earworm

hernesheir "What has caused the decrease in earnings?", in the shorthand of railroad telegraphy. --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906, p.217. Jan 22, 2013

bilby Putin. Apr 12, 2011

ruzuzu While my guitar gently weeps.... Jul 1, 2010

Prolagus Let your balalaika sing what my guitar wants to sing... Jun 30, 2010

PossibleUnderscore I can't believe that would be very pleasant. Jan 16, 2010

hernesheir Got an earworm? I'll sell you an early earbird to pluck it out. That's the ticket. Jan 16, 2010

PossibleUnderscore *humming* Jan 16, 2010

uselessness If we could embed videos, I would embed this one. Jan 16, 2010

john No promises, but that might be reversible.




Nov 19, 2009

uselessness The loss of the autoplaying earworm is one of the Great Tragedies of our time. Nov 19, 2009

bilby Although we now have this vexample:
"But sometimes a worm, called the earworm, which is like the tomato worm, will appear during June and eat the tips of the young ears." — The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. Nov 19, 2009

bilby Hey, uselessness's Popcorn doesn't autoplay any more :-((( Nov 19, 2009

bilby Stop. Sep 19, 2009

reesetee Haha! Perfect. Jun 16, 2009

bilby The most honest earworm I can think of is ELO's 'I Can't Get It Out Of My Head'. Jun 16, 2009

oroboros Que Sera, Sera's been the earworm curse para mi, par excellence! For some idiot reason, always in the shower...go figure! Mar 18, 2009

reesetee That's the uselessness. He's forever marked this page as infamous. Mar 17, 2009

bilby ORO! YOU DEVIOUS SO-AND-SO! AARGGH! AUTOPLAY! OR WAS IT THE USELESSNESS?! AARRGGGGHHH! Mar 17, 2009

oroboros I don't know how this really contributes to the conversations on this page, but I'm puttin' it here anyway!

Earworm Protection?


Mar 17, 2009

bilby listen closely
not for very much longer
you've got to
keep control Dec 11, 2008

reesetee Oh, right. Do I have to stop bellowing? Dec 11, 2008

bilby What's this Time Warp? We're doing The Earworm here. Dec 11, 2008

chained_bear Let's do the Tiiiime Warrrrp agaaaaaaaain!! Dec 10, 2008

reesetee *bellowing*

But it's the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane! Dec 10, 2008

chained_bear *waits to see who will post the "pelvic thrust" lyric* Dec 10, 2008

pterodactyl And bring your knees in ti-i-iight! Dec 10, 2008

chained_bear Put your hands on your hips! Dec 9, 2008

reesetee And then a step to the right.... Dec 9, 2008

bilby Let's ... do ... the Earworm ... again!!!

It's just a jump to the left -- Dec 9, 2008

chained_bear Oh, Wordie's got her beat. :) Dec 8, 2008

garyth123 a lady at amazon introduced me to this word in September 08. Dec 8, 2008

dharma66 This is what my mental radio came up with this AM!
"Sex is natural. Sex is fun. Sex is better when it's one on one. (I want your sex)" AAAaaarrrrgggh!!

*backs away from keyboard... hums the alphabet* Oct 23, 2008

mialuthien Thanks, P. I knew it had a name, and now I have one more ****-related name to watch out for!

This would have been listed as my "least favorite word", if I could stand to have it on my profile. Jul 29, 2008

Prolagus It should be helmintophobia helminthophobia, Mia. Jul 29, 2008

dontcry Cutting off of ears! Absurd! Jul 29, 2008

mialuthien The latter, Dontcry, and I'm not joking :/

BTW, who on earth has an ear phobia? And what do they do, then – cut their ears off? Ow. Jul 29, 2008

dontcry Mia -- do you have an 'ear' phobia or a 'worm' phobia? Jul 29, 2008

mialuthien Eugh, just eugh. Please be advised not to use this word in a conversation with me. I have a ****-phobia (what's the correct word for it?). It's an apt coinage, but an ugly word *totally grossed-out* *selective memory on* Jul 29, 2008

reesetee It is creepy, in a sort of ingenious way. What will earworms be teaching us next? ;-) Feb 16, 2008

sionnach That's just plain kreepy, r_t!

Deutschland, Deutschland uber a-ha-lles,
uber alle-es in de-her Welt....

One can be sure that they will have kreepily chipper salesfolks in airline terminals throughout the land. perhaps we can look forward to some pitched battles between them and the Rosetta Stone Drones ...

Myself, I'm learning Italian because, as a simple peasant boy, it's gonna be my key to meeting hot supermodels and impressing them with my syntactical synergies...

Dove il gabinetto, per piacere? Feb 15, 2008

reesetee This just in:

Feb 13, 2008 12:00 ET
Berlitz to Launch New Language Learning Program, Earworms MBT

Best-Selling Audio-Book Uses Catchy Tunes to Teach Foreign Languages

NEW YORK, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Berlitz is pleased to announce the addition of the best-selling range of audio-books, Earworms Musical Brain Trainer (MBT). Renowned as one of the world's premier foreign language organizations, Berlitz is bringing this groundbreaking concept to North American retail outlets beginning March 2008.

Earworms MBT takes an entirely new and innovative approach to language learning. Based on the science behind catchy songs that become stuck in one's head (the auditory cortex), Earworms works by pairing melodic music with soft spoken foreign words, phrases and their translations. The result: an incredibly effective method for learning conversational foreign languages by simply listening. Unlike other language programs, which require intense grammar exercises and repetitive drills, the Earworms method requires minimum concentration. The trainer is user-friendly, effective, and relaxing, allowing the listener to unwind while simultaneously learning a new language.

God help us.
Feb 15, 2008

reesetee Well, if nothing else, you'll have a seasonally appropriate earworm...TODAY, anyway. :-| Oct 31, 2007

sonofgroucho Now that is just cruel! Oct 31, 2007

chained_bear Some BASTARD just sent me to a site that plays the Monster Mash. DAMMIT!!! Oct 31, 2007

reesetee I don't know, cathari. Seems to me that cats would be clever enough to have a way to obliterate earworms the second they hear them. ;-) Oct 31, 2007

cathari I had never heard Popcorn before, and I was so curious I had to go listen to it. Tellurian's reaction was "you want to give yourself an earworm?"

Now that I've played it a few times through, though, I kind of feel bad for my cats, who probably have it now... Oct 31, 2007

reesetee Oh no! Now it's running through my head! Oct 30, 2007

chained_bear Another fine example: the Wallace & Gromit theme. Oct 30, 2007

sonofgroucho That has to be the ultimate earworm song!! Oct 24, 2007

rocksinmypockets Oh my, that's great. Thanks for the smorgasbord of annoyingly peppy music, uselessness! No wonder it seemed so familiar and yet hard to place. Oct 20, 2007

jrome I gotta say, there's another ditty that can play all day round here: Lady (Here me tonight) by MoDJo. Hear song and see video under lady
Oct 19, 2007

uselessness See discussion at shirt. It means we want earworm merch. :-) Oct 19, 2007

angharad Why is this tagged "shirt"? If that's an earworm, I don't get it. Oct 19, 2007

uselessness It's called "Popcorn," originally recorded by the band Hot Butter. Because of its notoriety as an obnoxious earworm, it's been covered probably more than any other song ever. There are so many versions floating around, it's not even funny. Here are 79 of them you can download. I have no idea what version is playing on this page, they're all the same to me. More information (and still more versions to download) available here. Oct 19, 2007

rocksinmypockets What is the soundtrack, anyway? I might want to get a copy. :D Oct 19, 2007

reesetee Thank heavens for small blessings. ;-> Oct 18, 2007

uselessness I think it's a matter of the remote server coming and going. It's not the most reliable place to load music from. ;-) Oct 18, 2007

jennarenn The soundtrack is back! Who did that?

*huming along* Oct 18, 2007

npydyuan I think she may have changed some of the words a little bit. My eldest daughter wanted it, so I said okay 'cause I was tired of listening to the Wonder Pets theme song.... There's an animal in trouble! (There's an animal in twouble...)! (Cue 5- and 3-year-old paroxysms.) Oct 16, 2007

uselessness It's hardly a children's song, really, other than the part about candy. Oct 16, 2007

npydyuan Yeah, Big Rock Candy Mountain.... but Lisa Loeb does a very pleasantly ethereal version of it, I must say. Got it from iTunes, off some children's album. Oct 16, 2007

reesetee Somehow I think it could happen, what with John and uselessness on the case. :-P Oct 16, 2007

rocksinmypockets But can we add this soundtrack to the earworm merch? Teeheehee. Oct 16, 2007

reesetee I just use the old Torture Your Sibling trick. Walk through the room where some unsuspecting victim is innocently working, reading, or otherwise engaged, start humming the earworm, walk out as you're finishing the hummed tune, and poof! Earworm has been transferred to its next host.

It's not nice, but it's effective. Hey, you have to save yourself.

P.S. John, we definitely need some earworm merch. ;-) Oct 16, 2007

rocksinmypockets What always works for me, in terms of getting rid of earworms, is humming my favorite childhood song. It never gets stuck, but it has enough oomph to derail the worm. I think the smurf song would just be another earworm for me.

And, I have to agree with npydyuan on Big Rock Candy Mountain. Ug! Oct 16, 2007

jennarenn I have a student named Quinn this year. I've been playing Quinn the Eskimo in my head ever since planning week. Every time I call the child's name, it starts over.

Moral: Don't name your child Quinn. Oct 16, 2007

reesetee Clearly, someone unchained the bear. Oct 15, 2007

npydyuan IN THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*collapses in quivering heap* Oct 15, 2007

chained_bear There's a lake of stew, and of whiskey too, you can paddle all around them in a big canoe... Oct 15, 2007

npydyuan Why? Why is the bear torturing me? Oct 15, 2007

chained_bear ...where they hung the jerk that invented work... Oct 15, 2007

npydyuan Aaaaaaaaighhh!!!! Make it stop!!!!! Oct 15, 2007

chained_bear There ain't no short-handled shovels, no axes, saws, or picks... Oct 15, 2007

reesetee Must...leave...earworm...page.... Oct 15, 2007

uselessness ...the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft-boiled eggs... Oct 15, 2007

npydyuan Oh, of course. And now I have in my head a slurry of all these bits of ditties swimming around... like an auditory analog of the miasma from the Kmart receiving room I worked in, long ago, particularly the area where health & beauty aids overlapped with all the candies & gums, which was never quite far enough away from the trash compactor! Oct 15, 2007

uselessness By worst, npydyuan, I think you mean best. Of course. Oct 15, 2007

npydyuan Personal worst earworm song: "Big Rock Candy Mountain" from O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack. Oct 15, 2007

wizmical visual effects: ff to 2:56 Oct 15, 2007

reesetee "It's a Small World After All" can drive me to drink. Oct 15, 2007

chained_bear I think the "Chicken Dance" tune is the worst earworm ever. Oct 15, 2007

reesetee NOOOOOOOOOOO! *clutches head* Oct 15, 2007

john One effective way to remove an earworm is to sing--to yourself, unless you want people to think you're crazy--the smurph's song. It's like an inoculation--it's close to being an earworm, but it isn't. But if you hum a few bars ("la la la la la la, sing a happy song..."), it'll dislodge another one. Oct 15, 2007

reesetee Weird. Neither of the computers I use lets me hear it. I suppose that should be considered a good thing.

Wait! I spoke to soon. Now I hear it. Oct 15, 2007

npydyuan No. It's still playing.
And playing.
And playing.... Oct 15, 2007

reesetee Thanks, seanahan. For a second, I thought I was being gaslighted. Though it took me long enough to realize it. ;-) Oct 15, 2007

seanahan There used to be an earworm playing here. I think it was removed. Oct 15, 2007

reesetee Wait a minute--there's an earworm playing on this page? Or am I misunderstanding? Oct 15, 2007

rocksinmypockets Perhaps I should have said that I love it in theory. It is a clever little twist, and so perfectly appropriate for the listing.

Oh, hell, I'm probably enough of a dork to still love it tomorrow, who am I kidding? Oct 15, 2007

jennarenn But will you still love it tomorrow? Oct 15, 2007

rocksinmypockets I just love the fact the the listing comes with it's own infecting, infesting little earworm. Oct 14, 2007

chained_bear Me too, slumry. Eee, it just todally skeeves me out. Oct 12, 2007

slumry This is a useful and colorful word, but every time it comes up, it gives me the creeps--I guess I have had a too-vivid imagination about earwigs! Jul 11, 2007

slumry That's good, R! I guess I was out of pocket five days ago! Jul 11, 2007

reesetee Here's a good suggestion. ;-) Jul 6, 2007

slumry Remember "I had a little peanut, a little peanut...it was rotten...etc, (ad nauseum)" It is a wonder my brother didn't kill me over that. And if not that, "Have you seen the ghost of Tom...long white bones with the skin all gone..." or something like that. . . Jun 18, 2007

uselessness Which, of course, was fully my intent. I hide proudly behind the anonymity of the internet. Jun 1, 2007

amcd56 I meant that it was mean to put that song into my head for me to hear all day. (: Jun 1, 2007

reesetee Not mean--just truthful. :-) And besides, it's usually not a person anyway, at least not for me. It's some inanimate object like, say, a CD. Which makes it my fault in the first place! May 31, 2007

jennarenn I like the soundtrack. :) May 31, 2007

amcd56 Oooooh - that was mean. May 31, 2007

reesetee "Medications that are used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety can alleviate the symptoms of earworms."

Thus spake Wikipedia. But really--can these medications eliminate the person responsible for planting the damn thing in your head? I think not. May 30, 2007

uselessness A song or catchy tune that gets stuck in your head for hours or even days. At first it's fun, but eventually you'll want to kill whatever idiot was responsible for the torture.

<embed src="http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/KG/popcorn/boston-pops-Popcorn.mp3" autostart="true" hidden="true" volume="35" loop="true" /> May 30, 2007