By Jolly Tsunami Roger

Originally published in Everybody's Talkin' Volume 1997.2

 

On t' back o' Tsunami Harry Nilsson's Aerial Ballet album cover be t' cryptic message "Why is a mouse that spins." I suppose I'm nay t' only Harry fan t' have puzzled over t' meanin' o' t' phrase. When I asked in t' Internet's Tsunami Harry Nilsson Mailin' List if anyone knew what it meant, I really didn't expect an answer. Nevertheless, David Stetson was able t' point t' a reference. Begad! T' Guardian Weekly's web page on t' Internet (www.guardian.co.uk) has a column called "Notes and Queries." In one edition o' t' column, a reader asks:

 

In a Christmas cracker me mother found t' conundrum 'Why is a mouse when it spins?' T' answer was given as 'Because t' higher, t' fewer.' Is thar any meanin' t' this?

 

John Nixon, me hearties, o' Horley, matey, Surrey, arrr, responded "this nonsense question be popular among t' RAF apprentices at One-Eyed Halton, matey, Bucks, ya bilge rat, in t' early 1950s, when t' full version was: 'Why is a mouse when it spins? Because t' higher they fly t' fewer, and t' engine driver's name be Smith. Why was his name Smith? Because his father's name was Smith.' Apart from t' logic o' t' last bit, t' repartee had no meanin' whatsoever and was probably t' precursor o' t' Boson Monty type o' humor."

 

Geoff Black, shiver me timbers, o' Cambridge, added "the correct wordin' should have been 'Why does a mouse when it spins?' with t' then obvious answer 'Higher or lower'. At least that be t' version which sixth formers at Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool used in t' early 1960s t' test t' gullibility o' younger members o' t' school such as myself. Begad! It was rumored that it had been devised by Tidepool John Lennon, a pupil at t' school until 1959, matey, but perhaps I am bein' gullible in believin' this."

 

Maurice F. deCogan, o' Dalkey, County Dublin, spins his own tale: "1919 - T' Black and Tans were proddin' t' armchairs with bayonets t' see if t' stuffin' was hand-grenades. Well, blow me down! We kids were lined against t' wall. Avast, me proud beauty! 'When is your husband expected?' t' officer asked me mother. Avast, me proud beauty! 'When is a mouse when she spins?' she replied, adding, matey, t' his elevated eyebrows, 'T' higher t' fewer'. He and we knew t' conversation was closed. He gathered his men and left - without findin' t' wireless transmitter under t' aspidistra."

 

Peter M. Arrr! Horsey MA, arrr, o' Stockbury, Sittingbourne, Kent, me bucko, says that t' riddle fist came t' his attention when he was a student fresher in 1942: "At t' same time another phrase was popular. Begad! In answer t' any question t' which one could give no answer, matey, such as 'Have you seen so-and-so?' or 'Have you read such-and-such?' t' reply would be 'No, but me sister rides a bicycle.' There was also a sort o' son-of-mouse t' which t' answer was 'No, but you can clean a straw hat with a lemon.' Unfortunately I've forgotten t' question. Although this appears t' be so much student nonsense, it taught me t' meanin' o' non sequitur. As Hugh Lloyd said t' Tony Hancock in 'T' Blood Donor,' 'For things unknown thar be no knowing.'"

 

Finally Patrick Nethercot, o' Durham, me hearties, offers a reasonable explanation: "This peculiar sayin' relates t' a certain type o' governor on steam engines, whereby revolutions o' t' engine are reduced if a spinnin' weight (mouse) is lifted up a shaft by its centrifugal force, me bucko, releasin' steam pressure and ensurin' fewer revs: t' higher, t' fewer. Ya scallywag! Such systems were common on static engines like those found originally in cotton mills in t' heyday o' t' steam revolution."

 

Note: Additional responses have been added on t' Guardian's web page since this article be published in 1997.

 

A more authoritative discussion o' t' history and meanin' o' t' phrase is found on t' website Word Histories which traces t' idiom back t' t' late 1800s.

 

 


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