Alternate to Don Alverzo's tweezers?
August 17, 2010 1:46 PM Subscribe
One Hen, Two ducks, radio test/memory trick VS. alternate version - Are you a Turtle?
I just came across this old post from over on the Blue:
http://www.metafilter.com/92659/Who-is-Don-Alverzo-and-why-does-he-have-so-many-tweezers
We used to do that as a "repeat after me" game:
One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four Limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic sympathetic diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth
Ten lyrical spherical diabolical denizens of the deep who all stall around the corner of the quivery quay all at the same time
We even used to play it as a drinking game. I say it to you one verse at a time and your repeat it one verse at a time; you get it right, I drink, you mess up, you drink. Repeat. (Start to lose, it gets harder to win.)
That Metafilter post and the responses shows me that the above arrangement is pretty common, with some small alterations. But we had another version among ourselves that's not even close (after the Hen). Its origins are lost in time and booze; has anyone else ever heard the following and/or can help me trace it to a source?
One fat hen
Couple of ducks
Three brown bear
Four running hare
Five fat fickle females
Six simple Simons sitting sipping scotch
Seven Sinbad sailors sailing the seven seas
Eight egotistical egoists echoing erotic ecstacies
Nine nasty nimble nymphomaniac nurses
#10: I never was a fig-pluckin' fig-plucker's son, but I ain't leavin' til the fig-pluckin's done
And then, as a last trick, if you were playing it as a repeat after me game, was to ask "Are you a turtle?" - if they answered yes or no instead of repeating it, you had 'em.
From whence came this madness?
I just came across this old post from over on the Blue:
http://www.metafilter.com/92659/Who-is-Don-Alverzo-and-why-does-he-have-so-many-tweezers
We used to do that as a "repeat after me" game:
One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four Limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic sympathetic diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth
Ten lyrical spherical diabolical denizens of the deep who all stall around the corner of the quivery quay all at the same time
We even used to play it as a drinking game. I say it to you one verse at a time and your repeat it one verse at a time; you get it right, I drink, you mess up, you drink. Repeat. (Start to lose, it gets harder to win.)
That Metafilter post and the responses shows me that the above arrangement is pretty common, with some small alterations. But we had another version among ourselves that's not even close (after the Hen). Its origins are lost in time and booze; has anyone else ever heard the following and/or can help me trace it to a source?
One fat hen
Couple of ducks
Three brown bear
Four running hare
Five fat fickle females
Six simple Simons sitting sipping scotch
Seven Sinbad sailors sailing the seven seas
Eight egotistical egoists echoing erotic ecstacies
Nine nasty nimble nymphomaniac nurses
#10: I never was a fig-pluckin' fig-plucker's son, but I ain't leavin' til the fig-pluckin's done
And then, as a last trick, if you were playing it as a repeat after me game, was to ask "Are you a turtle?" - if they answered yes or no instead of repeating it, you had 'em.
From whence came this madness?
Response by poster: Hm. So sad about your diabetic donkey. Might be, but reading about the never-indecent habits of the Order of Turtles vs. the most common mispronunciation of fig-pluckin' makes me doubt it.
Some people seem to remember the first version of the twister from Boy Scouts, and I'm seeing some stuff now about a possible secret society inside Scouting known as the Turtles.
Maybe this is their version and now I've just leaked some kind of secret handshake? Uh-oh.
posted by bartleby at 2:29 PM on August 17, 2010
Some people seem to remember the first version of the twister from Boy Scouts, and I'm seeing some stuff now about a possible secret society inside Scouting known as the Turtles.
Maybe this is their version and now I've just leaked some kind of secret handshake? Uh-oh.
posted by bartleby at 2:29 PM on August 17, 2010
I'm sure I've heard a blended version of these two, from my father-in-law, and I think it went to 12.
Anyhow, the MetaFilter post you linked is from a record from 1962 (or 1961). I came across this old forum thread cites other sources, including one going back to the 1940s from Radio Central New York (backed by Wikipedia), and a 1975 album called Illegal, Immoral and Fattening by Eddie & Flo, where the tongue twister is listed as "The Tibetan Memory Trick." Eddie & Flo are Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who first were known as ... The Turtles.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:08 PM on August 17, 2010
Anyhow, the MetaFilter post you linked is from a record from 1962 (or 1961). I came across this old forum thread cites other sources, including one going back to the 1940s from Radio Central New York (backed by Wikipedia), and a 1975 album called Illegal, Immoral and Fattening by Eddie & Flo, where the tongue twister is listed as "The Tibetan Memory Trick." Eddie & Flo are Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who first were known as ... The Turtles.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:08 PM on August 17, 2010
Best answer: ... and here are more with your "Are you a turtle?" version being cited as originating circa 1933, with some minor changes in wording but not concept per line.
So I think you learned a variation of an old favorite, probably changed as it spread from friend to friend, and that question tossed in as (possibly) a nod to The Turtles version. Or not, just a guess.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:14 PM on August 17, 2010
So I think you learned a variation of an old favorite, probably changed as it spread from friend to friend, and that question tossed in as (possibly) a nod to The Turtles version. Or not, just a guess.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:14 PM on August 17, 2010
http://web.archive.org/web/20060217213907/wallyschirra.com/gotcha.htm
May Wally Schirra rest in peace. They don't make 'em like that any more.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 11:42 PM on August 17, 2010
May Wally Schirra rest in peace. They don't make 'em like that any more.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 11:42 PM on August 17, 2010
Best answer: I was initiated as a turtle around 1983 (?), Long Island, NY. And I believe the guy who initiated us was a Hofstra student or recent grad. My "recitation" was very similar to your second one. Best as I can recall:
One fat hen
Couple of duck
Three brown bears
Four running hares
Five fat fickle females
Six simple Simons sitting sipping scotch
Seven Sinbad sailors sailing the sevens seas in a sloop
Eight egotistic egotists echoing egotistical ecstacies
Nine nude nublians nibbling nibbling nuts gnats and nicotine
I never was a fig-plucker or a fig-plucker's son, but I'll pluck those figs til the fig pluckers come.
Not 100% sure on the last one. But responses had to be EXACT. If not, you drank. If you made it to the end without mistakes, you were a turtle. And had to respond to all inquires properly.
And, as far as I remember there was no restriction to repeating the recitation to others. So I'm safe there.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 11:22 AM on August 18, 2010
One fat hen
Couple of duck
Three brown bears
Four running hares
Five fat fickle females
Six simple Simons sitting sipping scotch
Seven Sinbad sailors sailing the sevens seas in a sloop
Eight egotistic egotists echoing egotistical ecstacies
Nine nude nublians nibbling nibbling nuts gnats and nicotine
I never was a fig-plucker or a fig-plucker's son, but I'll pluck those figs til the fig pluckers come.
Not 100% sure on the last one. But responses had to be EXACT. If not, you drank. If you made it to the end without mistakes, you were a turtle. And had to respond to all inquires properly.
And, as far as I remember there was no restriction to repeating the recitation to others. So I'm safe there.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 11:22 AM on August 18, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:18 PM on August 17, 2010