non-Minnesotan version (which I assume is how it's played everywhere else in the world) results in sounds that are easily distinguishable, and thus less prone to such fowl play.
What? No one really cares about this? Hmmm. Never mind.
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Posts: 157
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Posts: 157 |
I played Duck, Duck, Goose as a little kid. [shrug] We sometimes have sung the lyrics as follows: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (reindeer)
Had a very shiny nose (like a light bulb!)
And if you ever saw it (saw it)
You would even say it glows (like a flashlight!) or (like a light bulb!)
All of the other reindeer (reindeer)
Used to laugh and call him names (like Pinocchio!)
They never let poor Rudolph (Rudolph)
Join in any reindeer games (like Monopoly!)
Then one foggy Christmans Eve, Santa came to say, ( in a deep voice - Ho ho ho!)
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him, (loved him)
And they shouted out with glee, (Whoopee!)
"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, (reindeer)
You'll go down in history!" (like George Washington!) or (like Charlie Brown!) 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,788 |
...the rough-and-tumble, duck-eat-duck world I grew up in.
Donald would never do such a thing!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 157
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Hey, look, everybody!! I'm a newbie, not a stranger!! 
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Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hey, look, everybody!! I'm a newbie, not a stranger!!Congratulations! Now, get quacking, and move on up to journeyman!  I am obliged to wan you though, that you simply must be prepared to lose however many marbles you have along the way, until you reach the sorry state of our one veteran, who thinks s/he's four people - jmh,tsuwm, Jackie and Anu. In reality the veteran is just a little old guy who shares a small tin shack with a cat he calls The Lord.
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You'll go down in history!" (like George Washington!) or (like Charlie Brown!)
We follow pretty much the same text for our little asides, but for some reason, we finish up with "like Jesse James!" (Cowboy bad-guy, gunslinger type, for them what's not familiar with US'n folklore)
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Posts: 347
enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 347 |
>>You'll go down in history!" (like George Washington!) or (like Charlie Brown!)
>We follow pretty much the same text for our little asides, but for some reason, we finish up with "like Jesse James!" (Cowboy bad-guy, gunslinger type, for them what's not familiar with US'n folklore)
...and at my daughters' school, they always sing "(like Columbus)", which seems to fit much better to the beat of the music, to my ear anyway (cf the syllables and emphasis in "like a light bulb"). Interesting that they haven't come up with a variation more relevant to Oz.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Remind me again- how many posts do I need to be a journeyman?
OK, so there's only one veteran, and s/he is really 4 separate people, one of whom is Anu? I am surprised that Anu would have time to do so much posting, given the number of posts I've seen by these people.
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