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Dan Smith
Missing rhyme puzzle, 8/17
The song, "Till There was You," is from a 1957 Broadway musical, The Music Man. The story is about a con man (swindler) who comes to a small town in Iowa in 1912. He scares the people by saying they are in "terrible, terrible trouble" from a pool table in the local billiards hall. He says he can save their sons from wickedness and immorality by organizing a boys' band. When the Beatles issued their first U.S. album in 1964, I was astonished that it included this sweet song, so different from their usual rock music.

I have replaced three words in this song with blanks. The blanks do not tell you how many letters there are in the word. All three words rhyme, all three are present participles, and all three end in "-ing."

Please don't give away the answer. If you think you got the answer, just post the number of times you wrote "ing."

Here are three clues, if you need them. To see them, your mouse across the space from here
vvvvvvvvvv
1) The second word is the hardest. It means "to fly." It comes from a noun for something that birds and airplanes have. 

2) The third word makes the least sense. But it is a very common word, and remember that this is a song.

3) A recording of the song is on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkgEXcbyhC8
outube.com/watch?v=tkgEXcbyhC8
^^^^^^^^^^^^
to here

Till There Was You, by Meredith WIllson

There were bells on the hill,
But I never heard them __________;
No, I never heard them at all
Till there was you.

There were birds in the sky,
But I never saw them __________;
No, I never saw them at all
Till there was you.
...
There was love all around
But I never heard it __________;
No, I never heard it at all
Till there was you!

Aug 18, 2016 3:12 PM
Comments · 8

"Chirp" is an onomatopoeic word--a word that imitates a sound. A "chirp" is one of the kinds of sounds birds make. Birds "chirp" when they are making short sounds. Not every bird chirps. Birds can also chirrup, cheep, chip, twitter, and tweet. When they make a long sound of varying pitch, they warble. Crows caw. Hens cackle. Roosters crow in the morning, the sound that is written in English as "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" Owls hoot. Doves coo. Ducks quack. Turkeys gobble.

However, the most general verb for what birds do is to sing. Some birds really do have long, complicated, melodious songs, like the European nightingale (ruiseñor in Spanish). However, all of the noises birds make are referred to collectively as "birdsongs." 


August 18, 2016

In your first part, I was wrong about the words but I got it when I listened to the song.I like your way of presenting a song with a short introduction.That's really a bonus to our general knowledge:)

BTW,Let me guess--

1-Clanging

2-Chirping

3-Happening

Am I making any sense??

Thank you:)

August 18, 2016

I like these activities a lot and seeing my "good luck" with the first one I am "trying my luck"! I must admit that I have used the hints you gave us, except from the last one, that would give away the answers! 

1. Ringing

2. Winging 

3. Beating

August 18, 2016

Thank you so much for the explanation Dan!


I will call it "birdsong" then, it will be easier. I do not need to be an expert about birds' sounds, in fact I do not know the name of any type of bird! 

We also say in Spanish (Spain) that the birds sing - los pájaros cantan

August 19, 2016

Yes, I got the answers:)Again I was wrong:( 

When I saw the first line--There were bells on the hill,  then I thought the bell must have made up of with metal so I thought "clanging" but it is the other one- R.

BTW,thank you very much @Dan for correcting me.

Thank you @Laura for your compliment:)and it is SUDEEP:)

August 18, 2016
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Dan Smith
Language Skills
English, Spanish
Learning Language
Spanish