It’s autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere. Fall. Here in New England, the leaves are changing colors. And falling.
But leaves aren’t the only things falling.¹ Gravity appears to have been at work in many areas, as evidenced by the fallen items below.
- Humpty Dumpty: He had a great fall. (Actually, it didn’t turn out so great for him, what with the breaking up. Maybe his summer was better.)
- Jack (of Jack and Jill): Fell down. Broke his crown.
- The sky: It’s falling. (At least according to Chicken Little.)
- The cradle: It will fall. Out of a tree. With a baby in it. (I’m not sure why a song about a baby falling out of a tree is supposed to help bring on sleep…)
- London Bridge: It’s falling down. (Falling down, falling down.)
- Falling Down (1993): A Michael Douglas movie
- “Falling:” a song by Julee Cruise that was well known as the theme song for the TV series Twin Peaks.
- The Fall: a “post-punk” band
- take the fall: to take the blame for something
- fall guy: someone who takes the fall, a scapegoat
- The Fall Guy: An 80s TV series about a stunt man starring Lee Majors (better known for his 70s role as the “bionic man.”)
- to fall short: to not meet expectations
- fall asleep: to enter a sleeping state
- fallout: consequences, especially those that aren’t immediate
- fall in: to get into line
- fall in love:an expression meaning, um, to fall in love. Crap. How do I even paraphrase that? I guess “become enamored of, usually in a romantic way.”
- fall for someone: an expression meaning “be won over by someone,” or sometimes “start to like someone”
- fall for something: to be tricked
- fall into the pudding: this isn’t actually an expression²
- “Fall on Me” A song by R.E.M.
- When I Pretend to Fall: an album by the Long Winters, and a line from the song “Stupid.” She laughs when I pretend to fall…
- Ring around the rosie³:
Ring around the rosie
Pocket full of posie
Ashes, Ashes
We all fall down
And there it is. We all fall down.⁴
—–
¹ Clearly I’ve been falling down on the job with my ThThTh posts, seeing as the last one I posted was in December.
² There are loads more real idioms involving falling
³Apparently there are many different versions of this, some of which don’t even involve falling down. Theo has been reciting a version of this lately. Mostly what I hear is “Asses, asses, we fall down.” I don’t recall seeing that one on the Wiki page.
⁴ Often on our asses.
Cradle falling image from The Only True Mother Goose Melodies, by Munroe & Francis, 1833, found on the Gutenberg Project.
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Hmm. I used to sing Rock-a-Bye, Baby to Fiona, inserting all the names of people she knows and her stuffed animals into the song, as well as many verses of London Bridge. That kid NEVER fell asleep.
Rain is falling and falling today. Perhaps I’ll fall into a good book.
is that your photo, at the top of the post? so gorgeous.
I’ve missed these! And now that Julee Cruise song will be floating through my head all day.
Yay! I’ve missed the ThThThs. I’m glad you (and they) haven’t fallen off the face of the earth.
But now I’m falling behind in my schedule, so I better go.
I played ring around the rosie a million times with Kate in the pool this summer. She’s in love with it, though gets very upset when when sings about “toesies” instead of “poises.”
Also, Lee Majors is on an old pinball backglass for the Million Dollar man. They painted in his individual chest hairs on the glass. Attention to detail.
When I was a little kid, Humpty Dumpty was my imaginary friend. He had a whole family and our bathroom was the portal to their world. I remember it very clearly still.
Around here it’s not leaves falling, but pine needles. I still can’t get used to it.
Here’s one for your list – Albert Camus’ The Fall – recommended reading!
Let me join the chorus of cheers to see a ThThTh post!
There’s a Canadian book called Fall on Your Knees by Anne-Marie Macdonald, which is a favourite of many of my friends (though I confess I didn’t love it nearly so much). Oh hey–just looked up the spelling of the author’s name to make sure I had it right and it turns out the book was an Oprah pick. I don’t think I knew that.
My favorite falling song lately: “Fallin’ and Flyin'” sung by Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell (yeah, COLIN FARRELL, SO GOOD) in Crazy Heart. The whole soundtrack is awesome, but this duet. Yeah.
Apparently using the word “fall” for “autumn” is just an American thing? If I knew where my OED was I’d go look up the derivation for you. :) But alas it’s still in a box.
“Fall On Your Knees” by Anne-Marie MacDonald is one of my all time favorite books, and I was quite disappointed when Oprah picked it SEVERAL YEARS after I read it. I don’t know why Oprah bothers me so.
i’ve always wondered that about the cradle.
Yay! for the ThThTh Thursday.
Oh, one of my favourite childhood taunts is “Have a nice trip. See you next fall.”
Hurray for the return of ThThTh!
There’s also the Frank Lloyd Wright house, Falling Water.
And aren’t there weird hair pieces, like giant, fat ponytails or something, that women can attach to their not-so-long hair … and didn’t they used to be called “falls”? Oh yes, like this excellent one I just found that Jessica Simpson has so kindly put on the market.
And musically-speaking, there’s Terrell’s excellent Strawdogs (Before the Fall) and Pure Prairie League’s Falling In and Out of Love.
And, of course, of Jimi reminding us that “castles made of sand/fall in the sea/eventually.”
(@bipolarlawyercook: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reminder of this excellent song! I’d forgotten all about it!)
Could I nominate another song? It is “Fallen From the Sky”, one of the movie Once soundtracks, by Glen Hasard (The Frame) and Marketa Irglova. I love love love this song. :-)
By Glen Hasard and Marketa Irglova
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