No, It’s “Warm Kitty, Soft Kitty”

My only problem with the shirt is that it’s based on the “Big Bang Theory” corruption of the copyrighted song by Edith Newlin, which is an adaptation of a Polish folk song, “Wlaz kotek na plotek.” Some not-so-smart writer, writing characters supposed to be smarter than he is (or some stupid lawyer thinking to avoid paying royalties?) screwed up the lyrics and mis-taught a generation of the less-than-literate.

And, of course, Newlin’s lyrics ordering the adjectives as first “warm” then “soft” follow the adjective order “rule” that any literate person simply knows from having read a lot of text written by literate writers:

Quantity, Value/opinion, Size, Temperature [warm], Age, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material [soft]

Hence, to any moderately well-read person (or person who is simply fluent in well-spoken English), Newlin’s “Warm kitty, soft kitty does not grate the way the “Big Bang Theory’s” corruption of her lyrics do. . . in a way that makes the characters who use the BBT’s corruption sound “Dumber than the average 5th grader.”

But apart from that I like the shirt. Oh, and Big Bang Theory’s not a bad show, apart from its laughable depiction of “smarter than the writers” characters. In fact, that alone sometimes makes it worth viewing for laughs.

2 Replies to “No, It’s “Warm Kitty, Soft Kitty””

  1. That’s a rule I never became aware of as I was growing up. I guess I’m not that observant.

    I am happy to have learned a new thing so early in the day.

    1. Perri, I suspect you unconsciously follow that rule, anyway, given as much well-written text as you have read from literate writers. I only notice it nowadays because of the proliferation of badly spoken and even more badly written English I hear and read so much of late.

      *sigh*

      Seriously: subliteracy, a-literacy, and flat-out illiteracy were not endemic 40-50 years ago, whereas today. . . (To steal and adapt the Chicken Man tag), “It’s everywhere! It’s everywhere!” *dramatic musical motif*

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