Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Pull out all the stops (and, yes, music)

We are now in the thick of the winter celebratory season. Do you like to curl up and quietly meditate and hibernate at this time, or are you someone who pulls out all the stops and parties nonstop?

Speaking of pulling out the stops...

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The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer has this to say about the phrase:

pull out all the stops: Use all the resources or force at one's disposal... This term comes from organ-playing, where it means "bring into play every rank of pipes," thereby creating the fullest possible sound. It has been used figuratively since about 1860.

But why use it figuratively, when we can go with a literal musical compilation of Christmas-themed organ music? So, here you go, courtesy of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford (England): 45 minutes of Christmas Organ Music from December 16, 2020.

Slang-o-rama fa-la-la and more music (golden oldies)

Christmas is breathing fa-la-la down my neck and all I want to do is watch movies. (Am I the only one who longs to escape into a fictional world right now?) But first, let's check out fa-la-la...

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I wondered if fa-la-la was a bit like do-re-mi, and I guess I was in the general neighborhood with that thought. According to Newberry research fellow Katie Bank, "Non-lexical vocables—your fa-la-la’s and hey-nonny-no’s—didn’t originate as nonsense filler-syllables for brightening up a song. In Renaissance England, they were used to advance a song’s satirical critique of society or as a lyrical surrogate for something that couldn’t be expressed explicitly." You can listen to her podcast about the history and legacy of non-lexical vocables on her website here.

And when you're done with that...

... you can listen to an hour of holiday music sung by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc., by clicking on this link. 

True "golden oldies." Enjoy!

Slang-o-rama nostalgia (with music!)

 Ho ho ho and no no no... December is upon us and gaining speed! So today I'm offering up a Slang-o-rama  holiday entry from the past, plus another YouTube musical compilation.

In December 2020 we took a look at scurryfunge (a word which is just a relevant this year as it was waaay back when in the pre-pandemic era).

If last week's post featuring 10 Hours of Christmas Music wasn't enough for you, just click this link for "Top 100 Country Christmas Hits." 

May it put a smile on your face and music in your heart...