Maria how do you solve a problem

How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you find a word that means Maria? A flibbertijibbet, a will o-the wisp, a clown Many a thing you know you like to tell her Many a thing she ought to understand But how do you make her stay And listen to all you say?

How do you keep a wave upon the sand? Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you hold our moonbeam in your hand? When I'm with her I'm confused Out of focus and bermused And I never know exactly where I am Unpredictable as wheather She's as flighty as a feather She's a darling, she's a demon, she's a lamb She'd outpester any pest Drive a hornet from its nest She can throw a whirling dervish out of whirl She is gentle, she is wild She's a riddle, she's a child She's a headache, she's and angel She's a girl.

How do you solve a problem like Maria How do you hold our moonbeam in your hand? Compartilhar no Facebook Compartilhar no Twitter. Maria Sound Of Music. A will-o'-the wisp! A clown! Many a thing you know you'd like to tell her Many a thing she ought to understand But how do you make her stay And listen to all you say How do you keep a wave upon the sand? She's a demon! She's a lamb! She'd out pester any pest Drive a hornet from its nest She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl She is gentle!

She is wild! She's a riddle! She's a child! Viewed 7k times. Improve this question. Christian Macht. Christian Macht Christian Macht 4 4 silver badges 7 7 bronze badges. Where is the problem? So, "How do you solve a problem like Maria does? It's very contextual. Consider, "How would you bake a cake like Maria? FWIW, I assumed the "like Maria would" meaning when seeing the subject line, but thought it would be fun to consider that Maria is like the problem - it turned out that was backwards compared to the intended reading.

But I've never seen the film. It's clearly implied from context that Maria is the problem, but the language is ambiguous. I had the same problem with a line from the song She's a Maniac : " And she's dancing like she's never danced before. Sometimes you have to read the context to understand what's intended. Nobody is discussing intonation.

Although not a full answer by itself, it is especially important outside of song. Music often ignores or significantly changes tonal emphasis, delays and accents.

Using the example from the previous comment, if pauses are placed between words and the voice raised with exclamation at the end of " Tonal changes can still confuse non-native speakers.

Show 6 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. You're right: "How do you solve a problem like Maria? Improve this answer. Context is key, but would you consider the popularity of this musical to have coined an idiom of it?

Compare it to the line, "How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand? You can't, Maria can't, and Maria is a problem that cannot be solved or moreover solve for herself.

Hypothetical arguments in The Sound of Music [ english. See also my comment at OP. JanusBahsJacquet Your first examples of "like" as an adjective strikes me as archaic and I'm 61 - BrE , the second is old-fashioned and I think only applies to the phrase "like as not". The third on the other hand strikes me as modern slang but that may be my age showing.

The second one is still alive and kicking, but only dialectally for some reason, I hear it in a Yorkshire accent — not sure if that has any basis in fact , and the third is definitely a more recent phenomenon. Show 1 more comment. Barmar Barmar If it helps, another rewording could be "How do you solve a Maria-like problem?

Kris The default interpretation depends on the verb. If you asked "How do you paint like Rembrandt? Barmar but "how do you paint a masterpiece like Rembrandt? Maybe the 17th century Dutch got into bodypainting early. Add a comment. The nuns are using a simile. They are likening Maria to a problem that needs to be solved.

You could say: How do you solve a problem like Global Warming? Barmar Very good, similes are common in figurative speech, which are an important aspect of poetry and music. Just using the word "like" doesn't make it a simile. In this case, "like" means "such as", not "resembling".

They're not saying that Maria is like a problem; they're saying that she is a problem. DavidRicherby - Good point, though I would still content that Maria is not literally a problem, and that the language here is metaphorical.