Alway look on the bright side of life
Oct. 11th, 2010 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaAt the weekend, while out on a pub crawl with my rapper team, I wandered into the ladies.
"Hello, Lizzie", said the cubicle next door. I was mildly boggled how its occupant had identified me.
"Easy," continued the disembodied voice. "You were whistling Thrales' Beadnell tune."
Which I was. It's a nice tune. Thrales is a men's rapper team, based in Southwark. They dance a traditional dance called the Beadnell to a rather nice, unusual tune. I'm not sure if their musician, the amazing MJ, wrote it or whether it's also traditional. Either way it's very much "their" tune; no other team uses it (as far as I know).
Well, fine. Surely, though, the tune only really identified that the whistler was someone in, or associated with, the rapper team?
Apparently not, no. Because I'm the only one who walks round whistling.
On closer investigation, this isn't actually true. Disembodied Voice was wrong; at least one other Mabel habitually walks about whistling. However, I got the distinct impression that DV had reached her conclusion on the grounds that (a) I whistle and (b) it's a really weird and unusual thing to do, so I'm probably the only one.
I have been wondering, therefore, whether I have a completely skewed perception of the social acceptability of whistling. Despite being told when I was small that, along with barnyard fowl, whistling women were of no use to God or to man, I cheerfully whistle all over the show.
I also sing to myself, but I would never, for example, sing while walking through a crowd. I wouldn't talk to myself. I would, however, whistle. I can't justify why I think singing in the street makes you look like a nutter, but whistling doesn't.
I don't whistle - say - while at my office desk or while on a train. That is, however, more of a general prohibition on making unnecessary noise near people who can't get away than anything to do with the specifics of whistling.
Throughout this poll, I'm talking about whistling tunes using just your mouth. If you can whistle by putting your fingers in your mouth, that's not what I'm asking about. If I whistle in the street, it's a tune, not a wolf-whistle. I whistle to myself, not at others.
Although I don't have great pitch, so may offend musicians, I'm reliably informed the noise I produce is usually a recognisable thing, not tuneless warbling.
[Poll #1630269]
"Hello, Lizzie", said the cubicle next door. I was mildly boggled how its occupant had identified me.
"Easy," continued the disembodied voice. "You were whistling Thrales' Beadnell tune."
Which I was. It's a nice tune. Thrales is a men's rapper team, based in Southwark. They dance a traditional dance called the Beadnell to a rather nice, unusual tune. I'm not sure if their musician, the amazing MJ, wrote it or whether it's also traditional. Either way it's very much "their" tune; no other team uses it (as far as I know).
Well, fine. Surely, though, the tune only really identified that the whistler was someone in, or associated with, the rapper team?
Apparently not, no. Because I'm the only one who walks round whistling.
On closer investigation, this isn't actually true. Disembodied Voice was wrong; at least one other Mabel habitually walks about whistling. However, I got the distinct impression that DV had reached her conclusion on the grounds that (a) I whistle and (b) it's a really weird and unusual thing to do, so I'm probably the only one.
I have been wondering, therefore, whether I have a completely skewed perception of the social acceptability of whistling. Despite being told when I was small that, along with barnyard fowl, whistling women were of no use to God or to man, I cheerfully whistle all over the show.
I also sing to myself, but I would never, for example, sing while walking through a crowd. I wouldn't talk to myself. I would, however, whistle. I can't justify why I think singing in the street makes you look like a nutter, but whistling doesn't.
I don't whistle - say - while at my office desk or while on a train. That is, however, more of a general prohibition on making unnecessary noise near people who can't get away than anything to do with the specifics of whistling.
Throughout this poll, I'm talking about whistling tunes using just your mouth. If you can whistle by putting your fingers in your mouth, that's not what I'm asking about. If I whistle in the street, it's a tune, not a wolf-whistle. I whistle to myself, not at others.
Although I don't have great pitch, so may offend musicians, I'm reliably informed the noise I produce is usually a recognisable thing, not tuneless warbling.
[Poll #1630269]
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:29 am (UTC)As a result, I have a love/hate relationship with whistling. On the one hand, when I'm in the mood to hear it, I love his whistling. It's beautiful, and there can't be many people left who still have all those tunes in their heads. It should really be recorded for posterity. On the other, he whistles *constantly* - basically, any time he's moving from one place to another, even if it's just from the kitchen to the living room, also any time he's doing any kind of manual work. Being a sensitive flower who is easily affected by noise, and especially by music, this drove me absolutely up the wall growing up. If you're trying to, say, work, or think, having someone like dad around is like having someone tickle you or stick pins in you at frequent, random intervals.
I never (consciously) whistle in public, because I can only do a kind of teeth whistle. Nonetheless, I am my father's daughter, and I do often teeth-whistle without thinking as I move about.
I would be surprised to hear anyone whistling on a crowded street. I think I think of it as more of a on-your-own thing. I would not be surprised to hear it in the toilets.