Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
m Robot - Moving category Fictional words to Words originating in fiction per CFD at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2008 February 26. |
←Blanked the page |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious''' ({{pronEng|ˌsuːpɚˌkælɪˌfrædʒəlˌɪstɪkˌɛkspiːˌælɪˈdoʊʃəs}}) is an [[English language|English]] word in the song with the same title in the musical film ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]''. The song was written by the [[Sherman Brothers]]. |
|||
Since Mary Poppins was a period piece, set in 1910, period sounding songs were wanted. ''Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'' sounds like popular folk songs "Boiled Beef and Carrots" and "Any Old Iron.!!"<ref>The Making of Mary Poppins, 2004</ref> |
|||
==Origin== |
|||
In the [[Mary Poppins (musical)|West End and Broadway musical]], everyone runs out of conversations, and Mary and the children go to Mrs. Corry's shop, where you can buy them. Jane and Michael pick out some letters and spell a few words. Bert and Mrs. Corry use the letters to make some words (whose existence Jane doubts). Mary says that you could use some letters more than one time and creates the longest word of all in this song.{{Facts|date=February 2007}} |
|||
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is defined as a nonsense word that is used to describe the longest word.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/supercalifragilisticexpialidocious supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - Definitions from Dictionary.com]</ref> |
|||
The critics' belief that the word itself has obscure origins has created some debate about when it was first used historically. According to Richard M. Sherman, co-writer of the song with his brother, Robert, the word was created by them in two weeks, mostly out of [[double-talk]].<ref>[http://laist.com/2007/11/02/laist_interview_66.php LAist Interview: Richard M. Sherman, November 2, 2007]</ref> |
|||
Roots of the word have been defined<ref>by [[Richard Lederer]] in his book ''[[Crazy English]]''</ref> as follows: super- "above," cali- "beauty," fragilistic- "delicate," expeali- "to atone," and docious- "educable," with the sum of these parts signifying roughly "Atoning for educatability through delicate beauty." This explication of its connotations suits the fictional nature of Mary Poppins, in that she presents herself as both superlatively beautiful and also supremely intelligent and capable of great achievements.{{Facts|date=February 2007}} |
|||
==Backwards== |
|||
According to the film version of the song, "you can say it backwards, which is '''docious-ali-expi-listic-fragi-cali-repus'''". [[Julie Andrews]], the star of ''Mary Poppins'', has said that her husband at the time, [[Tony Walton]], devised this backwards version of the word.{{Facts|date=February 2007}} In that word, the main [[syllable|syllables]] are reversed, rather than the order of each letter, with the exception of the end part 'repus', which is 'super' spelled backwards. In contrast, the musical play's version of the song presents a version of the word with all the letters reversed ('''suoicodilaipxecitsiligarfilacrepus''').{{Facts|date=February 2007}} In addition, they spelled and sang each letter of the famous [[tongue twister]], similar to "[[Do-Re-Mi]]" from ''[[The Sound of Music]]''. |
|||
==Legal action== |
|||
In 1965, the song was the subject of an unsuccessful [[lawsuit]] by songwriters Patricia Smith and Don Fenton against the makers of the [[Walt Disney]] film.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msupercali.html "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" origins], [[The Straight Dope]]</ref> The plaintiffs alleged that it was a [[copyright infringement]] of a 1951 song of their own called ''Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus (The Super Song),'' recorded by Alan Holmes and his New Tones and released as Columbia CO 42665.<ref>[http://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/2006/03/return-of-supercalafajalistickespeeala.html Columbia CO 42665]</ref> Disney won the lawsuit because affidavits were produced showing that "variants of the word were known (...) many years prior to 1949," and because no copyright was registered in Washington D.C. |
|||
==In Popular Culture== |
|||
* Dance Rock band [[Cobra Starship]] uses the word in a parody version of [[Gwen Stefani|Gwen Stefani's]] [[Hollaback Girl]], entitled [[Hollaback Boy]]. |
|||
* Annie ([[Scarlett Johansson]]), herself a nanny, tells her pupil Greyer that this is the longest word in English in ''[[The Nanny Diaries (film)|The Nanny Diaries]]''. When he asks her what does it mean, she changes the subject. |
|||
* In the ''[[House of Mouse]]'' episode "Goofy for a Day", Goofy sings "Soup or Salad, Fries or Biscuits" which is set to the melody of ''Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious''. |
|||
* An [[April Fool's Day]] weather promo created by [[Connecticut]]'s [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[affiliate]], [[WTNH]], in 2005, was called "Supercalifragilisticexpialidoppler". The promos, now only seen on [[YouTube]] and the station's website, have become very popular. |
|||
*In a [[Saturday Night Live]] skit, about shorting words, [[Chris Farley]] says "Supercalifragilisticexpialidoc". This skit can be seen on the DVD "SNL Collection-The best of David Spade" |
|||
*The political satire group The [[Capitol Steps]] has parodied the word and song numerous times with songs such as SuperCaliforniaRecallFreakShowWasAtrocious, Superjealousfragilemisswithsexualneurosis, Supercallousmeanandnastyrightwinglegislation, and SuperFranticUnproductiveNothingLegislation. [https://albums.capitolsteps.com/cgi-bin/miva?albums/order.mv] |
|||
*[[Graeme Garden]] sang the words to the tune of [[Beethoven's]] [[9th Symphony]] ([[Ode to Joy]]) (the [[European Anthem]]) on [[I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue]] on [[BBC Radio 4]]. |
|||
==See also== |
|||
*[[Antidisestablishmentarianism]] |
|||
*[[Longest word in English]] |
|||
==References== |
|||
{{Refimprove|date=February 2007}} |
|||
{{reflist}} |
|||
* [[Sherman, Robert B.]] ''[[Walt's Time: from before to beyond]]''. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers |
|||
==External links== |
|||
{{wiktionarypar|supercalifragilisticexpialidocious}} |
|||
*[http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/supercal.htm "Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious"] at the [[National Institutes of Health]], Department of Health & Human Services (NIEHS). (Lyrics and Quicktime audio clip). |
|||
*[http://www.reelclassics.com/Musicals/MaryPoppins/marypoppins.htm ''Mary Poppins'' (1964)] at ''Reel Classics''; features "Multimedia Clips": incl. [http://www.reelclassics.com/Audio_Video/Videos7s/marypop_highlights2.mov Mary Poppins Highlights: "Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious!"]. (Quicktime video clip). |
|||
[[Category:1964 singles]] |
|||
[[Category:1964 songs]] |
|||
[[Category:Alvin and the Chipmunks songs]] |
|||
[[Category:Words originating in fiction]] |
|||
[[Category:Mary Poppins songs]] |
|||
[[ca:Supercalifragilisticoespialidoso]] |
|||
[[es:Supercalifragilisticoespialidoso]] |
|||
[[fr:Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious]] |
|||
[[it:Supercalifragilistichespiralidoso]] |
|||
[[he:סופרקאליפרג'ליסטיקאקספיאלידואשס]] |
|||
[[ja:スーパーカリフラジリステックエクスピアリドゥーシャス]] |
|||
[[pl:Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious]] |
|||
[[pt:Supercalifragilisticoespialidoso]] |
|||
[[sv:Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious]] |
|||