I did solve one problem, though. I always knew it as “how in heck can I wash my neck,” but was puzzled by occasional appearances of “how in the world can the old folks tell.” I found an old recording that makes it clear: it’s “how in hell can the old folks tell that it ain’t gonna rain more?”

By the way, an odd transition has occurred. The modern generation thinks “cooties” means “germs.” Of course it really means pubic lice.

My mom sung a similar one: “Looking through the knothole/In father’s wooden leg/Who will wind the clocks when I am gone?/Quick, grab the axe, there’s a fly on baby’s nose/Why do they put the shores so near the ocean?”