English[edit] Alternative forms[edit] eeni meeni mina mo eeny-meeny-miney-mo Etymology[edit] Compare Dutch iene miene mutte German ene mene mu. This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Noun[edit] eeny, meeny, miny, moe uncountable A method of choosing between two or more people or things, used by children. A child points to each item in turn or alternately, while saying a rhyme starting "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe", moving to the next item after each quarter-line each word or pair of syllables. The item pointed to on the last word of the rhyme is the one chosen. 1959, John Knowles, chapter 3, in A Separate Peace“...As for this thing”, ... he held up the shuttlecock, contaminated, in his outstretched right [hand], “this idiot tickler, the only thing it's good for is eeny-meeny-miney-mo”. 1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber; Avignon Quintet, published 2004, page 1252“Well”, said Lord Galen in some dismay, “I suppose we shall have to cast lots or play at Eeni Meeni Mina Mo?” Translations[edit] similar children's counting-out games in other languages Arabic حكرة بكرة Bulgarian а́ла ба́ла ни́ца ту́рска пани́ца, ой ги́ди Ва́нчо наш капита́нчо ála bála níca túrska paníca, oj gídi Vánčo naš kapitánčo Cebuano butikaw, butikaw, ikaw Chinese Cantonese 點指兵兵/点指兵兵 dim2 zi2 bing1 bing1, 點指兵兵,點著誰人做大兵/点指兵兵,点着谁人做大兵 dim2 zi2 bing1 bing1, dim2 zoek6 seoi4 jan4 zou6 daai6 bing1 Mandarin 一二三四五,上山打老虎 yī èr sān sì wǔ, shàngshān dǎ lǎohǔ, literally “12345, climb a mountain and beat a tiger”, 你拍一,我拍一,一隻小貓坐飛機/你拍一,我拍一,一只小猫坐飞机 nǐ pāiyī, wǒ pāiyī, yī zhī xiǎomāo zuò fēijī Danish ælle bælle mig fortælle Dutch iene miene mutte Finnish entten-tentten-teelika-mentten French ams tram gram fr German ene mene miste, ene mene mu Greek α μπε μπα μπλομ ου κίθε μπλομ a be ba blom tou kíthe blom Hebrew אן דן דינו Hindi अक्कड़ बक्कड़ बम्बे बो akkaṛ bakkaṛ bambe bo, ईना मीना डीका īnā mīnā ḍīkā Hungarian Ec-pec/ecc-pecc, kime-hetsz, holnap-után bejö-hetsz, cér-nára, cine-gére, ugorj, cica, az͜ e-gérre, huss/fuss! Icelandic úllen dúllen doff Indonesian cap cip cup kembang kuncup, kuda lari kejepit pintu literally "cap cip cup flower bud, a horse ran and was pinched by the door" Italian Igne migne magna mo Japanese どちらにしようかな dochira ni shiyō kana Korean please add this translation if you can Norwegian elle melle, elle melle deg fortelle, akka bakka bonka rakka, enike penike sufriken mo, dennika fænnike Persian آن مان نواران Polish entliczek pentliczek czerwony stoliczek na kogo wypadnie na tego bec Portuguese uni-duni-tê m Romanian an-tan-te, ala-bala portocala Russian э́ни бе́ни ре́с, кви́нтер фи́нтер же́с, э́ни бе́ни ря́ба, кви́нтер фи́нтер жа́ба éni béni rés, kvínter fínter žés, éni béni rjába, kvínter fínter žába Spanish Colombia detín, marín, dedó, pingüé, Spain una, dole, tele, catole, pito, pito, gorgorito Swedish ole, dole, doff Thai please add this translation if you can See also[edit] ip dip tinker, tailor duck, duck, goose nievie-nievie-nick-nack Further reading[edit] eeny, meeny, miny, moe on Anagrams[edit] eeny-meeny-miney-mo
A group of kids gets together to play a game of tag and nobody wants to be “it.” The children don’t suddenly slip into chaos trying to decide who “it” is going to be—they possess a rhythmic selection procedure, parts of which have probably been around in some form for centuries. It goes something like this Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe, If he hollers, let him go, Eenie, meenie, miney, moe Every kid waits in suspense, hoping the last moe doesn’t land on them. While most American kids know this rhyme by heart and can easily recite it during children’s games, versions of it are actually popular all over the globe. Eenie, Meenie around the world Counting-out rhymes, like this one, were popular decision-making tools for children years ago and are still used today. And, this particular rhyme isn’t only found in the US; kids in England, France, Denmark, Germany, and Zimbabwe all make decisions using similar-sounding rhymes. Despite language differences, the first lines of each version are remarkably alike. Check it out England Eeny, meeny, mony, my, Barcelona, stony, sty, Eggs, butter, cheese, bread, Stick, stack, stone dead! one version of several; they also chant the US variation above France Une, mine, mane, mo, Une, fine, fane, fo Maticaire et matico, Mets la main derrière ton dos Denmark Ene, mene, ming, mang, Kling klang, Osse bosse bakke disse, Eje, veje, vaek Germany Ene, tene, mone, mei, Pastor, lone, bone, strei, Ene, fune, herke, berke, Wer? Wie? Wo? Was? Zimbabwe Eena, meena, ming, mong, Ting, tay, tong, Ooza, vooza, voka, tooza, Vis, vos, vay There isn’t a clearcut explanation as to how these global variations came about and to provide one would require knowing definitively where Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe comes from which is, alas, impossible. Is it originally American? British? Dutch? Some theories outlined below take a stab at the American chant’s birthplace. But, it gets a little complicated because parts of the rhyme probably come from different places and times. Why do so many fairy tales contain a hero named Jack? It’s not a coincidence—there’s actually a pretty interesting explanation! Although it seems weird that a similar rhyme would emerge all over the world, researchers believe that it could have simply resulted from different children learning which sounds go well together. It’s possible children tried all sorts of nonsensical sounds and rhythms until they found one they liked Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe and its variants just happened to win out most of the time because it was pleasant to hear and say, like most nursery rhymes. Nevertheless, there are as many theories as to the origin of Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe as there are variations. Let’s take a look at some of them. The origin of this nursery rhyme Versions of the rhyme have existed since before 1820. But, some folklorists propose it goes back much further, suggesting that counting-out rhymes like Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe originate from Ancient Celtic rituals of sorting out who would be chosen to die as a punishment or, perhaps, a sacrifice. In this theory, the words Eenie, meenie, miney, moe are thought come from the Celtic words for the numbers “one, two, three, four.” Interestingly, Dutch scholars had the same idea. In the 1950s, a Dutch language historian proposed that the first line Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe comes from “anne manne miene mukke,” the first line of an ancient heathen priest song in which the chanter supplicates the high priestess for a divine sign about who should live or die. Speaking of counting, a less fatalistic theory is that Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe traces back to an old British counting system known as the Anglo-Cymric Score. In the 1700s up to the early 1900s, variations of the Score were used in the UK and the US by fishermen needing to take stock of the day’s catch, shepherds and farmers accounting for their animals, and women keeping track of rows in knitting. Versions of the Score include Northern England, southern Scotland yan, tan, tethera, methera, pimp Ireland eina, mina, pera, peppera, pinn US een, teen, tether, fether, fip It’s not hard to see why children would use a playful variation of essentially “one, two, three” to count down their options. Counting off has always been a way to group and identify things. While there does seem to be a lot of evidence to support the counting origin of Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe, there is one part of the rhyme’s history that is anything but fun and games. Eenie, Meenie takes a dark turn The diverse origins of the first line Eenie, meenie, miney, moe are plausible but contested. The second line in the American rhyme, Catch a tiger by the toe, has a clearer and more dismal ancestry that traces right back to the United States. Prior to the popular variation used today that involves catching tigers, a common American variant of the rhyme used a racist slur against Black people instead of the word tiger. This offensive variation was widely used until around the 1950s when kid-friendly variations that instead use words like tiger, tinker, and piggy became commonplace. In this case, we say the kids had the right idea to go after those tiger’s toes.
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