In England, for example, Bolton found this version: In the US, while Bolton found dozens of different versions, a similar theme, with very specific wording, was found in many of them. Johnson's piece got us thinking about the songs like the ice cream truck song a seemingly innocuous folk song, nursery rhyme, or jingle that we may not have known were racist, and what we should do when we learn about their histories. I understand that one of the earlier versions of the rhyme included a racial slur. ), Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary, similar children's counting-out games in other languages, 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, Well, said Lord Galen in some dismay, I suppose we shall have to cast lots or play at, la bla nca trska panca, oj gdi Vno na kapitno, n piy, w piy, y zh xiomo zu fij, literally "cap cip cup flower bud, a horse ran and was pinched by the door", ni bni rs, kvnter fnter s, ni bni rjba, kvnter fnter ba, , , cap cip cup kembang kuncup, kuda lari kejepit pintu, entliczek pentliczek czerwony stoliczek na kogo wypadnie na tego bec, , , , , https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe&oldid=71429390, Requests for etymologies in English entries, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, A method of choosing between two or more people or things, used by. Every kid seems to know a version of Eeny Meeny Miny Mo. To make matters worse, that song became the basis for an offensive folk song in 1916 titled, "Nigger Love A Watermelon Ha! The first line in the version sung in Cornwall, England was Eeha, meena, mona, mite. Eenie Meenie by Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position . These songs are part of a racist history our nation's history. Eggs, butter, cheese, bread, The meaning: The meaning of this rhyme is rooted in the slave trade. A more acceptable version has now established itself: Eeny, meeny, miny, mo,Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.If it hollers[USA]/screams[UK] let him go,Eeny, meeny, miny, mo. In order to justify slavery, slavers propagated the libel that people of African descent were inherently more animal, less civilized, and thus less human.. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. 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'. The song can be seen as glorifying and poking fun at slave conditions. In Johnson's article, he writes that he ultimately decided against telling his kids about the origins of the ice cream truck song, but they will likely learn it one day. [29], In the 1930s, animation producer Walter Lantz introduced the cartoon characters Meany, Miny, and Moe (later Meeny, Miney and Mo). 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'. In some German versions Eena, tena, mona, mi. An alternate version: "Catch a negro by his toe/ If he hollers make him pay/Twenty dollars every day.". For Theodore Johnson III, who wrote the article, knowledge of that history ruined ice cream trucks for him. $MMT = window.$MMT || {}; $MMT.cmd = $MMT.cmd || [];$MMT.cmd.push(function(){ $MMT.display.slots.push(["6e36601e-44cf-4f78-b804-bfbdde6ee2e3"]); }). The classic American version most are familiar with goes like this: "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, catch a tiger by the toe, If he hollers, let him go, eeny, meeny, miny, mo." Or. Each syllable counts a child from a circle, and the game round finishes with the last kid pointed out. So I'm going to completely butcher the pronunciation, but there's versions of it that folklorists heard in Denmark, for example, like, (reciting poem with Danish dialect). 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. Eeny meeny miny mo. Une, mine, mane, mo, Eeny meeny miny mo. Interestingly, Dutch scholars had the same idea. Eeny Meeny Miny Mo Image Credit: Pexels Children all over the world use a variation of this childhood chant, most often used, in America, to decide who will be "it" in a game like tag. The Eeny Meeny Miny Moe shirt with Negans iconic baseball bat wrapped with barbed wire was deemed racist by shoppers and was eventually removed from stock. Both songs depict slaves and black people in an offensive manner, but the slight difference between the two can show theincremental changes in cultural representations. Joe Biden is pretty good at being president. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo. These songs, many of which are still sung today, aren't just uncomfortable because of their lyrics; most were used in minstrel/blackface performances in the past. You could rock, paper, scissors for it, or you could do the following ANNA KULBASHNY: Catch a tiger by the toe EMILE BEAUBIEN: If it hollers, let him go MARTIN: Every kid seems to know this rhyme, or at least a variation of it, including the kids you just heard - 11-year-old Cecilia Clemens and Anna Kulbashny, 10-year-old Emile Beaubien and Sarayu Mudiya, age 6. ', which all the children join in with. Dirty knees could indicate a need to wash, but they also suggest that the person kneels a lot.. Iona and Peter Opie (1951) quote the following version: This version was similar to that reported by Henry Carrington Bolton as the most common version among American schoolchildren in 1888. Kling klang, "Iniminimanimo" is a 1999 song by Kim Kay. There isnt a clearcut explanation as to how these global variations came about and to provide one would require knowing definitively where Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moecomes from (which is, alas, impossible). He should run again. Get the fascinating stories of your favorite words in your inbox. I mean, there've been several iterations of this since, over these many, many hundreds of years. The book was published in 1888 and thoroughly describes the authors research into various childrens counting-out rhymes that were popular at the time. The words: "Ol' massa's gone and I'll let him rest/They say all things are for the best/ But I'll never forget 'til the day I die". Is It Called Presidents Day Or Washingtons Birthday? Stop singing them? Children often utilize this rhyme to determine whos it, especially during a game of Hiden Seek. "Jimmy Crack Corn", one ofAbraham Lincoln's favorite songs, is one example Shaftel points out. On the Wikipedia page "Talk: Eeny, meeny, miny, moe", the editors of the rhyme's Wiki page were discussing the issue: "At school in North London 1972-78 we used the n***** version, without any ill intention; it was just part of the rhyme", mentioned one of the editors. Added to that, as far back as the 19th century there have been variants of the rhyme which are so dissimilar to our current version as to be scarcely recognisable - 'Hana, mana, mona, mike' (from New York) and 'Eetern, feetern, peeny, pump' (from Scotland) and many of these now have local variants and words added from other languages. It's safe to say that as classic as "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo" is, the centuries-old nursery rhyme no doubt has a haunted past and not so kid-friendly origins. She wrote about eeny meeny miny mo for The Paris Review. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe is a rhyme for choosing who's "It" in a game or to choose who goes first. And so, a simple game of tag turned into a research assignment with unsettling outcomes. And then the words that recognized take on a life of their own. What's its historyboth good and bad? Hahaha.. Who does that Had to be a deep rooted odd fixation in the mind of the song writer'.. Atlanta Black Star is a narrative company. Later, they can learn where the songs came from, and that lesson will be an important one. Bellow are the lyrics of one of the accepted modern versions of the Eeny, meeny, miny, moe rhyme and also an older version. Eenie meenie miney mo Catch a bad chick by her toe If she holla, if, if, if she holla let her go. I told him, dont you ever let me catch you in Riverside Ca. There's an idea that it comes from slave selection or a description of whatwhite slave owners would do if they caught a runaway slave. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Vis, vos, vay. Something went wrong. Folklorists, too, went on the playgrounds to study what these kids were singing. Subbing out the word isnt enough, says educators like Nel, because the use of the rhyme at all can be traumatizing for people of color. The stories we learn from them are painful, but also valuable. Compare Dutch iene miene mutte German ene mene mu. And it's really fun to repeat them in a pattern. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Since many similar counting-out rhymes existed earlier, it is difficult to know its exact origin. It wasnt until a discussion about the rhyme with my American wife that I discovered any tiger version existed, adds another. The words:"Jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton. The song can be seen as glorifying and poking fun at slave conditions. If he hollers let him go, Whenever I hear the music now, the antique voice laughing about niggers and watermelon fills my head," Johnson wrote. Its racist origin, however, still haunts the popular rhyme. According to Vox, the 19th century American version of the nursery rhyme was rooted in the slave trade. The Dark Origins Of The Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo Nursery Rhyme. Well, as is so often the case in etymology, yes and no. 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. Sign up for writing inspiration in your email, Harness Your Moxie To Take This Word Of The Day Quiz, Getting Braggadocious: Top Word Trends On Dictionary.com, (one version of several; they also chant the US variation above), There isnt a clearcut explanation as to how these global variations came about and to provide one would require knowing definitively where. The scholars Iona and Peter Opie noted that many variants have been recorded, some with additional words such as " O. U. T. spells out, And out goes she, In the middle of the deep blue sea"[3] or "My mother told me/says to pick the very best one, and that is Y-O-U/you are [not] it";[3] while another source cites "Out goes Y-O-U. The sisters claim was rejected both in court and in an appeal. And if you have a vested interest in perpetuating the myths, youll want to start corrupting your children young right from the cradle and thats how these rhymes were surely born. The original lyrics: "De Camptown ladies sing dis song Doo-dah! It's all over. [28], Rex Stout wrote a 1962 Nero Wolfe novella titled Eeny Meeny Murder Mo. Dutch? But studying these songs within the proper context suggests the songs represent more than may appear at first listen. And she says you can trace the rhyme's origin way back to when shepherds used it to count hundreds of years ago. When he's done, Wipe his bum. [11] The officials at, But I'll never forget 'til the day I die", It raind all night de day I left, De wedder it was dry, The sun so hot I froze to def. How the Great Recession paved the way for influencers to inherit the earth, The surprising lesson from a century of Oscar scandals. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. The black plaintiffs in that case sued the airline for discrimination because a flight attendant had used the rhyme while urging them to take their seats. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. For centuries, this has been a popular method to make a hard choice for both children and adults all over the world. The Itis Eeny meeny miny moe Catch me If you can dodo, yeah Eeny meeny miny moe Watch out If you can dodo, yeah Eeny meeny miny moe Catch me If Eeny Meeny Miny Moe Steph Moody can't take back Eeny, meeny, miny, moe Eeny, meeny, miny, moe My mind says let you go My mind says let you go But my heart says I don't know My heart Speaking of counting, a less fatalistic theory is that Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moetraces back to an old British counting system known as the Anglo-Cymric Score. I contacted Matthew Shaftel, a professor of Music Theory and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Florida State for an expert opinion. 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. ine mina mana mu meaning my sisters children in Sa Tomenese sounds very similar to the first line in the childrens rhyme. Then shop him to the FBI. Mets la mainderrire ton dos, Denmark: The version before this one was much more grim and ghastly. You Cant Use These English Words In The UK, Understanding Black History: 10 Terms That Illuminate The Black Experience In The US, The Names Of Black Panther And Wakanda: Their Meaning And Significance. And in some cases that becomes extremely problematic. 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. Is it my responsibility to foul the sweet taste of ice cream with their first taste of racism?". My mother told me Catch an nigger by the toe. De lectrick fluid magnified, and killd five hundred n**gers. 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. You're playing a game, and it's time to figure out who goes first. Counting-out rhymes, like this one, were popular decision-making tools for children years ago and are still used today. incremental changes in cultural representations. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe"which can be spelled a number of waysis a children's counting rhyme, used to select a person in games such as tag. 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. As adults, we might be curious as to whether the words mean anything and what their origin might have been. In this theory, the words Eenie, meenie, miney, moeare thought come from the Celtic words for the numbers one, two, three, four.. 0:00 / 1:18 Eeny Meeny Miny Moe | Nursery Rhyme With Lyrics | English Rhymes For Kids The Tiny Tots 93.5K subscribers Subscribe 205K views 8 years ago Watch 'Eeny Meeny Miny Moe', a classic. What kind of music are we preserving? Now what? We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. Doo-dah!/ I come down dah wid my hat caved in Doo-dah! The version before this one was much more grim and ghastly. The real lyrics, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, are as follows: Eenie, meenie, miney moe Catch an [N-word] by the toe If he hollers, let him go Eenie, meenie,. The age of the phrase is uncertain. The lyrics of the song include one about the ole massa gone away, and have been terrorizing Black children for centuries. [citation needed], In Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh (1995), the leading character and his three sisters are nicknamed Ina, Minnie, Mynah and Moor. The songs meant something at the time they were created, and they have a different, and important meaning to our lives now: remembering a past that we should never forget. [Note: UK residents who voted in the May 2011 referendum might notice a parallel with the 'First Past the Post' and 'Alternative Vote' systems.]. 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. or 'O, U, T spells out! Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. By his toe/ If he hollers make him pay/Twenty dollars every day... Where the songs represent more than may appear at first listen Catch a negro alternatives to eenie meenie miney mo toe/! 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