Both Art and I were a little off our game on Sunday, having returned rather early that morning from our little road trip to Vegas, so this might not be quite as bright as other Top Fives. Still, you might learn something from it; that, of course, always being our highest priority:
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7 comments:
i refer to the umlaut as "husker du" dots ... you'll have to admit that "husker du" dots rolls off the tongue easier than "umlaut"
-e
Yes it does, and Husker Du actually use them appropriately, unlike Spinal Tap. But do the youngsters today even know Husker Du?
Dr. John
I never heard the word "Diacritic" before today, Then, as I was watching an episode of Castle online this afternoon, the main character used the word! He was noticing that a piece of critical evidence bore writing in a language that uses diacritics. The accents led them to an Eastern European market and subsequently to the victim's ID. Funny!
Sally
from wikipedia (re: husker du's band name and the aforementioned husker du dots aka "heavy metal umlauts")
They owed their new name to a rather sloppy rehearsal of the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer". Unable to recall the French portions sung in the original ("qu'est-ce que c'est"), they began shouting any foreign-language terms they could remember, when someone said "Hūsker Dū?", a board game that had been popular in the 1970s. The term, without the umlauts, means "Do you remember?" in Danish and Norwegian. The group added Heavy metal umlauts to complete the name. Mould reports that they liked "Hüsker Dü"'s somewhat mysterious qualities, which set them apart from other hardcore punk groups with names like "Social Red Youth Dynasty Brigade Distortion".
so, it seems as though HD parodied the dots pre-spinal tap ... HA!
I'll grant you the parody element of Husker Du's usage, but unlike Spinal Tap, they did place the double dots over the letter "u", which means they were used correctly, at least in terms of providing a clue to pronunciation. But Spinal Tap placed it over the "n" which doesn't make any sense at all-- that is, no one can say how that is supposed to affect pronunciation, since umlauts are not used with consonants.
Dr. John
sure, spinal tap turned the parody (initiated by those minnesota chaps) up to 11, and i respect their moxy ... but, on 'land speed record' there is definitely some song with "talk about mud flaps" in the lyrics ... and, well, plagiarism rears its ugly head
I think if the goal is to find the original use of a pointless umlaut by a rock band, Blue Oyster Cult (over the "o") beats both Spinal Tap and Husker Du.... But I have no opinion on the "mud flap" controversy.
Dr. John
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