In this article, we will discuss 3 things.
1. The FUN song, and WHO is Mr. SquarePants?
2. Acrostic poetry
3. What do acrostic poetry and the FUN song have in common?
Everyone knows the FUN song.
The what song?
Oh you know, the FUN song.
The iconic song about friendship debuted in 1999 during the first season of SpongeBob SquarePants, a Nickelodeon cartoon.
SpongeBob is a yellow sponge character who LOVES his friends- as he sings:
F is for Friends who do stuff together
U is for You and Me!
N is for anywhere and anytime at all, down here in the deep blue sea 🌊
In the short clip, the show’s antagonist, Plankton, a tiny green pickle-looking fellow appears with a bad attitude. Plankton remixes SpongeBob’s original acrostic poem, as follows:
F is for FIRE 🔥 that burns down the whole town
U is for Uranium Bombs 💣
N is for NO survivors!! 😵☠️
Luckily, friendship icon Spongebob SquarePants reappears in the frame and scolds Plankton appropriately. Continuing to boast his linguistic abilities, SpongeBob then sings in unity with Plankton:
F is for frolic through all the flowers
U is for ukulele
N is for nose picking, sharing gum and sand licking with my best buddy.
What is acrostic poetry? What is an acrostic poem?
An acrostic poem is a type of poem centered around one main word. The words of the poem start with the letters of the main word.
In SpongeBob’s poem, the main word is FUN. Then, SpongeBob uses describing words, adjectives and short phrases that start with F, U and N… sort of. The FUN song uses informal dialogue or slang. For example, the letter U is an abbreviation or slang for the English word “you.” Same goes for “anything” starting with an “N.”
“Acrostic” contains the same word parts/roots as the word “across.” Acrostic poems are always written up and down, or vertically. The origins of this word come from an old French term, a croix meaning in the form of a cross.
Vertical emojis:
👆🏼👇🏼 ↕️
The “real” artists of the FUN song are Sherm Cohen, Brad Carow and Doug Lawrence.
Please note that in acrostic poems, you do not need to include “is for” as SpongeBob sings in his song. Acrostic poems also do not need to rhyme, but the writers of the FUN song did choose to make it rhyme!
Now that you know what an acrostic poem is, have some FUN entering the acrostic poetry creative challenge!