[Grammar] Grammars about a nursery rhyme "Old King Cole"

Status
Not open for further replies.

yyfroy

Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
In the following nursery rhyme,

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe,
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Every fiddler had a fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he.
Tweedle dee, tweedle dee,
Tweedle dee, tweedle dee,
Tweedle dee, tweedle dee,
Went the fiddlers three,
Oh there's none so rare
As can compare,
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.


Please help me to solve my problems,

1. How many meanings are there of the phrase "so ... as ..."?
And what "part of speech" are they? Conjunctions? Adjectives? Pronouns?


2. If we omit these words "so rare as", maybe the
meaning is much more clear?
"There's none (who) can compare with King Cole ...."

But the grammar will be wrong if there isn't a "who" added. If we don't take off these three words "so rare as", the grammar of the original sentence seems strange."There's none so rare as can compare, with King Cole and his fiddlers three."
What in the world is the meaning of this sentence?

Thank you very much for your reply!!
 
Last edited:
It means there is no-one exactly like Old King Cole and his three fiddlers. They are unique.

Rover
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top