2006-11-03 07:28:45 · 31 answers · asked by Scott T 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
An eggcellent question. Let me eggplain.
The rhyme Humpty Dumpty was first used in 1810 as a riddle for which the answer was an egg. The answer began so widely known that everyone hearing the rhyme associated Humpty with an egg. It has since been simply passed down from generations.
2006-11-04 07:13:46 · answer #1 · answered by fishintheear 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Humpty Dumpty is a character in a Mother Goose rhyme, portrayed as an anthropomorphized egg. Most English-speaking children are familiar with the rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again. +
That Humpty Dumpty is an egg is not actually stated in the rhyme. In its first printed form, in 1810, it is a riddle, and exploits for misdirection the fact that "humpty dumpty" was 18th-Century reduplicative slang for a short, clumsy person. Whereas a clumsy person falling off a wall would not be irreparably damaged, an egg would be. The rhyme is no longer posed as a riddle, since the answer is now so well known. Similar riddles have been recorded by folklorists in other languages, such as Boule Boule in French, or Lille Trille in Swedish; though none is as widely known as Humpty Dumpty is in English.
2006-11-03 08:33:20 · answer #2 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Humpty Dumpty was a cannon which was shaped like an egg and was used in the english civil war during the seige by Cromwells army of Cambridge of the royal army supporting King Charles 1 the rhyme was made by the new model army under Cromwell when the large cannon was deposed from the fortress wall and smashed into little pieces
2006-11-03 07:40:43 · answer #3 · answered by paul t 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the rhyme was based on king george III.The rhyme of Humpty Dumpty refers to the giant siege engine used by the King to try and break into Parliamentarian Gloucester during the English Civil War. The siege engine broke and the spirit of Gloucester's people didn't
In the newspaper cartoons at the time (obviously there was no photographs) king George was shown as a egg shaped man because he was fat
2006-11-03 07:35:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
coz it makes sense to call an egg Humpty Dumpty, if it was a cucumber or a dog or infact anything else, it would just be plain silly to call him Humpty Dumpty, however, calling an egg that is perfectly acceptable
2006-11-05 23:04:08 · answer #5 · answered by Jenny K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because when he fell,''all the kings horses and all the kings men/couldn't put Humpty together again",you can't repair an egg if he breaks
2006-11-04 03:20:15 · answer #6 · answered by black_cat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Come on now ...what would you put in a child's nursery ryhme??
The bloody king all in bits.
I think the egg was simple to draw so there it is.
And the little kiddies weren't scared out of their knickers.
2006-11-03 09:42:04 · answer #7 · answered by J B W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, because in all the books he is an Egg.....?
You mean he isn't? Noooooo...!
First its the tooth fairy, then Father Christmas,
Leave poor Humpty alone.........What next ???
(Exit stage right, sobbing into a lace handkerchief)
2006-11-03 10:36:10 · answer #8 · answered by SUPER-GLITCH 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well... this is straight out of ricky gervais politics.
eggsellent.
its purely the illustration. if i were the king, i wouldnt have sent all my men, let alone horses... i mean if i were to create a perfect egg crushing device, it would surely be the hoof, and how are they going to help?? i mean men, opposable thumbs.. but hooves??
and what if France decided to invade on the very same day
Advisor: "France are invading your majesty"
King: "well all my men are fixing an egg"
Advisor: "errr..."
2006-11-03 08:05:54 · answer #9 · answered by vampir2124 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Besides the fact it is stated he is an egg. When he fell you could see the shell broken into pieces, like an egg in your fridge
2006-11-03 07:46:31 · answer #10 · answered by 511@ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋