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===“[[Olympus]]”?===
===“[[Olympus]]”?===
A correspondent writes:
A correspondent writes:
{{quote|Sorry but you ALL HAVE IT WRONG!!! THE LYRIC IS “RISES LIKE A LEOPRESS”... THIS HAS BEEN BUGGING THE F OUT OF ME FOR YEARS. I think Weezer screwed up the whole world in this lyric... read his lips in the video}}
{{quote|“''Sorry but you ALL HAVE IT WRONG!!! THE LYRIC IS “RISES LIKE A LEOPRESS”... THIS HAS BEEN BUGGING THE F OUT OF ME FOR YEARS. I think Weezer screwed up the whole world in this lyric... read his lips in the video.''”}}


Now while I respect the the vigour with which this argument is put, I cannot agree with it. As for lipreading, no chance: the video cuts away to [[Steve Lukather]] who, rather like a tone-deaf footballer singing the national anthem, has forgotten to sing along [https://youtu.be/FTQbiNvZqaY?t=118 at the key moment].
Now while I respect the the vigour with which this argument is put, I cannot agree with it. As for lipreading, no chance: the video cuts away to [[Steve Lukather]] who, rather like a tone-deaf footballer singing the national anthem, has forgotten to sing along [https://youtu.be/FTQbiNvZqaY?t=118 at the key moment].


And we must allow [[David Paich|Mr. Paich]] some facility with logic and common sense, even if not much, and while Olympus clearly does not rise above the Serengeti, or another part of the African continent, being a mountain, it ''does'' at least rise above things like plains.  
And we must allow [[David Paich|Mr. Paich]] some facility with logic and common sense, even if not much. Olympus may not rise above the Serengeti plain but, being a mountain, it ''does'' at least rise above ''things like plains''.  


As for “leopresses”, who can say? What even ''is'' a “leopress”? It has escaped the compliers of the OED and, for what it is worth, Websters.<ref>Probably quite a bit, for [[David Paich|Mr. Paich]], being from California.</ref> I take it to be some kind of creative contraction of “leopardess” on Mr. Paich’s part. This cannot be right, for two reasons:
As for “leopresses”, who can say? What even ''is'' a “[[leopress]]”?<ref>It has escaped the compliers of the OED and, for what it is worth, Websters.</ref> We take it to be some kind of creative contraction of “leopardess”. But it cannot be this, for two reasons:


Firstly, female leopards, however described, do not really rise above things like plains. They may be fast, but in two dimensions. Leopards are wholly earthbound. The sorts of things that ''do'' rise above plains are mountains, rainclouds (mainly in Spain), and hot air balloons (as per the above, I am told, it is only ''from'' a hot air balloon, that has already risen high above the Serengeti, that one can even ''see'' Kilimanjaro.)
Firstly, female leopards, however described, do not really rise above ''things like plains'' in the way mountains do. The sorts of things that ''do'' rise above plains are, of course, mountains, but also rain clouds (mainly in Spain), spumes of volcanic ash, hot air balloons (as per the above, I am told, it is only ''from'' a hot air balloon, that has already risen above the Serengeti, that one can even ''see'' Kilimanjaro) and things like that.


Secondly, the “leop’r’ess” contraction strikes me as implausible, particularly as elsewhere [[David Paich|Mr. Paich]] gives the strong impression that he is not in the habit of making literary contractions for the sake of space. After all, he has already jammed twenty one syllables into a line apparently requiring only fourteen. Why start now?
Not lady leopards.


Thirdly, if you ''did'' want to squeeze “word for a big, fast, African cat” into two syllables, instead of butchering “[[leopardess]]”, wouldn’t you just use “''leopard''”? Are lady cats more given to “rising” than gentlemen cats? The [[JC]] has limited experience of this sort of thing, but we doubt it.
Secondly, the “leop’r’ess” contraction strikes us as implausible. Elsewhere [[David Paich|Mr. Paich]] gives the strong impression of not being in the habit of making literary contractions for the sake of space. He has already jammed twenty-one syllables into a line with space for only fourteen, after all.
 
Thirdly, if you ''did'' want to squeeze “word for a big, fast, African cat” into two syllables, instead of butchering “[[leopardess]]”, wouldn’t you just use “''leopard''”? Or lion, or cheetah, for that matter? Are lady leopards more given to “rising” than gentlemen cats? The [[JC]] has limited experience of this sort of thing, but we doubt it.
 
Our correspondent continues undeterred:
 
{{Quote|“''A female leopard is known as a [[leopress]] IN Africa, where they live mostly. A leopress would surely, most definitely rise above the serengeti, because they sleep in trees.''”}}
 
Now this is a nice try, but we think “surely, most definitely” materially over-eggs it. And, while no wizard in African linguistics — but nor is Mr. Paich — the [[JC]] can find scant evidence that “leopress” ''is'' “a special African term for a female leopard”. It seems fanciful: most people in that part of the world speak Swahili, and in that language leopardess, we gather, is “chui”. In a way it’s a pity Mr Paich didn’t use it: it would scan a lot better. But still, the point remains: a sleepy she-leopard, slinking up a tree for a nap, may be “elevated”, but is this really the sort of magnificent “rise” one might compare with a distant twenty-thousand-foot mountain? We don’t think so.
 
Ultimately, we cannot do better than the official Toto website, which contains all Toto lyrics, including those of Africa. [http://www.toto99.com/lyrics/ivlyrics.shtml See for yourself]. It is “Olympus”.