Americanisms

I’ve noticed a lot of written quizzes now seem to start with”Riddle me this.” It makes no sense. I do remember ‘The Riddler’ in the original Batman series using it, but it now seems to be creeping in to UK use.

lol I don’t hear that often around here except in the context of Batman’s The Riddler. I guess that would be considered an Americanism if it originates from American media, even if it isn’t well-accepted as a social norm in real American culture?

profdanger said:

I guess that would be considered an Americanism if it originates from American media,

Regretfully, I regard any nonsensical phrase as probably American. Like the awful "just sayin'", which makes me shudder.

ArchaeC said:

Children in most European countries used to sing it and also Frère Jacques.

Very interesting as I remember singing both Alouette and Frere Jacques in my infant + junior schools in Hampshire in the late 1960s to early 1970s but had no idea they were so universally sung.

I wonder why 

I believe it is Québécois, although at the time I thought it was French. Children in most European countries used to sing it and also Frère Jacques. 

Pōkarekare Ana is a beautiful song. I was introduced to it through Classic FM and sing only the repeating title when it is played. Hayley Westenra sings it beautifully.

ArchaeC said:

Did you sing the Québécois song ‘Alouette’ at school?

It's Québécois? I always thought it was French!

profdanger said:

It is interesting singing in languages you don’t understand.

It is. I learnt the Maori song Pōkarekare Ana (along with traditional actions) in primary school and can still sing it today. 

Did you sing the Québécois song ‘Alouette’ at school?

As small children, it felt like we sang it every music lesson. LONG LIVE  

There are Norman surnames on English lines of my ancestry. 

It is interesting singing in languages you don’t understand. There’s something about the relationship of music and language that breaks down the individual sounds of the syllables into manageable bite-sized chunks that our minds can comprehend easier than reading out the words normally.

However that being said, I adore the Japanese music of Miki Matsubara and Tatsuro Yamashita, but even if you wrote out the rōmaji script for the words and I probably know every note of their songs intimately, I probably still couldn’t sing their songs lol.

It is interesting singing in languages you don’t understand. There’s something about the relationship of music and language that breaks down the individual sounds of the syllables into manageable bite-sized chunks that our minds can comprehend easier than reading out the words normally.

However that being said, I adore the Japanese music of Miki Matsubara and Tatsuro Yamashita, but even if you wrote out the rōmaji script for the words and I probably know every note of their songs intimately, I probably still couldn’t sing their songs lol.

ArchaeC said:

Children in most European countries used to sing it and also Frère Jacques.

Very interesting as I remember singing both Alouette and Frere Jacques in my infant + junior schools in Hampshire in the late 1960s to early 1970s but had no idea they were so universally sung.

I wonder why 

I believe it is Québécois, although at the time I thought it was French. Children in most European countries used to sing it and also Frère Jacques. 

Pōkarekare Ana is a beautiful song. I was introduced to it through Classic FM and sing only the repeating title when it is played. Hayley Westenra sings it beautifully.

ArchaeC said:

Did you sing the Québécois song ‘Alouette’ at school?

It's Québécois? I always thought it was French!

profdanger said:

It is interesting singing in languages you don’t understand.

It is. I learnt the Maori song Pōkarekare Ana (along with traditional actions) in primary school and can still sing it today. 

Did you sing the Québécois song ‘Alouette’ at school?

As small children, it felt like we sang it every music lesson. LONG LIVE