See also:
- Scout Songs Virtual Songbook
keywords: entertainment, history, folk music, B-I-N-G-O, bingo was his name-o, fireside songs, camping, rhythm, clap, clapping, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day
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7 Comments
Wonder which came first, the song name or the game?
Kahne
By
Kahne, at September 10, 2007 10:20 PM
How do you know Bingo was the name of the man and not the dog?
There was a man
who had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o
Come on. It's the dog's name.
By
Michelle, at September 11, 2007 7:42 AM
the song is very ambiguous, but I have also heard that it was originally intended to be the name of the man. people understood this to be true until only the last century or so, when it began to be known as the name of the dog. lots of folk songs were written by uneducated people, or were adopted from different dialects or languages and would not necessarily follow all of the proper rules of english grammar
By
sheila, at September 11, 2007 9:32 AM
I can settle this one absolutely for everyone.
WHO CARES!!
By
J. J., at September 11, 2007 3:33 PM
You have discovered the source of my schizophrenia.
By
Xetheare, at November 17, 2008 2:26 PM
If you wrote it out using proper (if not a little archaic) punctuation, you'd find it is the dog's name.
"There was a farmer had a dog, and Bingo was his name-o."
Anything after that comma is going to refer to the thing right before it... hence, the dog.
Just like you'd say:
"Looking at the paper intently, Joe read that today was the first day of school."
Joe is the subject of the portion of the sentence before the comma.
Though a lot of people crap on punctuation and try to say things like:
"Looking at the paper intently, the school announced today as the first day to Joe."
Just ain't no good English. Har har.
By
Madamegato, at May 27, 2009 2:07 PM
More like, "There was a farmer, (who) had a dog, and Bingo was his name-o..." Clearly indicating the man is named Bingo.
By
Benton, at September 10, 2009 1:20 PM
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