Magpies are always having fun when they're together. One for sorrow, two for joy.

I thought it was, "one for sorrow, two for mirth"?

Wait, no, this is a distraction.

I meant to ask AlizzzZone if there were any possibility at all that she would sell the Summer '16 Turtle.

As with many of those old poems, there are many variations ;)
But I don't know what a magpie has to do with mirth, so I prefer joy

I don't know, when they find a nice shiny they seem pretty mirthful to me!
Bobbing around peering at it from all angles before running off with the new treasure...

Heh, that's a maggie alright!
Sorry, I misinterpreted the word mirth, thank you for teaching me today
But if I understand correctly now it means more or less the same, right? :)

Yeah, joy and mirth are kind of synonyms. But I don't see how "birth" could rhyme with "joy", so word choice is still important.
Three for a funeral, four for a birth, see?

What is it, when it is "joy" instead? Where does that rhyme end up?

(I dunno why this is so fascinating but I'm pretty well hooked now. Curiosity is difficult mistress to serve... )

"One for sorrow, two for joy.
Three for a girl, four for a boy.
Five is for silver, six is for gold.
Seven for a secret never to be told.
Eight for a wish, nine for a kiss.
Ten for a bird that you don't want to miss."

That's the rhyme as I know it :)

OOooh, I didn't know that one!

The one I know goes
1 for sorrow, 2 for mirth
3 for a funeral, 4 for a birth
5 for feasting, 6 for work
7 is a duty you daren't shirk
8 for illness, 9 for health
10 means soon you come into wealth (although one of my aunts would say, "soon you lose all your wealth")