Your editor is not very familiar with the discography of Herman’s Hermits, and needs some help here.
Related
29 Comments
Their songs don’t factor into this at all, it’s simply the coincidental last name of the lead singer. The third panel is a completely separate canard (“If a tree falls in a forest, and No-one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?). By faking appreciation for the ancient (and oft-heard) quip, the applicant gets the job.
anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn’t he danced his did.
Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain
children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone’s any was all to her
someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream
stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)
one day anyone died i guess (and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was
all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.
Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain
,,,which is to say, some people use the spelling “noone” for what would usually be “no one” or “no-one” (meaning nobody)
So a name Noone you might figure as Noon like the time of day, or Noony in two full syllables like an adjective noon-ish, and as a last resort like No-one — which peculiarly seems to be true of the Herman’s Hermits founder.
Now tell me Cy Twombly is not Toom-bly.
And here the talk hosts and the man himself all go with monosyllabic Noon like Midday.
@ Mitch – That pronunciation is clearly the most obvious option; if it were not the right one, surely he would have discussed it with the two hosts before the show, and it would have been listed somewhere in the Internet (such as his homepage, or at least in Wikipedia. In absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be correct. The joke in the third panel of the strip still works, but that’s only because we are reading it as text, and not listening to it being spoken.
P.S. If the authors wanted to go with an audible pun, the might have used a question such as “Have you ever taken narcotics in a classic Western?”
Well, the interviewer is looking at a printed resume, so he’s seeing the name written out. If he has a mind like mine, the pun on “no one” will spring to his mind uncalled for. He apparently has a filter like mine, too.
P.P.S. I’m not sure whether e.e. cummings qualifies as a reliable guide to correct orthography†, but even so, wouldn’t just three stanzas (and perhaps a link) have been enough to prove the point about the hyphenless spelling of the word “no-one”?
p.p.p.s. † – especially when it comes to Capitalization. that alone should have been enough of a tip for me to identify the Author.
P^4.S. @ larK – would you care to join me in a new Campaign? i hereby propose to capitalize (only) the last word in each Sentence. if this catches on in english, it might also be popular in German. of course, in that case this would mean capitalizing a lot of Verbs. germans are very fussy about their Nouns.
Yes, I was going to use just the one stanza with “noone”, or maybe the first stanza of the poem and then that illustrative one. But I was hampered by having already retired for the night and making a last minute check of email and CIDU before sleep, on my iPad. Bolding the line with “noone” was hard enough, I wasn’t up to erasing the right stanzas. And shrugged that people might enjoy the whole thing anyway.
(And of course Cummings is not a guide to orthography! The solid spelling of “noone” is pretty rare in the U.S. and not that much more common elsewhere. But I remembered that it shows up in this poem, which then was easy to find. And indeed it is somewhat abnormal usage, as the poet wants us to take “anyone” and later “noone” as both their ordinary meanings and something like names.)
Both versions of the surname can be heard in the various English lines, plus of course regional differences especially at the terminal -r of Peter. (Though the No-one interpretation gets used more!) And one honest soul just spells out n-o-o-n-e.
@Kilby That would be the question to ask if you were contracting a hit on Frank Miller
Mark H., seeing “Noone” I would not without help jump to “no-one”! So it took quite a bit of puzzling over the third panel, and then working back.
Mitch, you missed that “noone” as a quasi-name appears earlier than where you put it in bold. It is also in the third stanza:
children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
This also positions “noone” to be the mourner in the later stanza.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen “no one” spelled either noone or no-one, and my Webster’s just lists “no one” with no alternates. It’s not a very picky dictionary, either. Illinois has “-noiz” as an alternate form for the last syllable of my state, just like that classic song “Convoy”. YDMV (your dictionary may vary).
The two-word form is certainly more common than the hyphenated form, and waaay more common that the solid spelling. I was having trouble finding the solid form even mentioned as an observed variant at several online dictionaries. But did see it in the “MORE ABOUT” section for “no one” at dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/no-one#editors-notes-section-0
“Sometimes, it’s hyphenated as no-one, which reflects the fact that it’s typically used as if it were one word—it’s almost always interchangeable with nobody. (The form noone isn’t commonly used, probably because it’s hard to read.)”
I do see solid noone from time to time in reading, and always have to take a moment to recognize it. But I’m pretty sure the first time was when we did that e. e. cummings poem in high school, and it got explained; but that also made it seem like just another of his eccentric poses, so I was surprised to see it “in the wild” in ordinary prose, but also prepared to understand it.
Trying to look up “how to pronounce the name Peter Noone” and finding how many people were saying it as No-one made me think it could be a stage name, adopted to show attitude — like Sid Vicious or Johnny Rotten (albeit not the same attitude). But Wikipedia gives his name in full as Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone.
(Kurt Vile however seems to have that as his actual given name, and plays down the apparent allusion to composer Kurt Weill.)
Be that as it may, we need to take the name Noone here as pronounced in two syllables, like No-One, if we expect to get the joke in panel 3. Agreed?
Peter Noone was not his stage name. His stage name was Herman.
Begging the question of “Why would you take a stage name when you’ve already got a name that sounds like a stage name?”
I must admit I was a little confused by the poem. At first I thought it was going to be a song composed by Peter Noone until I noticed the “noone” peppered through the text. I am not familiar with the works of E.E. Cummings.
“Why would you take a stage name when you’ve already got a name that sounds like a stage name?”
Noone knows. 🙂
“Why would you take a stage name when you’ve already got a name that sounds like a stage name?”
I’ve always wondered why professional wrestler “Ricky Steamboat” worked under that name (after his earliest matches), when his real/birth name was the more wrestling-sounding Richard Blood. I see by Wikipedia he was given that name because he was working face, and “Rick Blood” sounded like a heel, but still….
I almost always type “noone”, pause, and then go back and insert the space.
Speaking of going to The Hermitage, have any of you seen Russian Ark? It was in a way a regular narrative/fictional movie, but more noted as a tour de force for capturing a one-take single shot walk-thru of the Museum. This was remarkable technically for 2001, when they did it.
There was an excellent how-they-did-it featurette on the DVD back when I borrowed it. I’ll keep looking for that featurette online; in the meantime, here is the short official trailer.
Here’s the 45 minute documentary (called “In One Breath”) about the making of Russian Ark. What I remember in particular was the camera crew setup, including several people besides the Steadicam operator, marching along behind him with other things, like a backpack for the hard drive where the recording was taking place, and someone with the power packs for both of the aforementioned.
I would be more interested in exploring a Ukrainian Ark, but it’s brobably had so many holes blown into it that it would sink. C’est la guerre!
It seems to me that if the man himself pronounces it like midday, as Mitch4 said, that pretty much settles it. I would cite the Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch with a man whose written surname was about as long as Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, “but it’s pronounced Smythe.”
Yes, but then you get decreed a silly man, and you don’t get interviewed.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Their songs don’t factor into this at all, it’s simply the coincidental last name of the lead singer. The third panel is a completely separate canard (“If a tree falls in a forest, and No-one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?). By faking appreciation for the ancient (and oft-heard) quip, the applicant gets the job.
anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn’t he danced his did.
Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain
children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone’s any was all to her
someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream
stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)
one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was
all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.
Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain
,,,which is to say, some people use the spelling “noone” for what would usually be “no one” or “no-one” (meaning nobody)
So a name Noone you might figure as Noon like the time of day, or Noony in two full syllables like an adjective noon-ish, and as a last resort like No-one — which peculiarly seems to be true of the Herman’s Hermits founder.
Now tell me Cy Twombly is not Toom-bly.
And here the talk hosts and the man himself all go with monosyllabic Noon like Midday.
@ Mitch – That pronunciation is clearly the most obvious option; if it were not the right one, surely he would have discussed it with the two hosts before the show, and it would have been listed somewhere in the Internet (such as his homepage, or at least in Wikipedia. In absence of evidence to the contrary, it must be correct. The joke in the third panel of the strip still works, but that’s only because we are reading it as text, and not listening to it being spoken.
P.S. If the authors wanted to go with an audible pun, the might have used a question such as “Have you ever taken narcotics in a classic Western?”
Well, the interviewer is looking at a printed resume, so he’s seeing the name written out. If he has a mind like mine, the pun on “no one” will spring to his mind uncalled for. He apparently has a filter like mine, too.
P.P.S. I’m not sure whether e.e. cummings qualifies as a reliable guide to correct orthography†, but even so, wouldn’t just three stanzas (and perhaps a link) have been enough to prove the point about the hyphenless spelling of the word “no-one”?
p.p.p.s. † – especially when it comes to Capitalization. that alone should have been enough of a tip for me to identify the Author.
P^4.S. @ larK – would you care to join me in a new Campaign? i hereby propose to capitalize (only) the last word in each Sentence. if this catches on in english, it might also be popular in German. of course, in that case this would mean capitalizing a lot of Verbs. germans are very fussy about their Nouns.
Yes, I was going to use just the one stanza with “noone”, or maybe the first stanza of the poem and then that illustrative one. But I was hampered by having already retired for the night and making a last minute check of email and CIDU before sleep, on my iPad. Bolding the line with “noone” was hard enough, I wasn’t up to erasing the right stanzas. And shrugged that people might enjoy the whole thing anyway.
(And of course Cummings is not a guide to orthography! The solid spelling of “noone” is pretty rare in the U.S. and not that much more common elsewhere. But I remembered that it shows up in this poem, which then was easy to find. And indeed it is somewhat abnormal usage, as the poet wants us to take “anyone” and later “noone” as both their ordinary meanings and something like names.)
kilby: i’d only do it as a Lark.
https://www.pronouncekiwi.com/Peter%20Noone
Both versions of the surname can be heard in the various English lines, plus of course regional differences especially at the terminal -r of Peter. (Though the No-one interpretation gets used more!) And one honest soul just spells out n-o-o-n-e.
@Kilby That would be the question to ask if you were contracting a hit on Frank Miller
Mark H., seeing “Noone” I would not without help jump to “no-one”! So it took quite a bit of puzzling over the third panel, and then working back.
Mitch, you missed that “noone” as a quasi-name appears earlier than where you put it in bold. It is also in the third stanza:
children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
This also positions “noone” to be the mourner in the later stanza.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen “no one” spelled either noone or no-one, and my Webster’s just lists “no one” with no alternates. It’s not a very picky dictionary, either. Illinois has “-noiz” as an alternate form for the last syllable of my state, just like that classic song “Convoy”. YDMV (your dictionary may vary).
The two-word form is certainly more common than the hyphenated form, and waaay more common that the solid spelling. I was having trouble finding the solid form even mentioned as an observed variant at several online dictionaries. But did see it in the “MORE ABOUT” section for “no one” at dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/no-one#editors-notes-section-0
“Sometimes, it’s hyphenated as no-one, which reflects the fact that it’s typically used as if it were one word—it’s almost always interchangeable with nobody. (The form noone isn’t commonly used, probably because it’s hard to read.)”
I do see solid noone from time to time in reading, and always have to take a moment to recognize it. But I’m pretty sure the first time was when we did that e. e. cummings poem in high school, and it got explained; but that also made it seem like just another of his eccentric poses, so I was surprised to see it “in the wild” in ordinary prose, but also prepared to understand it.
Trying to look up “how to pronounce the name Peter Noone” and finding how many people were saying it as No-one made me think it could be a stage name, adopted to show attitude — like Sid Vicious or Johnny Rotten (albeit not the same attitude). But Wikipedia gives his name in full as Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone.
(Kurt Vile however seems to have that as his actual given name, and plays down the apparent allusion to composer Kurt Weill.)
Be that as it may, we need to take the name Noone here as pronounced in two syllables, like No-One, if we expect to get the joke in panel 3. Agreed?
Peter Noone was not his stage name. His stage name was Herman.
Begging the question of “Why would you take a stage name when you’ve already got a name that sounds like a stage name?”
I must admit I was a little confused by the poem. At first I thought it was going to be a song composed by Peter Noone until I noticed the “noone” peppered through the text. I am not familiar with the works of E.E. Cummings.
“Why would you take a stage name when you’ve already got a name that sounds like a stage name?”
Noone knows. 🙂
“Why would you take a stage name when you’ve already got a name that sounds like a stage name?”
I’ve always wondered why professional wrestler “Ricky Steamboat” worked under that name (after his earliest matches), when his real/birth name was the more wrestling-sounding Richard Blood. I see by Wikipedia he was given that name because he was working face, and “Rick Blood” sounded like a heel, but still….
I almost always type “noone”, pause, and then go back and insert the space.
Speaking of going to The Hermitage, have any of you seen Russian Ark? It was in a way a regular narrative/fictional movie, but more noted as a tour de force for capturing a one-take single shot walk-thru of the Museum. This was remarkable technically for 2001, when they did it.
There was an excellent how-they-did-it featurette on the DVD back when I borrowed it. I’ll keep looking for that featurette online; in the meantime, here is the short official trailer.
Here’s the 45 minute documentary (called “In One Breath”) about the making of Russian Ark. What I remember in particular was the camera crew setup, including several people besides the Steadicam operator, marching along behind him with other things, like a backpack for the hard drive where the recording was taking place, and someone with the power packs for both of the aforementioned.
And a text article (but with clips) describing the project and the process.
BTW, if you search for something like “film hermitage one take” there are other results, such as a much more recent project (2020), sponsored by Apple, “filmed” on an iPhone and taking five hours — again with no cuts, but more of a standard tour than the complex story that Russian Ark was. Youtube has a trailer for that one, as well as the entire thing.
I would be more interested in exploring a Ukrainian Ark, but it’s brobably had so many holes blown into it that it would sink. C’est la guerre!
It seems to me that if the man himself pronounces it like midday, as Mitch4 said, that pretty much settles it. I would cite the Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch with a man whose written surname was about as long as Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, “but it’s pronounced Smythe.”
Yes, but then you get decreed a silly man, and you don’t get interviewed.
“It’s spelled ‘Raymond Luxury Yacht’ but it’s pronounced ‘Throat Warbler Mangrove’.”
I admit it. When I was in high school I had my hair cut just like Peter Blair Dennis Bernard Noone.
Some 50 years + later I finally got to see him perform in a free concert at one of our local town’s parks when Robert found out about the concert.