Re: Etymology question

Gary Shannon wrote:

>--- Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...> wrote:
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><snip>
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>>but "Oxen free"? The linguistic
>>sweep of some
>>children's chants is impressive.
>>
>>
>
>As a kid in Michigan in the late 1940's we did not say
>"oxen free", but "all's in free".
>
>
Hmm.  Makes the 'German borrowing' idea more likely - 'alle sind frei'?