Eenie, meenie, mynie, moe

[Vort]

Here is the counting rhyme we used as children in the late 1960s and early 1970s:

Eenie, meenie, mynie, moe,

Catch a pigger by the toe.

If he hollers, make him pay

Fifty dollars every day.

My-mo-ther-told-me-to-pick-the-very-best-one-of-all-and-you-are-not-it,

Peaches, pears, apples, plums!

(Loser goes out; counting starts over, and the cycle continues until there is only one person left, who is "it".)

I always wondered what in the world a "pigger" was. Some kind of a pig, I guessed. I was probably in my twenties or later before I realized the word's etymology.

[pam]

Okay so we know that meenie is john doe..moe is MarginOfError..who is eenie and mynie?

[KrazyKay]

When I was a child in the 1980's, I always said it as

eenie meenie mynie moe

Pick a pickle by the toe

My mother told me to pick the very best one

And you are not the one

and we used

inka binka bottle of ink

the cork fell out and you stink

And sometimes we combined the two in one way or another, lol. It was mostly just my friends, my brother and his friends who did.

[slamjet]

eenie meenie mynie mo,

catch a tiger by it's toe,

if he hollers let him go,

eenie meenie mynie mo,

That's what I grew up with.

[rameumptom]

As an adult, I've spent decades of it working and volunteering in the inner cities. When I consider the etymology of such rhymes as Eenie, Meenie... I lose all humor. It is a debasing poem that taught kids that Jim Crow and prejudice are okay, as long as you are white, that is.

[Guest saintish]

That's what I grew up with.

Me too, But my mother shared the version she grew up with. In her defense those words were acceptable at the time. Edited June 23, 2011 by saintish

[Mahone]

Although the "not so nice" versions of the rhyme are not actually the originals, those too supposedly are another version of much more innocent original - it's a shame one variation had to put such a negative connotation on all the variants.

Incidently, I grew up with this version:

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,

Catch a chicken by the toe.

If it screams let it go,

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

You are it

[Jennarator]

We said tiger , not pigger....

[Vort]

We said tiger , not pigger....

My kids say tiger. I wonder if it's just my generation that said "pigger" as a sort of transitional thing? It's an obvious substitute word, and the original was used the generation before mine -- I remember my father telling me that while growing up, he always called Brazil nuts "n*gger toes", with no real thought as to what that might mean. It was just what the nuts were called.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Vort

[Jennarator]

My kids say tiger. I wonder if it's just my generation that said "pigger" as a sort of transitional thing? It's an obvious substitute word, and the original was used the generation before mine -- I remember my father telling me that while growing up, he always called Brazil nuts "n*gger toes", with no real thought as to what that might mean. It was just what the nuts were called.

I am old.....37 to be exact, how old are your kids?

[Vort]

I am old.....37 to be exact, how old are your kids?

5 to 19.

[Jennarator]

5 to 19.

Hmmm....still and age gap, considering Igraduated high school 19 years ago. Wonder if the difference is where they were raised? But I have no clue if they were raised the same place you were. :) i was raiised in San Diego.

[Truegrits]

Unfortunately, in the south, I grew up hearing the "ugly" version.

However, my sister and I said...

eenie meenie mynie mo,

catch a baby by the toe,

if it cries, let it go,

eenie meenie mynie mo.

[applepansy]

I'm older than dirt and we said tiger

[Vort]

Hmmm....still and age gap, considering Igraduated high school 19 years ago. Wonder if the difference is where they were raised? But I have no clue if they were raised the same place you were. :) i was raiised in San Diego.

The state of Washington in both cases. I was mostly an eastern Washingtonian, though, while they have been raised near Seattle. East/west makes a difference in WA, not unlike northern vs. southern CA.

[lizrenowden]

I am 43 and in the UK and grew up with the Tiger version

[Jennarator]

Interesting. Vort, maybe one of the kids in your neighborhood didn't know pigger from a tiger and it stuck......from who knows when.

[Blocky]

I remember my father telling me that while growing up, he always called Brazil nuts "n*gger toes", with no real thought as to what that might mean. It was just what the nuts were called.

N* nuts is what my great grandmother called them. OH boy. "Wait a cotton pickin' moment" was also something I said when I was little. I'm not exactly what is implied by that saying, but I'm sure it's nothing too great.

Inka binka bonky

daddy had a donkey

donkey died, daddy cried

inka binka bonky

[pam]

Hmmm....still and age gap, considering Igraduated high school 19 years ago. Wonder if the difference is where they were raised? But I have no clue if they were raised the same place you were. :) i was raiised in San Diego.

I was raised in San Diego and I am..well..hmmm...older. :) We used tiger.

[Vort]

"Wait a cotton pickin' moment" was also something I said when I was little. I'm not exactly what is implied by that saying, but I'm sure it's nothing too great.

My Dad, born in Arizona and raised in Arizona and Utah, said "cotton-picking" a lot, too, without giving any thought it the expression's origin. It was just a jovial expression, like "you son of a gun". He once had a black friend over (this would have been in the '60s or early '70s) who had achieved some academic goal or other -- maybe gotten his doctoral dissertation signed off. Dad congratulated him by saying, "Way to go, you cotton picker!" Too late, Dad realized that this was a faux pas. I gather the guy was not offended, though, knowing my dad as he did.

[coruscate]

We learned the "tiger" version too.

We used to have a ton of non-PC sayings in our house. No one even thought about using them, and I never knew how bad they were until I went to college and got "corrected."

"Jew them down" - talk someone down to a lower price

"Indian giver" - someone who gives something, then takes it back

"pulling a boner" - making a big mistake (and boy, did I ever turn red over that one when it was pointed out to me!)

[pam]

Of course growing up with the Flintstones and singing "We'll have a gay old time" takes on new meaning these days.

[KrazyKay]

Of course growing up with the Flintstones and singing "We'll have a gay old time" takes on new meaning these days.

As well as the Christmas song "Deck the Halls" with this line: "Don we now our gay apparel"

[pam]

One of my favorite kids songs. Kookaburra sits in the old oak tree.. moves onto the line "How gay your life must be."

Actually a head teacher in Australia changed it to fun to keep the kids from giggling.

[dahlia]

We always said 'tiger.' It wasn't until I went to college that some bright light forgot who was in the room and said the N word. I was shocked and she, and everyone else, was embarrassed.