How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck

DESCRIPTION: Tongue-twister. "How much would would a woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Rest is not fixed, e.g. "He would chuck, he would, as much as he could," or "As much wood as a woodchuck would chuck...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1983 (Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes)
KEYWORDS: animal wordplay | woodchuck
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, p. 147, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #752, p. 283, "(How much wood would a woodchuck chuck)"
ADDITIONAL: Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #108, "(How much wood would a woodchuck chuck)" (1 text)
Roud #16343
NOTES [62 words]: Since the woodchuck, or groundhog, is an American mammal, it is surprising to find this included in some Mother Goose collections. Even in North America, the name "groundhog" is said to be more common than "woodchuck" (though my personal idiolect uses "woodchuck," not "groundhog"). Possibly some linguistic research could help us determine where this rhyme came from. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: DCCR147I

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