[lit-ideas] The Donkey's Ears

  • From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:52:41 -0500 (EST)

-- being long -- do they serve an evolutionary purpose? Does it improve the 
 donkey's hearing. Cfr. rabbit's ear. 
 
Or Donkey's Ears
 
Variant: Donkeys' Ears; or the Year of the Rabbit. 
 
How _long_ can a donkey ear get? 
 
In his book on "Duration", Bergson speaks of psychological time: "A year  
may have 365 days, but, you'll grant some years are longer than others". It 
is  for the longer set of years that the reference of the 'donkey' applies. 
Or not.  

In a message dated 11/24/2013 5:55:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx writes:
On Monday the jacuzzi man stopped by our  house.  I've limped along for 
donkeys' years, improvising like a Boy Scout,  holding the old filters in place 
with bits of nut and wire and dib dib dobs. 
 
 
Nice. More below.

Cheers,
 
Speranza
 
---
 
From:
 
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-don1.htm
 
Donkey’s years

Q: From Jess Paxton in the USA: Is there a  story behind the phrase donkey’
s years?
 
A: It’s a pun on donkey’s ears, they being long. The phrase, meaning a 
long  time, is chiefly in British use, though known in the USA and elsewhere, 
and was  first recorded in 1916 as donkey’s ears (which is why we’re sure 
about the  punning origin). Within ten years or so it is recorded in the 
modern form. The  idea was supported by the belief that donkeys did in fact 
live 
a very long  time.
 
----
 
With McEvoy, we might discuss, but then again, not, the idea of 'rhyme'. It 
 may be said that, implicaturally,
 
'year' 
 
rhymes with 
 
'year'.
 
I.e. I would not hold it as _false_:
 
i. "Year" rhymes with "year".
 
Similarly, 
 
ii. "Ear" rhymes with "year".
 
------
 
As Quinion notes, "donkeys ears" "was first recorded in 1916" -- during  
what I call the Great War -- as "donkey’s ears" "which is," Quinon adds, "why 
we  are sure about the PUNNING origin)."
 
---- which in truncated form becomes:
 
"it's been DONKEYS since I last saw her".
 
----
 
Rhyming slang is both 'slang' AND 'rhyming', so, whoever invented, during  
the Great War -- and I hope within the sound of Bow Bells for it would not  
otherwise count as 'Cockney' -- was meant as having
 
'ear'
 
rhyming with 
 
'year'.
 
Now, if we admit and grant that these are homophones. Let's check  
pronunciation with the IPA:
 
ear
 
year
 
 
The wiktionary gives for 
 
"ear" TWO pronunciations:
 
(UK) 
 
ɪə̯
 
(US) 
 
 ɪɹ
 
Now let's turn to 'year'.
 
Wiktionary here provides more than two pronunciations. For the UK  
pronunciations, Wiktionary lists two:
 
 
(UK) 
 
jɪə̯
 
and 
 
jɜː
 
and one US pronuciation:
 

(US) 
 
jɪɹ
 

As Quinion notes:
 
"donkey's years"
 
"... is a PUN on "donkey’s EARS", they being long."
 
"Within ten years or so [from 1916] [the phrase] is recorded in  the modern 
form [that D. Ritchie uses, "donkey's years"]." "The idea", or  
implicature, as I'd have it, "was supported by the belief that donkeys did in  
fact 
live a very long time."
 
--- which is possibly either neither here nor there or both.
 
Or not.
 
Note that 'donkey's ears' does not seem to disimplicate in the singular.  
"Last Donkey's ear, I went to Japan". I.e. Grice allows for 'implicatures' to 
be  'detachable', as he puts it; but this one requires some work on Geary's 
part for  a total or at least semi-detachment. Or not.
 
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