Swings and Roundabouts
Discussion
I don't think one is particularly better than the other, but rather it is intended to mean that two opposing forces will exert themselves to balance each other out.
Apparently the saying originates from the fairgrounds where the operators would usually find that one ride was more popular than the other on a given day, so whilst you might not make much on the swings, it would mean that you would make more on the roundabouts.
It was popularised for general usage by Robert Chalmers 1917 poem "Roundabouts and Swings"
It was early last September nigh to Framlin'am-on Sea,
An' 'twas Fair-day come to-merrow, an' the time was after tea,
An' I met a painted caravan adown a dusty lane,
A Pharaoh with his waggons comin' jolt an' creak an' strain;
A cheery cove an' sunburnt, bold o' eye and wrinkled up,
An' beside him on the splashboard sat a brindled terrier pup,
An' a lurcher wise as Solomon an' lean as fiddle-strings
Was joggin' in the dust along 'is roundabouts and swings.
"Goo'-day," said 'e; "Goo'-day," said I; "an' 'ow d'you find things go,
An' what's the chance o' millions when you runs a travellin' show?"
"I find," said 'e, "things very much as 'ow I've always found,
For mostly they goes up and down or else goes round and round."
Said 'e, "The job's the very spit o' what it always were,
It's bread and bacon mostly when the dog don't catch a 'are;
But lookin' at it broad, an' while it ain't no merchant king's,
What's lost upon the roundabouts we pulls up on the swings!"
"Goo'luck," said 'e; "Goo'luck," said I; "you've put it past a doubt;
An' keep that lurcher on the road, the gamekeepers is out."
'E thumped upon the footboard an' 'e lumbered on again
To meet a gold-dust sunset down the owl-light in the lane;
An' the moon she climbed the 'azels, while a nightjar seemed to spin
That Pharaoh's wisdom o'er again, 'is sooth of lose-and-win;
For "up an' down an' round," said 'e, "goes all appointed things,
An' losses on the roundabouts means profits on the swings!"
And that is how bored I am today.
Apparently the saying originates from the fairgrounds where the operators would usually find that one ride was more popular than the other on a given day, so whilst you might not make much on the swings, it would mean that you would make more on the roundabouts.
It was popularised for general usage by Robert Chalmers 1917 poem "Roundabouts and Swings"
It was early last September nigh to Framlin'am-on Sea,
An' 'twas Fair-day come to-merrow, an' the time was after tea,
An' I met a painted caravan adown a dusty lane,
A Pharaoh with his waggons comin' jolt an' creak an' strain;
A cheery cove an' sunburnt, bold o' eye and wrinkled up,
An' beside him on the splashboard sat a brindled terrier pup,
An' a lurcher wise as Solomon an' lean as fiddle-strings
Was joggin' in the dust along 'is roundabouts and swings.
"Goo'-day," said 'e; "Goo'-day," said I; "an' 'ow d'you find things go,
An' what's the chance o' millions when you runs a travellin' show?"
"I find," said 'e, "things very much as 'ow I've always found,
For mostly they goes up and down or else goes round and round."
Said 'e, "The job's the very spit o' what it always were,
It's bread and bacon mostly when the dog don't catch a 'are;
But lookin' at it broad, an' while it ain't no merchant king's,
What's lost upon the roundabouts we pulls up on the swings!"
"Goo'luck," said 'e; "Goo'luck," said I; "you've put it past a doubt;
An' keep that lurcher on the road, the gamekeepers is out."
'E thumped upon the footboard an' 'e lumbered on again
To meet a gold-dust sunset down the owl-light in the lane;
An' the moon she climbed the 'azels, while a nightjar seemed to spin
That Pharaoh's wisdom o'er again, 'is sooth of lose-and-win;
For "up an' down an' round," said 'e, "goes all appointed things,
An' losses on the roundabouts means profits on the swings!"
And that is how bored I am today.
OllieWinchester said:
Search for 'roundabout of death' on youtube. That should alleviate your boredom for a little while.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWIK7w1GYMI
Worth watching to the end
...
Steamer said:
OllieWinchester said:
Search for 'roundabout of death' on youtube. That should alleviate your boredom for a little while.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWIK7w1GYMI
Worth watching to the end
...
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff