the cat's in the cradle

English translation: the cat's cradle (string game)

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	the cat's in the cradle
Selected answer:	the cat's cradle (string game)
Entered by:	Gayle Wallimann

10:00 Apr 5, 2004

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / nursery rhymes

English term or phrase: the cat's in the cradle

I am planning to teach an English for adult learners class based on the Harry Chapin song:
http://www.littlejason.com/chapin/songs/catcrad.html
I understand that these are all nursery rhymes, right?

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.

I can find them all except the one about the cat and the cradle... http://www.oursworld.net/babies-kids/baby-kid-rhymes/rhymes....

(What the "man in the moon" actually means is another story but maybe I won't need to get that deep.
http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/maninmoon.html
http://www.planetfusion.co.uk/~pignut/images.html)

Joanna Kwiatowska KudoZ activity Questions: 10 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 92 Poland
Local time: 08:39

the cat's cradle (string game)

Explanation:
I have never heard of a nursery rhyme for the cat's cradle. It's a string game that kids love to learn and play. I think it is used in the song to make reference to another fun thing that the dad missed out on with his son, along with the nursery rhymes, ball games etc.
The link has pictures with instructions for playing the game.

Selected response from:

Gayle Wallimann
Local time: 08:39

Grading comment

all the answers were useful to me thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +4

background information

cmwilliams (X)

4 +2

the cat's cradle (string game)

Gayle Wallimann

Rhymes

nothing

Answers

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

the cat's cradle (string game)

Gayle Wallimann
Local time: 08:39
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

all the answers were useful to me thanks

11 mins confidence:

Rhymes

Explanation:
Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack, fast asleep.
Silver spoon is not a nursery rhyme, but an expression "to be born with a silver spoon": a small spoon is given to a newborn child to ensure good fortune; used as a metaphor for someone born to riches
Man in the moon (2 versions)
First:The man in the moon came down too soon
To inquire the way to Norridge;
The man in the South, he burnt his mouth
With eating cold plum porridge.
Second: The Man in the Moon came tumbling down,
And enquired the way to Norwich;
He went by the south and burned his mouth
With eating cold pease porridge!

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Note added at 16 mins (2004-04-05 10:17:15 GMT)
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I forgot the most important:(cat\'s in the cradle)
The peacock has a score of eyes,
With which he cannot see;
The cod-fish has a silent sound,
However that may be;

No dandelions tell the time,
Although they turn to clocks;
Cat\'s-cradle does not hold the cat,
Nor foxglove fit the fox.

nothing
Local time: 07:39
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish

20 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

background information

Explanation:
The following web site gives background information on the song:

"To create the chorus, Harry reworked lines from various nursery rhymes and drew especially from the rhyme The Cat and the Fiddle:

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon."

http://www.harrychapin.com/circle/winter04/behind.htm

cmwilliams (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:39
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

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English translation: the cat's cradle (string game)

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