Okay. Now I'm curious.

[deird_lj]

(This is all beer_good_foamy's fault.)


[Poll #1526051]


Is it a regional thing? A generational thing? Why all the confusion?

Comments

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Hey, what's with the default being on incy wincy??? Trying to trick us, huh?


I think the confusion is that YOU'RE WRONG and it's itsy bitsy and your silly delusions must be stopped at once. :D

[deird1]

Hey, just wait - all the British people are currently asleep, and my poll has been taken up by Americans...

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

I hit the wrong thing.

It's itsy bitsy spider.

[twilight-dew.livejournal.com]

Incy Wincy. Definitely.

[rahirah]

Is incy wincy even a word?!?!?!

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

What she said.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Liiiies.

Also, it doesn't matter how many people vote for the other options - I am secure in my rightness. :D

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

No, it's a personal name. Incy-wincy Spider, 'Ince' to her friends, 'Ms Spider' on formal occasions.

[deird1]

It's a word that pertains exclusively to spiders you sing about. :)

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

When it comes to knowing about spiders, I'm going to trust the Aussie before I take the word of any Americans...

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Except for the British people who work night shifts.

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

.........but incy wincy is just WRONG.

Also, it's clearly some sort of small spider - we've got just as much of those as Australia. If it were the huge big spider, sure, but we're on even ground here. :P

[next_to_normal]

This.

[jl-in-the-lane.livejournal.com]

We don't sing, "The incy wincy spider" or "An incy wincy spider" but "Incy Wincy spider climbed up the water spout; Down came the rain and washed poor Incy out." - it's her name.

[jl-in-the-lane.livejournal.com]

I have just discovered another nursery rhyme that differs, this time by nationality!

Coooooooooooool.

[deird1]

:)

(So far, the British people are going for "incy wincy", and the Americans are split between "itsy bitsy" and "eensy weensy"...)

[http://users.livejournal.com/woman_of_/]

Also secure in my RIGHTNESS.

Origin of Incy Wincy Spider http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/nursery_rhymes/incy_wincy_spider.htm

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I had no idea there were even options! (BTW - itsy bitsy!)

[deird1]

Neither did I!

(Incy Wincy!)

[jl-in-the-lane.livejournal.com]

Well, Wikipedia isn't very helpful. I can't find that the rhyme's been around for very long, as far as nursery rhymes go. There's no discussion of differences, just a mention that they exist. And it doesn't say where the song originated or ANYTHING.

Two ways it could have gone (that I'm imagining - can't find anything to back it up):

1) THE/AN ITSY BITSY SPIDER
... and a Brit thinks it's the spider's name and cuts off the article.
That doesn't explain the change to Incy Wincy, though.

2) INCY WINCY SPIDER
... and an American assumes they must mean 'Itsy Bitsy', like the bikini, and adds the article in front of the adjective.
I have to say, this one sounds more likely to me, becuase it mimics the pattern I've seen in other rhymes that change over time - someone's unfamiliar with a word and substitutes something that is meaningful for them.

[snowpuppies]

You can change your poll answers. Just click on the POLL Link then click 'fill out poll'. :)

[snowpuppies]

eensy weensy??

incy wincy??

WTF?

Really?

[snowpuppies]

I think the confusion is that YOU'RE WRONG and it's itsy bitsy and your silly delusions must be stopped at once. :D

This.

Yes.

[2maggie2.livejournal.com]

Usually I have an affection for the british turn of phrase. But eensy weensy is just silly. The yanks get one right for a change. The staccato makes all the difference.

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I totally did that just now because it is itsy bitsy.

*nods*