Conference thebay::joyoflex

189.0. "Adolescent Culture Songs" by SUMMIT::NOBLE () Fri May 23 1986 17:07

    The attached replies were extracted to their own NOTE for
    the sake of posterity.  Add your own favorites.
    
    

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                       <<< DUA2:[NOTES$LIBRARY]JOYOFLEX.NOTE;1 >>>
                             -<  The Joy of Lex  >-
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Note 182.10          Favorite language translation gaffes               10 of 16
APTECH::RSTONE                                        9 lines   9-MAY-1986 11:37
                        -< Equal time for the men.... >-
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    Re: .8
    
    Along the same vein....during the late 1950's there was a popular
    American tune "The Witch Doctor and the Purple People Eater" which
    was frequently broadcast on the Armed Forces Network in Europe.
    This caused some snickering among the Germans who also have a word
    "piepel" which refers to a portion of the human anatomy unique to
    males.
    
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Note 182.11          Favorite language translation gaffes               11 of 16
LEHIGH::CANTOR "Dave Cantor"                          0 lines  10-MAY-1986 16:39
                             -< "Purple people?" >-
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Note 182.12          Favorite language translation gaffes               12 of 16
HELOS::SZETO "Simon Szeto"                            7 lines  22-MAY-1986 22:41
                                -< No see how >-
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    Back to the Pepsi or Coke slogan for a moment:
    
    I have seen some pretty bad translations from English into Chinese.
    This one I'm inclined to think is apocryphal also.
    
  --Simon
    
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Note 182.13          Favorite language translation gaffes               13 of 16
FUTURE::UPPER                                         3 lines  23-MAY-1986 11:43
                            -< Witch do you mean?? >-
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RE: .11

Actually, 2 songs.  Don't tell me you don't know them!!!!
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Note 182.14          Favorite language translation gaffes               14 of 16
NERSW5::MCKENDRY "Big John"                          37 lines  23-MAY-1986 13:04
                             -< Musical Memories >-
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Right. "Witch Doctor" and "Purple People Eater" were both novelties
depending on funny voices, and I believe both were done by David
Seville (aka Ross Bagdasarian), the Chipmunks man. My memory places
them about 1958. I recall bits of both:

"My friend the Witch Doctor, he told me what to say.
 My friend the Witch Doctor, he told me what to do.
 He said I couldn't miss if I said this to you:
 Ooh, eeh, ooh ah ah,
 Ooh, eeh, walla walla bing bang,
 Ooh, eeh, ooh ah ah,
 ooh eeh walla walla bang bang."

and

"...
 I looked in the sky and-a what'd I see? 
 It looked like a purple people Eater to me.
 It was a one-eyed one-horned flying Purple People Eater,
 Pigeon-toed, bless-my-soul, f.P.P.E.
 'We wear short shorts'* F.P.P.E.
 What a sight to see.

 I said, 'Mister P.P.E. what's your line?'
 He said, 'Eatin' P.P. and it sure is fine.
 But that's not the reason that I came to land;
 <funny voice> I want to get a job in a rock'n'roll band.'
 Etc."

Ah, they don't write 'em like they used to, do they? Now if you'll all
excuse me, I have a sudden overwhelming urge to go home and dig out my
old pegged chinos with the buckle in the back...

-John

*A reference to yet another eminently forgettable novelty number of
 the period.
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Note 182.15          Favorite language translation gaffes               15 of 16
DSSDEV::TABER "It mattered once"                      8 lines  23-MAY-1986 13:27
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> Ooh, eeh, ooh ah ah,
> Ooh, eeh, walla walla bing bang,

In the interests of scientific accuracy, I believe it was

 Ooh, eeh, ooh ah ah,
 Ting, Tang, walla walla bing bang,
					>>>==>PStJTT
    

     How about:


     Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious!  (Anyone is welcome to challenge
                                           the spelling.)

     "The Monster Mash"  (Does anyone remember the words?)

      re .1
      
>     Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious!  
                   i                         Soft 'g', 
      "Backwards, that's docious-ali-expi-listic-cali-fragi-repus."

>     "The Monster Mash"  (Does anyone remember the words?)
      
      Yes, I do.  "What ever happened to my Transylvania Twist?"
      
      See also the trivia conference (KP7 to select).

Re:     Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious!  

There was a take-off on this a long time ago that was:

	SuperCaliforniaSurferExpertOnTheOcean

						>>>==>PStJTT

    
    How about --
    
    "She wore an itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny,
    yellow, polka dot bikini
    for the first time today, ..."
    
    
    - chuck

      Or, from an old issue of Mad magazine (and thence from my memory):
      
      "It was an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny
      Yellow, polka-dot
      
                              ZUCCHINI.
      
      Dave C.