It does have two syllables: tree rat. Fives for two.

i must fess up to being one of the people who pronounce it as one syllable...i saw one this morning

hilarious, you two - have a bee-er (2 syllables) on me, Pippin - 555

Potato, potarto, tomeighto, tomarto...
I wanna know who won ? :)

It still can go either way, but it depends on the OS and how fast the lyrics are sung. Also, pronouncing "squirrel" as one syllable is like pronouncing "strengths" (anyone know a word that contains more than 5 consonants in a row?) - it doesn't roll of the tongue too easily. In everyday conversation though, it is one syllable. I think Merry wins this round, though your scores are identical. =)

I'm sure it wasn't me !!! - ha ha - Let's just say that 'right' won ;-p

RA, I have one comment ! "Diction"-ary ! Muwahahah ;-p

Excellent parody, but in Arkansas it's pronounced "dinner".

Merry & Pippin, you guys know your own strength, you don't really have to back it up. ..but good parody, 555 without a doubt.

Squirls they be a flyin' lol 5's

From the Hyperdictionary: "Pronunciation: 'skwurul" Hmmm that's TWO syllables it seems!! Peregrin, you win!

"Can I just assume her humour's wry ?" This is probably the safest bet... (pssst, tho', personally, I'm with you on this one).

fatass-pooty 5-5-5 again. just for the exhausting thought

(Please read reply to Part 1 first!)

First of all, it should be noted that in the Deep South of the US, "God" has *three* syllables in it, which renders most other similar debates moot. ;-)

This is one of those delicious words like "iron", where, if you look through enough dictionaries, you can find at least one that supports one syl. and one that supports two. Which gives a "Fielder's Choice", as they say in baseball, and a *very* useful tool for pacing-conscious parodists! (Remember them? ;)

Here come da Judge! Here come da Judge!
  Verdict: You're both right. It's a draw -- and a funny one.

This *is* one of the difficulties of collaboration, but for a (facetious) way of settling them, Merry should see that which Pip hath already seen:
  http://www.amiright.com/parody/60s/franksinatra171.shtml

"Here come da Judge! Here come da Judge! Verdict: You're both right. It's a draw"

Ye Gods! A fence sitter of the most heinous order! I wanna re-trial...

Can you picture a turtle balancing on a fence?

(verry old commercial in the US; self-explanatory; not room in the Name field to include the trademark symbol for the brand name, Certs™.   ;)

WHAT fence-sitting? Dictionaries, authorities of ultimate stature, in overall meta-survey, allow either 1 or 2. Cf. f/n [6] in Friday's "A Rack Of D-Awesome" etc. Dictionary allows either three or four syls for "miniature", and *both are correct*. So the parodist gets to choose which to use.

Also interesting (to us word freaks) is that while it seems the US is the side most likely to shorten "squirrel" to one syl, the Brits chop a syllable off of "military", secretary", and probably every other word that ends in "tary". And, apparently, even "dysentery - disent'ry". (sheesh)

Got in a bit of a pacing twist with a UK writer a long time ago, from whence came the knowledge of the elision of that final vowel UK/CW. Take advantage of your counter-hemispherical linguistics, and feel free to use either US or BR pacings as fits the song. Or non-national variables, too, as in "miniature".

Supreme Court of the United States of Aturtlah, in re: MERIADOC v. PEREGRIN, 2012:
Ruling of the lower court is affirmed and strengthened: It is, in fact, a win-win.

(bangs gavel) Court is adjourned. Now, stop that petty squabbling and get back to writing!

Thanks for your diplomacy Tommy! ;)

Merry, I'll overlook the insult: Diplomacy is based on lies. (heh heh j/k!) ... btw, did you like (or catch) the "private joke" (compliment) in Pt. 1, from Dirty Harry?

Never watched Dirty Harry, so it went over my head I am afraid. I loved the Certs reference however. Not only do I remember it, but at work, whenever I find myself with two like objects in my hands I am often banging them together like that (carrying boxes of tissues: "Two! Two! Two Puffs in one!") My co-workers think I am daft I suspect. Their sense of humor runs to the literal and has no room for either the cerebral or the silly...

My sense of humor has no room for the literal (unless there's a "c" before it, heh heh!), but being amphibious, there *is* room for the littoral.

DH was a classic, reflecting the backlash from the 1960's Supreme Court under CJ Earl Warren continually enlarging suspects' rights and limiting police powers and techniques (sometimes correctly so; sometimes going too far). Harry was a SFPD detective who tended to bend the rules to catch psychopathic killers. Some interesting ethical issues raised there, but that's probably better suited to e-mail if you're truly interested. Or not.

In an early scene, Harry is munching on a hot dog and happens to witness an armed robbery. He gets in a gunfight with the robber, who has a shotgun. After some number of rounds have been fired on each side, Harry gets the jump on the guy, who is lying on the street, considering reaching for his shotgun as Harry stands over him holding his six-shot revolver, a .44-calibre Magnum. Harry says,

  "I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

No spoilers, in case you ever decide to watch it. The private joke was in "punk". (Check the strange calligraphy of the word.)