{"id":3113,"date":"2020-01-03T16:51:48","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T16:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/?p=3113"},"modified":"2024-04-20T21:36:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T21:36:48","slug":"paddywhack-the-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2020\/01\/03\/paddywhack-the-bones\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddywhack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In September<\/a>, I mentioned that I’d been writing a weekly Fun Facts About English<\/a> series, and my original goal was to produce 50 posts. This week, I’m at number 38 with a topic that I’m pleased to re-encounter. I thought I’d share it as a regular post with some added personal history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kinney<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One year in late October, I introduced the song, This Old Man<\/em>, to my kindergarten students for the December talent show (\u304a\u904a\u622f\u4f1a); a tune unfamiliar to my Japanese colleagues at the time. The Encho (Director) grilled me oh-so-condescendingly about the meaning of certain lyrics like ‘nick-nack paddywhack,’ stating she had to explain the meaning to parents who ‘desperately<\/em> wanted to know.’ In those pre-Internet days, I had few avenues for such research. The best I could say was that the words were largely nonsensical though rhythmic word-plays meant for children. The Encho escalated the issue wanting to strike the song from the program when an amazing thing happened. In December, This Old Man<\/em> appeared in a catchy television commercial and poof!<\/em> the controversy went away. With the song included in the talent show, it created the appearance that the kindergarten had its finger on the timely pulse of popular culture. I was off the hook and, by the time of the show, everybody was humming the tune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, I’ve done my research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fun Fact<\/strong> above collapses two very separate periods of history regarding This Old Man<\/em>, as the rhyme itself goes back hundreds of years, long before hitting a linguistic and cultural pothole in the Victorian era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides a slap or a sharp blow, paddywhack<\/em> also refers to the tough neck ligament found in many four-legged animals such as sheep and cattle. Even today, this chewy and protein-rich ligament is often sold as a dried dog treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dried beef paddywhack. Target<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This Old Man<\/strong>
This old man,
He played one,
He played nick-nack on my thumb,
With a nick-nack paddywhack,
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though it’s difficult to determine the exact meaning of the Old English counting rhyme, there are clues as to what it may be referring. One is “nick-nack” and the practice of “playing the bones.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Playing The Bones – Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After a feast of lamb or swine, the Irish would fashion the animal’s rib bones into a musical instrument held between the fingers and clacked together, aka playing the bones<\/em>. This evolved into the more contemporary playing of spoons. Nick-nack<\/em> refers to the clacking sound of the bones, much like we say rat-a-tat-tat<\/em> for the sound of a drum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s also important to note that bones used in this musical fashion dates back to ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"English<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As for a ‘severe beating,’ though recent interpretations point to Victorian (1840s) slang and giving an Irishman (Paddy) a whack, paddywhack’s much older etymology connects the word to paxwax<\/em>, the Old English term for an animal’s nuchal ligament. The word whack<\/em>, meaning to strike forcefully, doesn’t appear until the early 18th century and may be derivative of the Middle English word thwack<\/em>, as in “I shall thwack him senseless!” Paddy,<\/em> as in “an Irishman,” is from the late 18th century and is a derisive nickname for the proper Irish name Patrick<\/em> (P\u00e1draic, P\u00e1draig, P\u00e1raic). In short, paddywhack<\/em>, Paddy<\/em>, and whack<\/em> have completely separate etymologies.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, it’s easily imagined that the long, elastic paddywhack of an animal could be used as an instrument of discipline – much like ‘getting a switchin’ with a tree switch, or a ‘paddlin’ with a wooden paddle. Ouch! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to check out the three videos below – living proof our ancient musical and linguistic history is still alive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n