See You Later Alligator

227. I remember a joke from my childhood that asked, “What’s the difference between an Alligator and a Crocodile?” Answer: It depends on whether they say, “See you later” or “After ‘while”. Both phrases were common jive-talk in the 50’s along with others like, “See you soon, Baboon". Paul Simon had fun with the phrasing in 1975 with “50 Way To Leave You Lover”, “You just slip out the back, Jack / Make a new plan, Stan / You don’t need to be coy, Roy/ Just get yourself free / Hop on the bus, Gus / You don’t need to discuss much / Just drop off the key, Lee / And get yourself free”.

In 1955 Bill Haley & His Comets had a hit with “See You Later Alligator” that was written by Robert Charles Guidry, which led us to tell the reptilian joke. I’m pretty sure that Leslie Bulion, the author I’ve worked with on five, critter-based children’s books, would say that Alligators have round U-shaped snouts, generally live in freshwater and their lower teeth are not visible when their mouths are closed. Crocodiles, on the other hand, have V-shaped snouts, can be found in both freshwater and saltwater, and their bottom teeth are visible when their mouth are closed.

And if you want to know the difference between early rock and roll and what it replaced, “Just listen to the tune, June” and you’ll learn it’s about “The beat, Pete.”

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