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Song and dance

Posted by ESC on July 18, 2000

In Reply to: Song and dance posted by Rahul Sharma on July 17, 2000

: What is the meaning of the phrase "Song and Dance" line in: All this must be a song and dance for you....

There are two common ways the phrase "song and dance" is used. I'm not sure which meaning, if either, would apply to the sentence you have posted here.

1. Give someone a "song and dance," meaning give someone a weak excuse. "I asked him why he was late again, and he gave me that old 'song and dance' about his alarm clock not working."
2. Do your usual "song and dance," give your standard speech, etc. "My son made bad grades and I gave him my standard 'song and dance' about how he won't get into a good college unless he does better."

A Hog on Ice (1948, Harper & Row) by Charles Earle Funk. "a song and dance - Typical of American vaudeville since the 1870s have been performers who, coming upon the stage, open the act with a song and follow it with a dance. In theatrical parlance, such performers are called 'song and dance artists,' .Because of the nature of the performance, however, the phrase has acquired two other meanings in common speech: First, thanks to the usual nonsensical patter that precedes the song, one is said to 'give a song and dance,' when he tells something or, especially, offers an excuse which seems to the listener to be nothing but nonsense. Second, thanks to the necessity for the accompanist or orchestra leader to start the musical accompaniment exactly at a prearranged cue, one is said to 'go into one's song and dance' when in the course of a speech or a conversation, he begins a statement or story that he has carefully rehearsed or has related upon previous occasions."

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