Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
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Eeny, meeny, miny, moe or eeny, meenie, minie, moe is a children's counting rhyme, used to select "it" in games and similar purposes. The rhyme has been around in various forms since the 1850s or earlier. Some historians have associated the words "eenie meeny miny moe" with Celtic Druid counting words. Since many similar counting rhymes existed earlier and since that time, it is difficult to ascertain the exact origin of the modern rhyme.
Today the most common version goes:
- Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
- Catch a tiger by the toe
- If he hollers let him go,
- Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
("It" is often substituted for "he".)
Many alternative verses appear with this rhyme, especially after the third line. These verses are used by children when picking a person for an activity by pointing to a different person in the group at each word or syllable in the rhyme, until the last syllable, at which point the pointed-to person is either chosen or out, depending on the version. Sometimes an extra line is added at the end of the rhyme to draw out the selection process: "My mother says that you are IT!", or a variation of it.
Other variations on the second verse include:
- My mother told me
- To pick the very best one
- And you are [not] it.
or
- Out goes one
- Out goes two
- Out goes another one
- And that is you.
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History
Although many stories exist about the "real" meaning of the first line, they are apparently just nonsense syllables. The earliest known published versions in the English language date to 1855, one of which used the words eeny, meeny, moany, mite and the other hana, mana, mona, mike. Other versions have also appeared in both Britain and America, as well as in several other European languages.
A controversial alternative version of this poem substitutes the word nigger for the word tiger, which in some eyes has tainted the entire rhyme. Some believe that the modern version is a politically correct version of the "nigger" version, but there is no clear supporting evidence. No versions are known to predate the oldest examples of "tiger" versions. It is also doubtful that the "nigger" version would have mutated into the "tiger" version in an era when political correctness was not an issue, or that it would have caught on so widely with few variations of similar popularity.
Residents of the southern United States, especially those who grew up before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are more likely to report having heard or grown up with the "nigger" version of the rhyme, while many others have never heard that version and were not aware of its existence. There is no clear evidence of how many people are familiar with it, but most people who grew up since the 1960s have been taught the "tiger" version.
Lawsuit
Jocular use of a form of the rhyme by a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, encouraging passengers to sit down so the plane could take off, led to a 2003 lawsuit charging the airline with racism. The airline was acquitted by a U.S. District Court jury in Kansas City in January 2004.
Two different versions of the rhyme were attested in court :
- Eeny meeny miny mo
- Please sit down it's time to go
and
- Eeny meeny miny mo
- Pick a seat, it's time to go
The passengers in question were African American and stated that they were humiliated. Southwest is noted for a lighthearted approach to passenger control.
Popular culture
In Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction, the "nigger" version is used by the character Zed, a sadistic redneck. He sings the line (complete with "My mother told me...") while picking whether Butch Coolidge, a white boxer or Marsellus Wallace, a black crime boss, will be first to be raped.