Gees, you guys are vicious. In the other thread, I said, "I learned it with what might be an anti-Irish "paddywhack" (vice "potterack"). When we were kids, we thought it meant hitting an Irishman with a stick, not that we were bothered by that. I thought I worded my conjecture as noncomittally as I could, but Kat and I sure got jumped on. Since "Paddy" is American slang for Irishman, I think it's quite possible that some people changed it to "patty" so as not to offend - even though the original intent was most probably not an ethnic slur.

Please note that neither kat nor I condemned the song as an ethnic slur. We merely threw out the question. Kat and I are tough enough to take it, but I wonder if the ferocity of the response might tend to stifle honest inquiries or comments. Like it or not, fifty years ago, some kids in Detroit thought "paddywhack" meant hitting an Irishman. Since this is a kids' song, I think that's a worthwhile observation.

-Joe Offer-

P.S. I can't find anything in Opie - Singing Game, Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, Games with Things. Now Paddy and I will go cry in our beer.