Words of Waldo

"Deck the Halls with boughs of holly! Do be do be doooo be do be doooooo! Tis the season to be jolly! Do be do be doooo be do be doooooo!"

Waldo the Elf was singing at the top of his lungs. He was singing at the middle and bottom of his lungs as well. Which was unfortunate, because what Waldo lacked in melody he made up for in volume. He was demonstrating his version of an old carol for his friend Holly Elf.

"Waldo," she had asked him, "Why are you singing 'do be do be do' like that in 'Deck the Halls?'"

Waldo replied. "Because I forgot the words!"

"Oh," said Holly, and she began singing "Deck the halls with boughs of Holly, Fa la la la la, la la la la!"

"So you don't know the words either?" asked Waldo.

"No, those are the words," explained Holly.

Waldo scratched his head. "Well, what do they mean?"

Holly blushed. "Umm...I think it means that whoever wrote the song had more music than words. "

"What about the first part," asked Waldo, "the 'Deck the Halls' part? I thought a deck was on the back of a house."

"That's what it means now," said Holly, as she got back to wrapping presents, "But a long time ago, 'deck' meant the same thing as 'decorate.' And 'halls' were the large rooms where people gathered and celebrated. And 'boughs of holly,' of course, meant..."

"Oh! I know!" cried Waldo, and he dashed out of the room.

Holly shrugged her shoulders and got back to wrapping her presents. When you're around Waldo, you get used to this sort of behavior.

And that might be a mistake.