Английская Википедия:How much wood would a woodchuck chuck

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A woodchuck
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Sawn logs of wood

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck" (sometimes phrased with "could" rather than "would") is an American English-language tongue-twister.[1][2] The woodchuck, a word originating from Algonquian "wejack", is a kind of marmot, regionally called a groundhog.[3] The complete beginning of the tongue-twister usually goes: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"[1][2] The tongue-twister relies primarily on alliteration to achieve its effects, with five "w" sounds interspersed among five "ch" sounds,[4] as well as 6 "ood" sounds.

Answers

A traditional, if nonsensical, "response" to the question is: "A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood".[5] Other—similarly unhelpful—responses include "So much wood would a woodchuck chuck as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood!", "He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.",[6] "He would chuck as much as a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.",[7] and "As much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood!"

A 1957 Associated Press piece refers to the question as "a riddle which beats the Sphinx, since it's still unanswered".[8] A more concrete answer was published by the Associated Press in 1988, which reported that a New York fish and wildlife technician named Richard Thomas had calculated the volume of dirt in a typical Шаблон:Convert long woodchuck burrow and had determined that if the woodchuck had moved an equivalent volume of wood, it could move "about Шаблон:Convert on a good day, with the wind at his back".[9][10] Another study, which considered "chuck" to be the opposite of upchucking, determined that a woodchuck could ingest Шаблон:Convert[11] of wood per day.[12]

Origin

The origin of the phrase is from a 1902 song "The Woodchuck Song", written by Robert Hobart Davis for Fay Templeton in the musical The Runaways.[13][14] The lyrics became better known in a 1904 version of the song written by Theodore Morse, with a chorus of "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?",[15] which was recorded by Ragtime Roberts, in 1904.[16]

The tongue-twister is documented as "folklore" in 1972 at Farmington, Michigan.[17] It is used in the title of Werner Herzog's 1976 film How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck, a documentation of the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in New Holland, Pennsylvania.

Popular culture

Шаблон:In popular culture

See also

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Шаблон:Authority control

  1. 1,0 1,1 Thomas A. Green, Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music (1997): "Sometimes, tongue twisters utilize elaborate sound inversions in complex juxtapositions—for example, 'How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?Шаблон:'"
  2. 2,0 2,1 Elizabeth Tucker Children's Folklore: A Handbook 2008, Page 22. "Popular English tongue twisters include 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers', 'She sells seashells by the seashore', and 'How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?'.
  3. Richard M. Hogg, Norman Francis Blake, Roger Lass, The Cambridge History of the English Language (1992), Vol. 6, p. 189. "The woodchuck, from Algonquian wejack, a marmot regionally called groundhog, has evoked in jocular folklore the unanswerable question: 'How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?Шаблон:'".
  4. Sherrill B. Flora, Early Literacy Intervention Activities, Grades PK - K (2011), p. 79.
  5. See, e.g., Florence Kingsland, In and Out Door Games: With Suggestions for Entertainments (1904), p. 250: "If a woodchuck could chuck, a woodchuck can't would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood." Variations abound, as in, Edward W. Mumford, compiler, Smiles in Rime (1904): "Well, If a woodchuck could chuck wood, a woodchuck would chuck all the wood that a woodchuck could chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood!"; Helen Josephine Ferris, Favorite Poems Old and New: Selected for Boys and Girls (1957), p. 358: "He would chuck what wood a woodchuck would chuck, / If a woodchuck would chuck wood".
  6. "Tongue Twister: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck", Repeat After Us; accessed 2018.06.27.Шаблон:Dead link
  7. Under "Pleasantries" in The Christian Register (September 12, 1901), p. 28.
  8. Dion Henderson, "Groundhog Has His Annual Day Saturday; Move Over Mr. Bacon", Sarasota Journal (January 31, 1957), p. 14.
  9. "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?", Spokane Chronicle (July 11, 1988), p. A9.
  10. Press Won't Chuck That Woodchuck Story.
  11. Giving this number without any error bars.
  12. Шаблон:Cite journal
  13. The Tammany Times, Volumes 20–21, 1902, Page 305. Шаблон:"'How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, If a woodchuck would chuck wood?' That is the beginning of the refrain of a song that Mr. Robert Hobart Davis has written for Fay Templeton in The Runaways. Miss Templeton is trying the song..."
  14. Hobbies, Volume 78, Issues 1–6, Page 119, Otto C. Lightner, Pearl Ann Reeder, 1973. "Mathias quotes Davis as saying he made $20,000 from the sale of 'The Woodchuck Song' (this must have been from sheet music, for royalties were not paid on record sales in those days) after he and Morse called at Fay Templeton's home..."
  15. Tim Gracyk, Bob Roberts - Tenor. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  16. Edison Amberola Monthly, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1976, Volume 1, Page 8. Шаблон:"'The Woodchuck's Song' is a Record of Fay Templeton's song in The Runaways. made by Bob Roberts, a baritone who is thereby introduced to buyers of Edison Gold Moulded Records. This song has for its chorus the old query, 'How...Шаблон:'".
  17. The James T. Callow Folklore Archive, Tongue Twister: How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck, Michigan; Farmington; 09-26-1972.
  18. Шаблон:Cite web
  19. Шаблон:Cite web
  20. Шаблон:Cite web
  21. Шаблон:Cite web
  22. Шаблон:Cite web