Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
Teachers at nursery schools in Oxfordshire, England, have asked children to change the words of ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’ to ‘Baa, Baa, Rainbow Sheep’ to avoid the possibility of offending anyone.
The nursery rhyme dates back to the mid-1700s and is related to a tax imposed on wool by the king, which divided receipts equally between the local lord (the master), the church (the dame), and the farmer (the little boy). Black wool was apparently taxed at a lower rate than white wool.
Stuart Chamberlain, manager of the Family Centre in Abingdon, England, and nearby Sure Start Centre in Sutton Courtenay told the Oxford Star that the nursery schools had changed the words of ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’ in order to follow stringent equal opportunities rules. “No one should feel pointed out because of their race, their gender, or anything else,” he said.
Then there’s this little nugget:
In 2003, the Mothercare store chain here began selling cassette tapes and CDs featuring a new version of Humpty Dumpty in which there was a happy ending. The new version said that ‘Humpty Dumpty opened his eyes, falling down was such a surprise, Humpty Dumpty counted to 10, then Humpty Dumpty got up again.’
Me
Yes, you are very offensive !!!
Almost everyone here has missed the point. This not about a war in Iraq or killing civilians or 3000 dead. It is about a NURSERY RHYME. Most of the common nursery rhymes we hear today have some history to them, some so obscure that they have been lost in time.
Ring Around the Rosie is a rhyme about the black death.
London Bridge is Falling Down, is based on a true story about, yup, London Bridge falling down.
Humpty Dumpty is about a huge cannon that fell over after being hit by another cannon shot during the English Civil War.
Little Miss Muffet is based upon a true story of a little girl who’s father studied bugs in the 1600s.
Mary Mary Quite Contrary is about “Bloody Mary”, Queen of England who executed hundreds of people for continuing their Protestant faith. The silver bells and cockleshells were the instruments of torture used before their heads were lopped off.
And Baa Baa Black Sheep is about taxation.
The moral of the story is Bush wants to rewrite history.
What?? Mr Fusion, what the fuck are talking about, Bush is trying to change history? I didn’t know he was responsible for changing the words to ba ba black sheep. Didn’t see that in the post. Liberals are more likely to impose PC than Conservatives.
I love how you Bush haters feel the need to insert him into every post as the cause of the problem.
gquaglia
That was just a dig at paul. If I was serious, then I would have called him King George the Worst and maybe quoted some of his actual re-writings or re-interpretations of history. It was just in fun.
ok Mr. Fusion…..it may not have meant to be but that was great sarcasm.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
Had scrambled eggs for breakfast again
>>Liberals are more likely to impose PC than Conservatives.
You’re right. Liberals are more likely to call a short person “vertically challenged”, or to call Black people “African Americans” even if they’re from France or Spain.
What the neocons do is significantly more malignant than imposing political correctness standards — it’s LYING. Through their teeth. See the history of War Hero Bush’s involvement in Iraq for a shining example.
The real point of this story is that people who promote PC in any form are ready for graduation day at idiot school because they’ve become “complete”.
PC does nothing but dilute the language, it does not change ideas. 30 years ago you would call someone “retarded” to insult them. Now you can call them “special” to accomplish the same thing. The insult and the feeling behind it is the same. Those who think PC accomplishes anything useful are “special”.
Japan went from a nation cosantly at war with itys naibors for a thousand years. two realitvly small bombs got there minds right. We no longer have the balls to use the big guns. My dad always said never aim a gun unless you intend to use it