Tuesday, October 27

Eenie, Meeny, Miney, Moe




Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe




Eenie, meenie, miney, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers, let him go.
My mother said to pick
The very best one And you are noooot (not) it


Choosing or counting – out rhymes are an important part of childhood. If a game is being set up and nobody wants to volunteer for a particular part or position, then a selection rhyme is used to choose one from the group.
All rhymes begin with the players in a circle. Then one of them, the singer, begins the rhyme and points around to the left or to the right, until they get to the end of the song. Whoever is being pointed at during the last word is either chosen or eliminated depending on the version or how the children choose to play.
When you sing this as a choosing game, you break it down by word. It's said like this below. On each line you're choosing a different one.
Eenie,
meenie
miney,
moe,
catch a
tiger
by the
toe.
If he
hollers,
Let him
go.
My
mother
said
to
pick
the
very
best
one
and
you
are
noooot (not)
it.

Sometimes people are counted and sometimes each person’s hands, so that you are only safe once both hands have been removed from the circle.

"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe," is the most popular selection rhyme. It was first used in the 18th Century and there exists multiple versions differing from region to region.
Some of these variations of the chants are also used to choose who would be “it” for games of tag or hide and seek.

Below there are some versions.

Eenie meenie miney moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe,
If he squeals, let him go,
Eenie meenie miney moe,


Eeny, meeny, miny moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers make him pay,
Fifty dollars every day.

Eeeny, meeny, miney, mo.
Put the baby on the po.
When he's done,
Wipe his bum.
And tell his mother what he's done

Eenie meenie sicileeny,
Ooh ah zambalini,
Achi cachi Liberache,
I love you,
Take a peach,
Take a plum,
Take a stick of bubble gum,
Not a peach,
Not a plumb,
Not a stick of bubble gum.

Eeny, meany, tortellini
Beep, bop, bopellini
Etchy-sketchy, liver-etchy
I like you.
Take a peach,
take a plum
Take a stick of chewing gum
Stick it here,
stick it there
Stick it in your teacher's hair
No more school,
no more books
No more teachers' dirty looks
Yeah.

Eeny meeny desimeeny,
Ooh lah ooh lah a meeny,
Atchy atchy boomeratchy,
Bo-di-ac doh.
Take a peach,
take a plum,
Take a stick o' bubble gum.
No more schoolwork,
No more books,
No more teacher's Dirty looks.
Yeah!


There is even a controversial version when “politically correct” did not exist and children sang this rhyme using “nigger” instead of “tiger” (no offence intended!)
But it is not clear its origin if it refers when slaves were captured in Africa or when they ran away from plantations. In any case children sang the rhyme that way.

Eenea, meenea, mina, mo,
Catch a nigger by the toe;
If he hollers let him go,
Eenee, Meenee. Mainee, Mo.


Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo,
Catch a nigger by his toe,
If he won't work then let him go;
Skidum, skidee, skidoo.
But when you get money, your little bride
Will surely find out where you hide,
So there's the door and when I count four,
Then out goes you

Maybe some other time I would write about other counting rhymes. I find them very interesting.

6 comentarios:

Marina said...

Por fin soy la primera. ¡Lastima que no pueda enterarme bien de lo que pone tu post. ¡cachis!

La flor del post anterior es preciosa ¿no se te parece a alguien? ¡¡¡SÍIIIIIIII!!!!! adivinaste. Era fácil, sólo tenías que mirar tu espejo.
Love You y no me trabajes tanto.

alfonso said...

• looking at your bluish rose…

If I were a child I would like singing and singing that lirycs. Well, I am a child but I have lost my voice.

• HHK/ CR & LMA
____________________________

Anonymous said...

Good point, though sometimes it's hard to arrive to definite conclusions

Anonymous said...

Hi there

This post was interesting, how long did it take you to write?

isabelgg said...

Thanks a lot for your comments.I'd like to answer the kind commentator who asks me how long did it take me to write this post. Well, It was quite a long time ago and I can't tell you exactly but I can assure you that I always think about what I am going to write and try to prepare it thoroughly, it involves information first and then writing it in English, which is not my mother language as you can see and it requires a further effort. So, many times my posts are not very successful and I feel they would be better in Spanish but I try it hard in English.
Sorry, a very long answer.
All the best to you.

Anonymous said...

be happy and love. kiss