Be Excellent To Each Other

My daughter has a book ( 'Action rhymes' by Clare Beaton). Now this book, as you might expect, has rhymes with actions associated with them, one of which is the poem/song ' head, shoulders, knees and toes'. However, this has it as 'heads and shoulders...'. So, dear forum plural or single, and or not? I say single as I only have one head and it is an 'action' poem and also mouth and noise are singular in the second verse, but I'm sure you'll agree this needs further discussion and there is little else going on at the moment.

Plural, as it's usually sung by a group who have multiple heads between them.

I have selected single, but have realised that I actually sing "heads"

If I were to submit a theory, which I'm about to, it started as head, shoulders but with three year olds not being all that great linguistically the end of head became conjoined with the start of shoulders and in time became accepted parlance.

Head(s) AND shoulders has no place in a civilised society. There should not be an and between the first two items in a list of four, unless you're a cretin who plans to add an and at every interval, as happens in the second verse.

Do they sing "noses" and "mouths" too?

Actually, Heads, shoulders would be contextually legitimate for Glenn Hoddle.

Good point. Change my vote.

singular, both in english and in dutch
actually the toe bit is singular too in the dutch version
I guess because you're only using one finger to point in the action
eyes and ears are plural as you use both hands

in case it amuses:
hoofd, schouders, knie en teen, knie en teen
hoofd, schouders, knie en teen, knie en teen
ogen, oren, puntje van je neus
hoofd, schouders, knie en teen, knie en teen

No prizes for guessing which one got my vote but

Heads (plural)
Shoulders (plural)
eyes (plural)
ears (plural)

but
Mouth (singular)
nose (singular)

Wikipedia has it as 'head' (singular) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head,_Sho ... s_and_Toes

What I say depends on whether I am at home singing it alone, or singing it in a group.

*narrows eyes* You like that, wouldn't you. You're everything that's wrong with modern voters.

Remain. Wait, what?

Clearly it's head. At least put some effort in to understand before voting. 'Heads' voters disgust me.

<denies having made any claims about heads>

It's head.

I feel we've skipped past an important development that we need to discuss further...

On your own?

Lolz

I do find myself singing this to myself sometimes!

I'd completely forgotten it existed.I probably haven't sung it since I was 6 or so.

I was going to suggest similar. When I am singing (and I have a dreadful, awful singing voice yet the kids love me singing to them after bedtime stories) I also tend to let the words sort of flow into each other, particularly 'diamond in' from Twinkle Twinkle

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes.

Because you sing it in a group.

A group with more than one moth and nose? Unless human centipede.

It's head, shoulders, knees and toes.

And eyes, and ears, and mouth, and nose.

It just correlates to how many of those parts you have.

Not sure what people are finding so difficult about this. No wonder half of you couldn't work out that you were supposed to vote to stay in the EU.

So the words are different in Norfolk?

I know thats not how the search works, but I am going to assume I am right.

Isn't there a google thing where you can look at usage of ap phrase over time and compare our something?

I can't imagine how you'd find it if there were.

Doesn't work on win phone. Seriously.

Lose phone