Nursery rhyme rhymes became associated with the idea of political correctness. Most attempts to reform nursery rhymes on this basis appear to be either very small scale, light-hearted updating, like Felix Dennis's "When Jack Sued Jill – Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times" (2006), or satires written as if from the point of view of political correctness in order to condemn reform. The controversy in Britain in 1986 over changing the language of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" because, it was alleged in the popular press, it was seen as racially dubious, was apparently based only on a rewriting of the rhyme in one
Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be? Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be? "What Can the Matter Be?", also known as "Johnny's So Long at the Fair" is a traditional nursery rhyme that can be traced back as far as the 1770s in England. There are several variations on its lyrics. The "Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes" by Iona and Peter Opie traces this song back to an earlier folk ballad, recorded between 1770 and 1780, whose lyrics are: <poem> O what can the matter be And what can the matter be O what can the matter be Johnny bydes lang at the fair He'll buy