The only version I heard as a child was "catch a tiger" and "make him pay 50 dollars every day". "USA, central Oklahoma, born in the mid-1970s. Note: This is the "talk" page for possible edits of this rhyme's Wikipedia page More interesting is the fact that we (middle-class kids in Minnesota in about 1970) gave the second line as "Catch a tiger by the toe," compared to the seemingly-older version involving catching a " the n word." Did we modify it to "tiger" because none of us knew the meaning of the racial slur, or did our parents firmly straighten us (or our older classmates, who taught us the rhyme) out? I've no clue." "DESCRIPTION: "Eenie meenie minie mo, Catch a ( the n word/tiger) by the toe, If he hollers, let him go, Eenie meenie minie mo."ĮARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell) Simpson and Roud report an 1885 collection in Canada, and Opie-Oxford2 claims that Bolton had a version in 1888". The n word is written in italics when that pejorative word is fully or partially spelled out in a quote.įrom Eenie Meenie Minie Mo (Counting Rhyme) I choose to use the euphemism "the n word" in this post. And those examples often comprise the majority of the versions that are given. Most of the blogs and other websites featured in this post include examples of "Eenie Meeny Miney Mo" from other English speaking nations, particularly from the United Kingdom and Australia. The numbering sequence from Part I continues in Part II. These comments are numbered for referencing purposes only. Selected websites are featured in no particular order. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.ĮXAMPLES AND COMMENTS ABOUT THE USE OF "EENY MEENY MINEY MO" IN THE UNITED STATESĮxamples from the same website are given in chronological order. The content of this post is presented for folkloric and cultural purposes. In some of these examples, the decade in which this rhyme was chanted by that blogger, and that blogger's age are also given.ĭISCLAIMER: This post isn't meant to be a comprehensive listing of online examples of this rhyme. Examples in this collection are included only if the blogger indicates his or her location in the United States. With the exception of my comments, I found these quotes through internet searching. Part I features selected comments from a Language Forums discussion thread: "eeny meeny miney mo - how acceptable?" The original poster asked if it was acceptable to use the words "eeny meeny miney mo" without the n word.
Part II features selected comments from several websites.
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on United States examples of the counting out/choosing it rhyme "Eeny Meenie Miney Mo" (1940s-to date).