Kevin's Watch

"I have to push the pram a lot."
It's from Monty Python the Holy Grail.
What does it mean?

I always assumed it referred to emasculation, with regard to stereotypical gender roles: He's left pushing the pram, ie looking after the children, instead of his wife.

And it's probably just there because it rhymes.

Edit: And if you Americans don't call it a pram I have no idea what the word is you'd use.

"Pram" is British English for a stroller or baby carriage. The implication is either that the knight singing this line has to care for youngling frequently...or that the knights in general are a lusty and fertile lot.

Or perhaps it is just a forced rhyme for Camelot...

I always took "stroller" as strictly the word for pushchair, and not pram. The distinction being that a pushchair/stroller is for older infants sitting upright. Pram is only really used for the ones where the baby is lying down.

It is actually a perambulator - perambulate being to walk, but it's reduced to pram. Rhymes with "Spamalot"! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

I'm Murrin wrote:I always took "stroller" as strictly the word for pushchair, and not pram. The distinction being that a pushchair/stroller is for older infants sitting upright. Pram is only really used for the ones where the baby is lying down.

baby buggy / baby carriage.

He's like a rabbit - no other hobby than playing a game of hide the salami. The end result: a zillion of kids. So he's busy pushing the baby buggy all the time.

But Vader, I thought that part was in Meaning of Life:

I didn't say he already was a Roman Catholic before he was born.

Thanks everyone!!

Just watched it tonight.
My kids first time seeing it.
They laughed the loudest at scenes I didn't expect.
Like Lancelot running....and running.....and running.....and then slaughtering the wedding party.
They got it, they got the comedy of the setup not just the mayhem he was doing.
I was so proud of them!

I always just assumed it was so they could rhyme it.

--A

Poetry at its finest.

Linna Heartlistener wrote:baby buggy / baby carriage.

Hence the tongue twister: rubber baby buggy bumpers. Good luck!

aliantha wrote:

Linna Heartlistener wrote:baby buggy / baby carriage.

Hence the tongue twister: rubber baby buggy bumpers. Good luck!

To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
A dull, dark dock, a life-long lock,
A short, sharp shock, a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a pestilential prison,
And awaiting the sensation
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!

Do your worst...

Sarge, my kids used to have to say that one as a warm-up in chorus class.

null wrote:

aliantha wrote:

Linna Heartlistener wrote:baby buggy / baby carriage.

Hence the tongue twister: rubber baby buggy bumpers. Good luck!

To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
A dull, dark dock, a life-long lock,
A short, sharp shock, a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a pestilential prison,
And awaiting the sensation
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!

Back to G&S again? Mikado!!

aliantha wrote:Sarge, my kids used to have to say that one as a warm-up in chorus class.

Heh...it's one of the set I use when teaching voice, but it's just a limbering up, not really difficult.

The ones that cause folk real trouble, are:

"The big black bug bled blue-black blood, but the other black bug bled blue."

"He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts."

Let's try some Finnish ones.

Aamunsarastuksessa katsastusmies uurasti esteratsastusharrastuksessansa.

Appilan pappilan apupapin papupata pankolla kiehuu ja kuohuu. Pappilan paksuposkinen piski pisti paksun papukeiton poskeensa.

Epäjärjestelmällistämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän

- Kokko, kokoo koko kokko kokoon!
- Koko kokkoko?
- Koko kokko.

Mun mummoni muni mun mammani, mun mammani muni mun.