LINGUIST List 6.705

Sat 20 May 1995

Disc: Hide-n-Seek

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1. Jack, Re: 6.655, Sum: Hide-n-Seek all clear call, Babies' intellect
2. , Hide-and-seek all-clear

Message 1: Re: 6.655, Sum: Hide-n-Seek all clear call, Babies' intellect

Back in the late twenties we all knew that cry, "Ollie ollie otts in free!"
and knew it to be a corruption of "All the other outs in free!"

Ki semenat ispinaza, non andet iskultsu!

J. A. Rea jareaukcc.uky.edu

For the Hide-and-Seek call

Allee Allee Outs-in-Free or All-in-free

and variants, it is not easy to determine an etymology or an original form,
and in particular the similarity to existing words is highly misleading in
such cases. Whatever the original call was, especially if in a foreign
language, it will often have been reformed to make it partly more transparent
than the original. Compare

 sparrowgrass (even in dictionaries!) for older
asparagus.

Compare for the history of Eenie Meenie Minie Mo and its variants in other
languages in the paper by Mary Ann Campbell and Lloyd Anderson.

"Hocus Pocus Nursery Rhymes"

in Proceedings of the 12th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic
Society, 1976.

Eeenie Meeni Minie Mo, catch a rooster by the toe
Hana mana mona mike, Barcelona bona strike
Ene Tene Mone mei, Pastor lone bone strei
Meeny Meeny Miney mo, Cache ton poing derierre ton dos
etc. etc.

And yes, Opie & Opie 1951 The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhyms is a good
source for such things.

Best, Lloyd Anderson