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Original poster

The Owl and the Pussycat

48 replies

Freckle · 05/10/2005 20:28

Just wondered if any teacher (or anyone else who might have a view!) could help with this. DS2 has been set some literacy homework relating to Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat. One of the questions is to find 3 words in the poem which indicate that the poem was written over 100 years ago. We've come up with fowl, which these days tends to refer to poultry and game, but used to refer to any bird. We thought about runcible, but, as it was a word coined by Lear, thought this was not what is being looked for. Apart from that, we're stumped.

All the other words in the poem are in common use today - although "tarry" is possibly not used quite so much, but I certainly wouldn't assume that an author penned something over 100 years ago if tarry was used.

Any other ideas???

OP posts:
yoyo · 05/10/2005 21:02

Motherinferior - are you very young? I can remember shillings - they were common currency until 1970.

motherinferior · 05/10/2005 21:06

I only meant shillings were possibly dated! I am very very VERY old, I'm 42.

yoyo · 05/10/2005 21:07

Thank God for that. I was beginning to feel rather old!

CarolinaFullMoon · 05/10/2005 21:13

what's old-fashioned about quince? You could buy them easily where I used to live in North London (not 100 years ago).

um - maybe pigs don't have rings on the ends of their noses these days?

agree nothing dates it as Victorian except "runcible". Not like comfits and bathing-machines in Alice in Wonderland for example.

happymerryberries · 05/10/2005 21:16

Tongue in cheek icon needed

they got married! Mind you it was cross species!

Original poster
Freckle · 05/10/2005 22:29

I'm so glad that you all seem to be as puzzled as we are. I was beginning to think we were missing something really obvious.

I think I'll suggest he lists fowl, runcible and tarry - but I have no idea why these would date the poem as Victorian.

Thanks for your thoughts.

OP posts:
motherinferior · 05/10/2005 22:31

But runcible is made up, I'm sure.

TBH I think the most indicative thing is that it uses the word 'pussy' straight-faced but I doubt if that is what the teacher is after.

SplendidTinker · 05/10/2005 22:39

I thought runcible was a proper word Did he make it up to apply to a spoon that is like a fork?

CarolinaFullMoon · 05/10/2005 22:43

no, that's a spork

motherinferior · 05/10/2005 22:45

It is a proper word because he made it up. In the
same way that Lewis Carroll made up 'chortled' which is now commonly used. Well, sometimes used. By me, anyway.

CarolinaFullMoon · 05/10/2005 22:47

it's a Victorian word because he made it up, too (being a Victorian).

SplendidTinker · 05/10/2005 22:49

Well I never. I know someone had to make it up at some stage but ykwim. Chortle is a grand word.

katymac · 06/10/2005 15:58

Will you let us know the answer...please

Original poster
Freckle · 06/10/2005 16:01

DS2 isn't due to hand in the homework until Monday, but I'll write a note to his teacher to say that it's stumped the collective might of Mumsnet and report back!

OP posts:
binkie · 06/10/2005 17:12

You know, I keep thinking about this. Could it be approached by way of thinking about differences b/w the norms of Victorian life & ours, that make it more of a fairytale (even) for us than it was in its own time? Eg:

  • no recorded music (so it was normal for a courting couple to sing to one another w/ own instruments)

  • no outboard (or any other kind of) engines (so taking a year and a day to get to Bong-tree land not quite so unexpected)

  • no electricity (so dancing by the light of the moon something children might really have done)

?

Just trying to turn it into an exercise that goes somewhere! - as I'm not convinced it does as is.

Original poster
Freckle · 06/10/2005 17:27

Well, the question was to find 3 words which indicate that the poem was written 100 years ago. Whilst I agree with your description of the activities being in tune with the Victorian era, I'm not sure that would answer the question as posed.

The children were advised to use a dictionary and to write down what the words mean today. We've looked up all the relevant words, but nothing in any of the dictionaries indicates that the words have a different meaning today from when they were previously used.

OP posts:
binkie · 06/10/2005 17:34

Yes - I agree with you & everyone else, there are no words that do what he's been asked. So I thought maybe we could do something else!

What were the other questions he was asked about it, by the way?

CarolinaFullMoon · 06/10/2005 18:50

is "what the words mean today?" supposed to be as in fowl=bird, tarry=be slow/hang about, etc?

binkie, were you a bit bored at work today?

HausOfHorrors · 06/10/2005 19:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nerdgirl · 06/10/2005 19:48

'tarried' and 'fowl' (for other than domestic birds) are both noted as 'archaic' by the OED

CarolinaFullMoon · 13/10/2005 10:33

what was the answer then Freckle?

TinyGang · 13/10/2005 10:39

Didn't five pound notes used to be very large (and white) years ago?

This was because five pounds was a lot of money then, so it was quite an impressive note and big enough to wrap things in.

katymac · 03/11/2005 21:45

Freckle - What was the answer?

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