Useless bits of cultural knowledge.

[rabidsamfan]

I think I'm getting old. Stuff I never had to explain to grownups I am now explaining to grownups.

*sigh*

Which of these do you recognize?

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to sleep with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

ETA:
11: Five is right out! (courtesy of blackbird_song)

Double ETA, corrected number 8. Gah! Sometimes my fingers type faster than my brain works!

If you want to memify? (memeify?) the list, feel free. Do the "bold I know it, italic I've heard it but I don't understand it, and strikethrough I've never even heard of it" routine. And add your own "why am I the only one getting this joke?" lines too!

Comments

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to be with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

But then, I'm getting old, too. And I adore Tom Lehrer. Odd how appropriate some of his lyrics seem these days, isn't it?

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

If you adore Tom L. you must go and seek out Flanders and Swann. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000006T4S/sr=8-1/qid=1142272093/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2551939-1432963?%5Fencoding=UTF8) Then you'll get #2 and a good many more.

I'm so pleased you got number 7, though. So few people know Anna Russell!

[elendiari22.livejournal.com]

I'm embarrressed to admit that I've never heard of any of these, at least as far as I can remember. MAybe number 6, though;it rings a bell. Are these from children's books?

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Only number 8 is from a children's book.

Number six is from a children's song, though!

[shirebound]

I only recognize 3 and 4!

:(

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Ah, but they are good ones to recognize.

I'll post a key to them tonight, I think.

[shirebound]

Now I have T.L. songs going through my head. Ah well, they're more fun than what usually goes through my head!

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Earworms are annoying, aren't they.

*imagines hobbits singing Tom Lehrer songs*

[oliviaramirez]

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to be with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Hooray for G&S! Leaping gaily over the barriers of language and country!

(And I do love your icon...If you like Harry Potter at all, you might want to take a peek at the Slytherin Study Group (http://www.fanfiction.net/u/167315/) stories. Especially Stuck in the Muddle.)

[oliviaramirez]

I saw the Mikado a few years ago and it was wonderful. I really like Gilbert & Sullivan.
I like my little esheep too, I like to have a few bouncing around my screen, they make me laugh.
And thanks for the rec, I shall have a look later on :)

[mariole.livejournal.com]

I just know

3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

*is ignorant*

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

*grin*

I bet you have some that I don't know too!

[sila-lumenn.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to bed with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

Oh, so close! I'm sure my daughter could tell me #6, it's vaguely familiar. It's got to be from a song she learned at school.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

It's more likely to be a song you learned when you were in school, if you're anywhere near as old as I am. But ask her anyway, she may know it!

[sila-lumenn.livejournal.com]

Oh, I imagine I'm a bit older than you. (forty-mumblemumble) LOL! Miranda's been coming home singing a lot of the songs I learned when I was a kid. They must be coming back in fashion or something. But, it's fun to be able to sing along with her. And she thinks it's cool that her old mom knows the "new" songs she's learning.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm forty-mumble too. I just never did the married-with-kids routine so people think of me as younger.

[sila-lumenn.livejournal.com]

You do it very well, too! I had you pegged for no older than mid-30s. Don't you just love when people think you're younger than you are? Would've driven me nuts earlier in life. LOL!

[blackbird-song.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to be with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

My addition:
11. Five is right out!

Catherine

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

And three shall be the number of thy counting!

*hee hee!*

[lothithil.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu This is in my brain somewhere... but I cannot retrieve the data!
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto! Necktie!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park ROTFL!
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know! more than one source for this
8. I went to be with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums. again, multiple references available
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

With #7, I'm thinking of Anna Russell, although you're right, there are probably multiples. But with #9, all roads should lead to one place...

As I said to someone else above, I bet you know some that I don't know!

[sila-lumenn.livejournal.com]

Anna Russell! Of course! :D *forehead slap*

[cara-chapel.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to be with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair....
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...
11: Five is right out!

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

*grin* I can see that I'm going to be explaining again... But oh, what an opportunity to corrupt the children introduce my friends to some lovely silliness.

[unhobbityhobbit.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu though my dad is always wandering around saying "chomp chomp, little shrdlu!"
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud nothing quite like it for cooling the blood!
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park it just takes a smidgin...
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to be with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

Ooh, I just noticed.
11. Five is right out!

and on that note: always look on the bright side of life...

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

I bet your dad could explain the first one then.

See if you can stump me!

[dreamflower]

1. Etaoin shrdlu but *very* familiar; it's on the tip of my brain...
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud...nothing quite like it for cooling the blood...
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!...'spose they'll ever do a remake?
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!...ROTFL! Anna Russell rocks...
8. I went to be with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time... Yay for G & S!

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Do you know it took me all the way to this comment to realize that I'd messed up number 8? It's I went to sleep with gum in my mouth... *headdesk*

Ah, well. You'll remember etaoin shrdlu sooner or later. And I'll probably post a guide tonight.

[trilliah.livejournal.com]

The only one I recognize (and blackbird_song can back me on this) is "Five is right out!" Are the rest Monty Python too?

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Nope. That's actually the first bit of Monty Python in the list. *hangs head in shame* You'd have thunk I'd at least mentioned coconuts...

[serai1.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to sleep with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...
11. Five is right out!

My own Catchword That Needs Explaining is: "Brain and brain! What is BRAIN??!!"

Mud, mud, glorious mud!
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood!
So follow me, follow
Down to the hollow
And there let us wallow in
Glo-o-o-o-rious mud!

You know the weird thing? I have no idea where I'm remembering that from. They say the easiest way to remember something is to set it to music. Guess they're right.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I don't know the brain one. I mean "Eat brains!" I know, but now I am all curious.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Mwa-ha-ha. *rubs hands gleefully*

Wait a minute. Some are boojums. If that's KV, then I do know it. Just took a while for it to surface.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

KV? ... er.. no, although it may have gone through them from my source.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Ah. I thought I was remembering it from Kurt Vonnegut.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

You might be. It's been used plenty of times in various places.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Oh, and "Brain and brain! What is BRAIN??!!" is a quote from the immortal Spock's Brain, the Plan 9 of science fiction TV.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Oh, lordy, no wonder I'd forgotten it. I had blissfully erased that episode from my memory.

But the quote is great...

[siouxieq.livejournal.com]

I don't know any of these, but I am blaming it on growing up in Australia rather than my age

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Fair enough! Although I did almost put "Tie me kangaroo down, Sport!" into the list.

[siouxieq.livejournal.com]

"Tie me kangaroo down, Sport!"

One of my all time favourites.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

All together now!

*bounces off, singing*

[fictualities.livejournal.com]

1. Etaoin shrdlu
2. Mud, mud, glorious mud
3. Klaatu Barada Nikto!
4. Poisoning pigeons in the park
5. Once there was a shaggy dog, and one day he entered into the block shaggy dog contest...
6. Beans in your ears!
7. I'm not making this up, you know!
8. I went to sleep with gum in my mouth, and now there's gum in my hair...
9. Some are boojums.
10. My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time...

And in the spirit of (9), I will now softly and suddenly vanish away. :D

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Lol! Although I confess surprise that you have not encountered etaoin shrdlu...

[gentlehobbit.livejournal.com]

I only recognize #2

Mud, mud, glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood.
So follow me, follow,
down to the hollow
Where we can wallow in
Mud, Glo-o-rious Mud!

Flanders and Swan, I believe. :)

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Oh, so very much yes!

[qinfinity.livejournal.com]

"Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out."

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the best movie I think they ever made. If that is the movie you're quoting. I'm not exactly sure.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

It is!