Re: CHAT: con-childish taunts

I just wanted to pop my 2 merkas in on this one, because I find the theory
that the "tiger" variant is older rather hard to believe. When I was a child
in the mid-70s, the version I heard (and, I'm ashamed to say, recited) in
Dorset was:

Eeny Meeny Miny Mo
Catch a n***** by his toe
If he hollers, let him go
Eeny meeny miny mo.

I have just checked with my parents, and both of them, without prompting,
came up with the same version (although my mother thinks it might possibly
have been "*when* he hollers", but that's a minor point). What's
interesting, from the POV of English dialect and variation, is that they
grew up in different areas: my mother in Manchester, my father in
Surrey/Sussex, and at that time (mid-40s), culturally and dialectally there
would have been very great difference between the playground communities of
the two areas. So the exact coincidence between their two versions is
remarkable.

James

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 James Campbell  james@zeugma.force9.co.uk  http://www.zeugma.force9.co.uk
            "Love's the only country I know" - The Blue Nile
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