Chinny-chin-chin

Posted by R. Berg on June 08, 2007

In Reply to: Chinny-chin-chin posted by Mark on June 08, 2007

: What is chinny-chin-chin"?
:
: It appears in the tale of "Three Little Pigs":

: Wolf: I'm a poor little sheep with no place to sleep. Please open the door and let me in. Fifer Pig, Fiddler Pig: Not by the hair on our chinny-chin-chin. ...

It's just "chin," expanded by adding syllables to make a more musical lyric. A strong accent falls on every third beat. The accent falls that way too in "NOT by the HAIR on our CHIN," but the extra sounds in "CHINny-chin-" add three beats (one metric foot) to the line.

The irony is that little pigs, as Disney's artists drew them for this classic animation, have no hair on their chins or anywhere else. ~rb