Talk:There once was a man from Nantucket

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 There once was a man from Nantucket was a good article nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There are suggestions below for improving the article. Once these are addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Reviewed version: No date specified. To provide a date use: {{FailedGA|insert date in any format here}}

Classic. Stoa 03:57, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Seriously. Why is the "clean" version first? I'd never heard or read any of these until reading this page. As I asked when I edited the page, who is kidding whom here? Maw 01:23, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

What's wrong with putting the clean version first?? Stoa 16:45, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
Presumably because some people heard the dirty version first and/or are titillated by it, they feel it is more important (and also assume that anybody who thinks otherwise is prudish, politically correct, or otherwise inferior). I think the current article does a fine job, with historical information that indicates why the clean versions are where they are, yet not trying to ignore the dirty versions. - DavidWBrooks 17:01, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
Putting the clean version first does come across as prudish. Ideally, the article would be structured thus: introduction, dirty version, clean historical versions. I have no problem with clean versions being included, but let's be realistic - people who come to this page aren't looking for the clean version. Maw 00:00, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
I started this article, and the way it originally read was that this particular clean version was (probably) the single best known Nantucket poem. Dirty Nantucket limericks as a whole are of course better known today, but I had been led to believe that no single example is better known than the clean one about Pa's bucket. It's certainly the one with the longest history in print. I don't care what order they're in, but I really don't think either version is slighted by being dealt with second. --Cúchullain t / c 08:09, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
"Prudish"? How about historically accurate? Some people may come to this article to giggle about finding "fuck" in an encyclopedia, only to be enlightened about the way the poem came into being. If the dirty version existed first and a clean version morphed out of it, then I would agree - but it appears to have been the other way around, so putting the dirty one first would seem to be unnecessarily titillating. - DavidWBrooks 14:59, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
I don't think it's fair to say either morphed out of the other. The clean "Pa's bucket" version is the oldest I know of, but it doesn't mean the others evolved out of it. At any rate, both versions seem to generate a similar amount of google hits, so it's probably a moot point.--Cúchullain t / c 20:25, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Is the following version of the obscene limerick not better known? There once was a man from Nantucket, whose dick was so long he could suck it. He said with a grin, wiping sperm from his chin, if my ear was a cunt I could fuck it.

I don't think any particular version of that is better known. In my experience the variations are often local and are usually minor, like yours.--Cúchullain t / c 20:25, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
That's the one I heard too. With the possibility of being yelled at clear to me, I will alter the article to include the version of the poem here on the talk page. Main reason being, I think the few extra words make the poem better. I don't know why, but I think its because it tells more of a story in the same time to read it. So I think it's better. Switching poems... now... Gohst 12:05, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
Personally I don't like the new version. More objectively, the rhythm is not as good. You've switched the fourth line to an anapestic foot instead of the anabrach used for the first 3 lines. The fifth line uses anapestic but the delay makes for good timing of the punch line. It may seem silly to analyze this like a classical poem, but remember, this is possibly America's best known poem - a masterpiece of the obscene cannon - the American Gothic of poetry. I'll leave the revision stand pending input from others. Ghosts&empties 14:22, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
I agree, I think we should put the old one back.--Cúchullain t/c 01:29, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
And some people say we're inferior to Britannica! - DavidWBrooks 02:29, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
I put it back.--Cúchullain t/c 04:36, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
Philistines. Gohst 10:56, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Failed GA

No refs and also this isn't much of an article and there is many parts missing like who created it, pouplar culture, etc. Jaranda wat's sup 00:54, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mythopoeic?

There's some contention over the word "mythopoeic". The man qualifies as a mythmaker in some sense, and though the word is obscure, it's certainly still valid. Can anyone think of a more appropriate substitution?--Cúchullain t/c 04:36, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

In Wikipedia, nothing is obsure as long as it has an article. "Mythopoeic" is over the top here but accurate. Plus it sounds cool. H Bruthzoo 15:51, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
Actually, overlinking is recommended against. It would be better if there was a word that didn't require a link (and sound so over-the-top). What I'm asking is can anyone think of word that's less over-the-top and obscure to replace it with? If not, my opinion is to leave it in.--Cúchullain t/c 22:50, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "... this rendition from 1924"

Is there a source that places this thing at 1924? I found one that puts it published in the local weekly newspaper in 1903 (see: The Inquirer and Mirror). Wiki Wistah 23:18, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

It says one of the earliest ... not the earliest - sounds like you've found an earlier one. - DavidWBrooks 01:41, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Closing line of clean versions

What is "And as for the bucket, Nantucket." supposed to mean? —Ben FrantzDale 18:13, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

Nantucket = "Nan took it" ... that is, Nan ran off with the bucket. Quite the knee-slapper, eh? - DavidWBrooks 20:54, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pop culture references

I have just returned the "pop culture" section with its half-dozen references, because the article needs something to indicate that this poem is widely known and widely used in movies/TV in a joking way - it's not just some smarmy tidbit known to a few. I agree that the current list is too long and repetitive, and I'm not sure how to do this, but I don't think removing the entire section is the way to go. - DavidWBrooks 20:44, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

The way to indicate the poem is widespread is not by listing random pop culture items that mention it, especially when they are unreferenced. Written, as it is, in the bullet format with no context, the section is essentially a trivia section listing indiscriminate information. It needs to go, but if you wish to add some sourced material, preferable from a secondary source, it would greatly improve the article.--Cúchullain t/c 00:23, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
Since each reference mentions the movie/show where it appears, how is it unsourced? Something like "Woody Allen famously said blah-blah" would be unsourced, but not a scene from a specific movie. I have removed a couple of the references that don't support the intro (which probably needs to be better written), so I think that handles the "indiscriminate" part. - DavidWBrooks 15:01, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Obscene version

Anyone know what year the the obscene version come into existence? --Somedude —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.229.81.0 (talk) 19:37, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Popular culture

As it currently stands, the article has an editors note (not visible to readers, but visible when you edit) saying that we don't need any more examples of the poem being mentioned in film, book, song or story. This is an attempt to keep it from turning into a list (as it once was - see the above discussion from last year). If enough editors disagree it can be changed, but there's one anon. who keeps trying to put in a reference to some signer and it keeps getting removed, to his/her frustration, so I thought I'd mention it here. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 20:32, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pop Culture Reference

There is a useful reference in Star Trek TNG "The Naked Now" where commander data (an andriod) explains that he cannot comprehend a limrick he overheard and begins to repeat it as "There was one a young woman from Venus, who's forehead was shaped like a ....." where at this point the captain cuts him off. This example shows that the format of the limrick so recognizable even with the location and character change and only the use of the opening line. The fact that it is cut off actually makes it funny. The fact that it is NOT the Nantucket limrick but is instead a nod to it that makes this one worthy of inclusion in the list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.31.184.166 (talk) 15:17, 19 May 2008 (UTC)