The Wise Book of Whys Read Free

was a variety of common pronunciations in North America after this, but by the nineteenth century, this changed in the United States with “zee” firmly establishing itself thanks to Daniel Webster putting his seal of approval on it in 1827, and, of course, the Alphabet Song copyrighted in 1835, rhyming “z” with “me.”
    Because of the Alphabet Song , the pronunciation of “z” as “zee” has started to spread, much to the chagrin of elementary school teachers the English-speaking world over. This has resulted in them often having to re-teach children the “correct” pronunciation of “z” as “zed,” with the children having previously learned the song and the letter the American English way from such shows as Sesame Street .
    Naturally, kids are generally resistant to this change owing to the fact that “tee, u, vee, w, x, y and zed, Now I know my A-B-Cs, Next time won’t you sing with me” just doesn’t quite sound as cohesive as “tee/vee/zee/me.”
     
     
    BONUS FACT
     
    The Alphabet Song is based on the French Ah, vous dirai-je, maman , which popped up in 1761, and a couple decades later Mozart used it in his Twelve Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je, maman . This tune is also used for such children’s songs as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Baa, Baa, Black Sheep .
     
     

 
    Why Rock ‘n’ Roll Music is Called Rock ‘n’ Roll
     
    The word "roll" has been used since the Middle-Ages to refer to, among other things, having sex. (e.g. "Let's go for a roll in the hay" "Rolling under the sheets"). The word "rock," again among other things, has been used since at least the seventeenth century as a term meaning "shake or disturb." By the nineteenth century, this had also spread to black gospel singers using "rock" to refer to being shaken in a spiritual sense, as in spiritual rapture (rocked).
    By the early twentieth century "rock" had evolved somewhat to being used as a slang term by black Americans referring to dancing to music with a strong beat, principally what we know of today as rhythm and blues -at the time called "Race Music" or "Race Records.”
    Around this same time, these two terms, "rock" and "roll ," began being used together, forming a double entendre, typically referring to very suggestive or scandalous dancing as well as simply having sex. One example of this can be found in the 1922 song My Man Rocks Me, with One Steady Roll .
    Another early reference to the term "rock and roll" was in a 1935 J. Russel Robinson lyric from Henry "Red" Allen's Get Rhythm in Your Feet and Music in Your Soul, “If Satan starts to hound you, commence to rock and roll. Get rhythm in your feet and music in your soul...”
    This finally brings us to why Rock ‘n’ Roll music is called that. In the early 1950s, a Cleveland, Ohio disk jockey named Alan Freed on his show The Moondog Rock & Roll House Party , played early forms of Rock ‘n’ Roll and specifically called the music by that name, a phrase he was previously familiar with from Race Records and songs such as Rock and Rolling Mama (1939) and Rock and Roll (there were three songs named this in the late 1940s).
    Freed was encouraged to call this mix of music "Rock and Roll" by his sponsor, record store owner Leo Mintz, wh o was trying to boost sales on Race Records by getting white shoppers to buy them. Race Records weren't very popular at the time among white people, but by re-branding the music "Rock and Roll", it quickly became extremely popular among teenagers of all ethnicities.
     
     
     
    BONUS FACT
     
    A similar brand of music to Rock ‘n’ Roll was "Rockabilly," which was a style of music that was a cross between Country, Rhythm, and Blues (as was Rock and Roll), but leaned more heavily on the Country side of things, instead of the Rhythm and Blues side, and was played primarily by white musicians. The term itself is a portmanteau of rock (from "Rock and Roll") and "hillbilly.” Popular Rockabilly artists included Elvis Presley,