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How do we know that the subject of the song is a toddler? Rufus Sarsaparilla 21:20, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Is the song about a yellow bikini with polka dots or about a bikini with yellow polka dots? Metamorphousthe 01:27, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
I found out the other day that the Hungarian word "icipici", which is nearly pronounced as "itsy bitsy", means "tiny". Now I wonder: did the author know of this? Was "itsy bitsy" a common American English idiom derived from Hungarian before the song was written? Or has the word even been incorporated into the Hungarian language from the song? He who asks this is a native German speaker. -- 87.186.87.213 14:56, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
"I found out the other day that the Hungarian word "icipici", which is nearly pronounced as "itsy bitsy", means "tiny". Now I wonder: did the author know of this?"
No doubt in my mind whatsoever - AJS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.86.124.224 ( talk) 09:49, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
It is in fact highly unlikely that the author of the lyrics knew of the Hungarian term "icipici", which may not even have existed at that time. The English expression "itsy bitsy" is baby talk derived from the words "little bit", so it most definitely does not come from Hungarian. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English expression was in existence by 1938, and was used by Raymond Chandler in a story in 1939. It is much more likely that the Hungarian word "icipici" (which according to the online Hungarian Dictionary http://szotar.sztaki.hu/index.hu.jhtml, means "teeny-weeny") is a transliteration of the English term. It may have entered the Hungarian language after Brian Hyland's song became an international hit. Paulannis ( talk) 11:22, 23 December 2009 (UTC).
I knew the 'icipici' expression, meaning 'tiny', in Hungary when I was a child there in the 1940s. It is more likely that it was an adaptation of the English expression from the 1930s, see above. By the way, 'Pici' is used in Hungarian, meaning 'small'.(Nov 2013)
I have heard that the song was originally penned by Brian Hyland when he was visiting the oceanfront cabin of relatives in Yachats, Oregon, USA. It is a widespread popular rumor in Yachats. Does anyone know if this is true? Marycerro 16:34, 22 April 2007 (UTC)MaryCerro Marycerro 16:34, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
This seems unlikey, since it appears to be universally agreed that the song was not written by Brian Hyland, but by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, as stated in the first paragraph. Paulannis ( talk) 11:24, 23 December 2009 (UTC)
According to the original single's cover ( [1] from [2]), the title should read "Polkadot" instead of "Polka Dot". -- FordPrefect42 ( talk) 23:52, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
I feel that the first section of this article, concerning the controversy over a "false obituary", is very confusing and hard to read, and needs cleaning up and clarification. 70.226.161.16 ( talk) 21:57, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
Here's a truly unimportant issue. The infobox lists the genre as "Bubblegum pop." However, according to Wikipedia's own article, Bubblegum pop is generally dated to 1968. Given a lack of a reference for the claim, shouldn't we change the genre to something generic like "novelty song," as used elsewhere in the article? -- Larry/Traveling_Man ( talk) 03:15, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
![]() | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
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How do we know that the subject of the song is a toddler? Rufus Sarsaparilla 21:20, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Is the song about a yellow bikini with polka dots or about a bikini with yellow polka dots? Metamorphousthe 01:27, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
I found out the other day that the Hungarian word "icipici", which is nearly pronounced as "itsy bitsy", means "tiny". Now I wonder: did the author know of this? Was "itsy bitsy" a common American English idiom derived from Hungarian before the song was written? Or has the word even been incorporated into the Hungarian language from the song? He who asks this is a native German speaker. -- 87.186.87.213 14:56, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
"I found out the other day that the Hungarian word "icipici", which is nearly pronounced as "itsy bitsy", means "tiny". Now I wonder: did the author know of this?"
No doubt in my mind whatsoever - AJS. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.86.124.224 ( talk) 09:49, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
It is in fact highly unlikely that the author of the lyrics knew of the Hungarian term "icipici", which may not even have existed at that time. The English expression "itsy bitsy" is baby talk derived from the words "little bit", so it most definitely does not come from Hungarian. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English expression was in existence by 1938, and was used by Raymond Chandler in a story in 1939. It is much more likely that the Hungarian word "icipici" (which according to the online Hungarian Dictionary http://szotar.sztaki.hu/index.hu.jhtml, means "teeny-weeny") is a transliteration of the English term. It may have entered the Hungarian language after Brian Hyland's song became an international hit. Paulannis ( talk) 11:22, 23 December 2009 (UTC).
I knew the 'icipici' expression, meaning 'tiny', in Hungary when I was a child there in the 1940s. It is more likely that it was an adaptation of the English expression from the 1930s, see above. By the way, 'Pici' is used in Hungarian, meaning 'small'.(Nov 2013)
I have heard that the song was originally penned by Brian Hyland when he was visiting the oceanfront cabin of relatives in Yachats, Oregon, USA. It is a widespread popular rumor in Yachats. Does anyone know if this is true? Marycerro 16:34, 22 April 2007 (UTC)MaryCerro Marycerro 16:34, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
This seems unlikey, since it appears to be universally agreed that the song was not written by Brian Hyland, but by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, as stated in the first paragraph. Paulannis ( talk) 11:24, 23 December 2009 (UTC)
According to the original single's cover ( [1] from [2]), the title should read "Polkadot" instead of "Polka Dot". -- FordPrefect42 ( talk) 23:52, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
I feel that the first section of this article, concerning the controversy over a "false obituary", is very confusing and hard to read, and needs cleaning up and clarification. 70.226.161.16 ( talk) 21:57, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
Here's a truly unimportant issue. The infobox lists the genre as "Bubblegum pop." However, according to Wikipedia's own article, Bubblegum pop is generally dated to 1968. Given a lack of a reference for the claim, shouldn't we change the genre to something generic like "novelty song," as used elsewhere in the article? -- Larry/Traveling_Man ( talk) 03:15, 30 November 2016 (UTC)