Nursery Rhymes and Politics

     "Duh" may sound like contemporary slang, but variations of the word have been around for centuries. In England during the 1500s it was pronounced "Daw" and meant a foolish or stupid person. You may remember a certain woman named Marjorie who was called a daw in a nursery rhyme.

     In America, where we're guaranteed freedom of speech, it's hard for us to imagine what life was like back when people were imprisoned or killed for expressing political or religious beliefs that disagreed with the people in power. Many nursery rhymes were actually ways of expressing those things without getting caught. For instance, I remember reading years ago that Rock-a-Bye Baby was really about overthrowing the king and his infant son.

     Whenever more than two people are together there will always be politics. It can be frustrating to hear about government and church politics but things could be a lot worse. Duh!