I've opted for 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo' but there are many others - 'Eenie, meenie, miney, moe', 'Eany, meany, miney, mo' and so on. It first began to be written down in the 19th century - the scholarly journal "The following are used in the United States for the selection of a tagger...This bears more than a passing resemblance to the English version recorded by Fred Jago in There's no doubt that the rhyme is older than the 19th century recorded versions, possibly very much older. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe …” In historical references of this song, the word “tiger” is replaced by the N-word. Of all of the phrases and idioms in the English language 'eeny, meenie, miny, mo' must be the one with the widest variety of spellings.

“Eeny… I first heard “Bowl of Cherries” in a children’s indoor play … “Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. The poem has many versions used in different regions, but the roots consistently make clear references to slavery and discrimination of Black people. An example comes from the Danish region near Kattegat, where the Jack and Jill rhyme, which arrived during the British occupation in the Napoleonic wars, was repeated as:...which makes as little sense in Danish as it does in English but, despite it being entirely meaningless to them, the children in the area continued to sing it for centuries.The best known version of the rhyme is the one that is now widely derided as insulting, especially in the USA, where the middle two lines originated:A more acceptable version has now established itself:The rhyme is used by groups of children as a way of selecting someone to take a role that is different from the others. As difference is unwelcome to children, the formula had to be sufficiently unpredictable to be accepted as fair. or 'O, U, T spells out! Well, as is so often the case in etymology, yes and no. A leader takes the counting role and, in the rhythm of the rhyme, points to each child in turn. There never was an accepted definitive version, so the children who used the rhyme were very happy to substitute their own words as the mood took them.As adults, we might be curious as to whether the words mean anything and what their origin might have been. There is a similarity between the words of the phrase and some of the numerals in pre-English Celtic and Cumbrian languages; for example, the oral tradition of the English coastal town of Yarmouth voices 'one, two, three, four' as 'ina, mina, tethera, methera'. The last line is often topped off with a short emphasized 'You are It!' Bowl of Cherries/Pick a Bale of Cotton. It starts with a group of nonsense syllables and ends with a phrase that will indicate the game’s goal. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” is part of a large collection of Counting-out rhymes, used in playground games, since the early 19th century.The rhyme is used to choose who is ‘it’ in children’s games.The song is made up from a number of syllables, (the counting out rhyme). Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a tiger/monkey/baby by the toe. Many farmers and fishermen on the fringes of Britain used such language for counting until quite recently and many natives of the north of England can still count from one to five in 'the old way' - 'yan, tan tehera, methera, pimp'.Ancient Celtic counting system or Victorian nonsense verse? If it hollers/screams let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. The first line of a popular children's counting rhyme.What lies behind this variability is that throughout the 19th century the rhyme spread from different parts of the UK to every playground in the English-speaking world, but by word of mouth rather than on paper. Each syllable counts a child from a circle, and the game round finishes with the last kid pointed out.Bellow are the lyrics of one of the accepted modern versions of the “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” rhyme and also an older version. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” is part of a large collection of Counting-out rhymes, used in playground games, since the early 19th century. If it hollers let it go.

Catch a tiger by its toe. 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo' is certainly a strange line, so does it mean anything and does curiosity about its origin lead us anywhere? The original “Catch a nigger by the toe,” according to Bickerton, points to the rhyme’s roots in an African American community. This nursery rhyme has been taught to many children to help them learn how to count. ', which all the children join in with. You can replace “catch a tiger” with any word (catch a boy, catch girl, etc) or any animal,  or when singing to baby you can say “catch a baby”. Sometimes the child pointed to at the end of one count is the one selected - to be 'It' in a game of hide and seek, for example. The link to the names of numerals in ancient languages is also likely. The original lyrics: "It rain’d all night de day I left, De wedder it was dry, The sun so hot I froze to def."

Also, the word for 'one' in Welsh, Cornish, Irish and Breton is, respectively, 'un' (pronounced 'een'), 'ouyn', 'aon' and 'unan' - all of them sounding not unlike 'een' or 'eeny'.The age of the phrase is uncertain.
Posted on October 29, 2014 - By Meg Butler. In more important choices - selecting who has to ask that grumpy man down the road for their ball back - the one pointed to last drops out and the formula is repeated several times until only one is left. However, the original words used in the song have far less benign implications. The Saõ Tomenese phrase ine mina mana mu, meaning “my sister’s children,” bears a very close phonological resemblance to “Eeny, meeny, miny, mo.”. American in origin or English? The rhyme is used to choose who is ‘it’ in children’s games.

Children appear to have no such concerns. Instead of “Monkeys… “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” also known as “Eena, meena, mina, mo” is a popular counting rhyme and singing game.It is very hard to establish the exact origin of the song as it has so many accepted forms, in different languages and countries. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo: Racist Nursery Rhymes You Didn’t Know You Were Learning. Whilst there are versions of the first line of this rhyme in both German and Cornish, the two middle lines, it is agreed, undoubtedly originated from America.

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