Earworms

Last Thursday’s word from Anu Garg’s A.Word.A.Day was earworm :

1. A catchy song or tune that keeps involuntarily repeating in one’s mind.

2. An agricultural pest commonly known as corn earworm, of the species Helicoverpa zea or Helicoverpa armigera.

I did not want to call attention to this word last week, as I had an pernicious earworm raging: the Jardiance jingle. I dared not do anything to provoke it. But when my son asked me where “Hi-de-ho” came from, Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” stepped up and kicked that other worm out before it got to my brain. Hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hi.

Click on either of the Jardiance links at your own risk. They’re really swell.