Talk:Earworm

Does anyone have a citation for the coinage of this word? Isn't this simply the translation of the German Ohrwurm, or did the translation occur the other way around (English->German)? Maximus Rex 02:18, 6 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Earworm is not mentioned in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1970s edition). --KF 02:26, 6 Jan 2004 (UTC)

But maybe this helps: http://www.wordspy.com/words/earworm.asp

--KF 02:31, 6 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Yes it is, but the Seattle Times credits Kellaris with the coinage [1] (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestlife/2001805622_earworms03.html). I assume that means he was the first to use the English translation, but I don't know. I'll add the German info. --Spikey 13:32, 6 Jan 2004 (UTC)

After reading both the wordspy.com entry and Philpot's article in the Seattle Times I must say that there is a difference in meaning: Whereas an earworm is considered as something unpleasant, even pathological ("Can't get it out of my head [but would like to]"), Ohrwurm has only positive connotations. You might, for example, read about Walter Jurmann: "Er schrieb viele Ohrwürmer." ("He wrote many earworms.") This is always meant as a compliment. --KF 14:13, 6 Jan 2004 (UTC)

"Some recent examples" (4th attempt at saving this)

Don't know about the SF novel, but it may be worth mentioning here. I like lists on Wikipedia very very much, and have practically always voted for their inclusion, but this one here is definitely -- erm, a bit strange. How could Individual A possibly say what tune it is Individuals B, C and D can't get out of their heads? Are there any empirical data where these song titles are listed? Let's quote them!

Most Wikipedia lists are based on facts, including weird ones (We used to have a List of people predominantly seen wearing dark glasses); this one here is based on individual preferences and vague assumptions and therefore is not valid.

However, we can still keep it here, but we would have to add the fact that it is not, and can never be, objective. For example, I agree as far as Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad" is concerned. (I do remember last Christmas, and I found myself humming it all the time. On the other hand, this was not really unpleasant.) I am not sure about the other songs. But I also remember a silly children's song which, after a birthday party where it was played over and over again, was firmly trapped inside my head.

Anyway, we need a short introduction to the list clarifying a few things. <KF> 08:02, Mar 15, 2005 (UTC)

Fair enough, it seems the rule of thumb so far is "here 1 second burned out the next" crash and burn 1 hit wonders, meme starters. The two children ones are known fact and repeatedly spoofed because of this, see Shrek for a parody of Its a Small World. Song that never ends is a dictionary example of a cyclical song and mentioned in several other sources as "most annoying song ever". As for the rest it does seem to be rather arbitrary, that does not mean delete the entire list however! User:Alkivar/sig 08:28, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I disagree that we can keep the list, unless anyone can demonstrate that it is based on more than "individual preferences and vague assumptions". It is one person's opinion of songs that they have found annoying - personally I've never heard of half of them and quite like some of the others. I've kept the only attested fact - that "it's a small world" appears in Shrek - and deleted the rest. To paraphrase Robert Heinlein, just keep saying to yourself, facts, facts, facts. Again and again, what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? --194.73.130.132 13:51, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)