# "Catch a ??? by the toe." A survey. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549 "2004-02-11T00:28:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/101 "2004-02-11T22:45:30Z")
22, born, raised, and still reside in St. Petersburg, Florida. The “tiger” version was the only one I ever heard, and, as many others have said, I didn’t realize there were other versions till the subject came up on these boards. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/102 "2004-02-12T00:58:35Z")
43, grew up in the far NE of Canada (Labrador). We used tiger or skimo. > [@ShibbOleth](#): > > And I don’t really recall the “My mother hit your mother” one mentioned earlier. Just “my mother said to pick the very best one…” I remember this : My mother and your mother were hanging up clothes. My mother punched your mother right in the nose. What color was the blood? (Person who is being pointed to at “blood” names a colour, usually red or blue) R-E-D spells red and you are not it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/103 "2004-02-12T01:26:28Z")
“Nigger” and “Tiger” interchangably. 48 Born and raised in Southern California, but most of my relatives are from the South. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/104 "2004-02-12T01:31:27Z")
> [@williamweigand](#): > > 46,Central New York,“n” word. > I’m curious…those of you who said tiger,nickel or pickle–how did you say the third line? We said “If he hollers,let him go” - which doesn’t seem to fit with your versions. Our nickels hollered. It seemed pretty weird even then, but we were always more intent on choosing sides to play our games than discussing the philosophical implications of eeny-meeny-miney-moe. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/105 "2004-02-12T02:33:34Z")
49 grew up in the Chicago burbs and it was always the ‘N’ word. My grandparents used this word routinely and didn’t think it was bad, also used for Brazil nuts. Of course my German Grandma’s favorite word was ‘shit’ or ‘shiste’ if I recall correctly so she’s probably not the best role model. Taught my kids the ‘tiger’ version. Other rhymes: Inka, blinka, a bottle of ink, knock it over and you stink Blue shoe, blue shoe how old are you 1, 2, 3, … and you are not it!!! ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/106 "2004-02-12T02:44:02Z")
> [@donkeyoatey](#): > > I remember this : > My mother and your mother were hanging up clothes. > My mother punched your mother right in the nose. > What color was the blood? > (Person who is being pointed to at “blood” names a colour, usually red or blue) > R-E-D spells red and you are not it. HEY! I’d never heard this before, until _just now_ on South Park. Officer Barbrady: \*All right there’s only one fair way to do this, everyone stick out your potatos. My mother and your mother were out hanging clothes My mother punched your mother in the nose What color blood came out? (blue!) B… L… O… O… uh… O spells blue and that means that you will go to the lab and help out Methesda and then we can all go home and watch Murphy Brown\* ---
**Author:** ![ismecdb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@ismecdb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ismecdb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/107 "2004-02-12T03:07:23Z")
my husband, 32, northern New Jersey, ‘tiger’, and can’t believe there was ever an insulting version. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/108 "2004-02-12T04:03:26Z")
I’m really surprised at how many used “tiger.” It was always “monkey” for us. We moved out here to Seattle from Detroit when I was a little girl and I don’t ever remember my parents saying anything about a “piggy” or “rabbit” in the rhyme as a few Michiganders here have mentioned. I’m 45, by the way. By the way, ever since I was a kid, I’ve associated the Jeopardy game show music with this rhyme, with just a couple minor additions. Come on, sing with me: Eeney, meenie, miney, moe Catch a monkey by his little toe And if he hollers, let him go Let the poor old monkey go (Repeat a dozen or so times) ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/109 "2004-02-12T04:43:49Z")
I’m 28, grew up in the suburbs of Tulsa, and always said “tiger”. I never knew of any other version (_pickle_?) until I read about the Southwest Airlines incident. I find it entirely plausible that the flight attendant had also never heard the offensive version. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/110 "2004-02-12T04:51:24Z")
I see I forgot my age and place on my post. 26, Gillette Wyoming. And here it was eeny meeny miney moe Catch a tiger (or nigger) by his toe if he hollers make him pay 50 dollars every day. My mother said to pick the very best one and you are not it. and for the other one Ink a bink a bottle of ink cork fell out and you stink. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/111 "2004-02-12T05:01:04Z")
I’m 42. I lived in El Paso between the ages of two and four, then in Indonesia until I was seven, and finished my childhood out in New Mexico. Given that my parents and brother were the only English-speaking people with whom I had regular contact in Indonesia, I must have learned the rhyme either from my brother and his preschool companions in El Paso or from my mother. We always used “tiger” and I always thought it was connected to the Little Black Sambo story (there’s yet another discussion of childhood stories and race to be had). After we moved to New Mexico, I also heard the “Injun” version, but my apparently progressive mother warned me not to use it because it was offensive. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/112 "2004-02-12T05:07:23Z")
33, Sydney, Australia “Nickel” (which I see has only been mentioned once previously). As a young child, I didn’t try to make sense of it. As an older one, I knew that Americans call 5c a “nickel”, but it still didn’t bother me that the rhyme made no sense. I heard _no other version whatsoever_ until I head “nigger” as an adult. Okay, fine, so ‘nickel’ is a euphemism. I’ve never heard any versions other than those two until clicking on this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/113 "2004-02-12T05:23:53Z")
I only heard and used “tiger.” I’m forty-nine, born and raised in Topeka, Kansas. But I was aware that “Kids with dirty mouths” used “nigger” ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/114 "2004-02-12T08:39:23Z")
32, grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia. I learned it “Tiger.” Like **voguevixen** , I never heard the “nigger” version until I saw _Pulp Fiction_, and honestly, until I saw this thread I had no idea that was the original. I figured Tarantino made it up for the movie to show what a prick Zed was. I’m kinda shocked, honestly. ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/115 "2004-02-12T14:23:54Z")
**Marvel** you promised an explanation for why you wanted our ages and places of origin – please don’t keep us in suspense! I realize you mentioned something about a class today (Thurs.) , so I guess I can wait 'til after that.By the way , as a kid I never tried to make any sense out of the rhyme (in fact I seem to recall thinking , at that time , that a nigger was something found down “by his toe” as in “next to his toe” - which obviously makes less sense.My main curiosity concerning the third line was if it also was different in the different versions. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/116 "2004-02-12T14:39:56Z")
For the record, the rhyme we always said was: _Eeney, meenie, miney, moe Catch a n\__\_r by its toe If it squeals, let it go Eeney, meenie, miney, moe\* Each word was pointed at a person - if you were the last “moe”, you were ‘it’ for the current game. Note the use of _“it”_ rather than _“his”_, leading (us as) kids to think of something less than human, a creature of some sort. We had no idea. Plus, _“squeals”_ was probably added as a colloquialism instead of “hollers”, which no one here says. ( BTW, my GF, a teacher, says it is always said as _“Tigger”_ or _“tiger”_ these days. ) ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/117 "2004-02-12T15:12:44Z")
Nigger, Dublin, Ireland, 27. Remember using as far back as preschool. Had no idea what a “nigger” was and was as a matter of fact still a few years off even seeing my first dark skinned person (and that includes television!). I think visualised this mystical “nigger” as the devil (hooves and all!), making some sort of aural connection to Old Nick I think :eek: The rhyme was always “his”, not “its”. I never heard of any other version before reading a thread about the airplane incident. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/118 "2004-02-12T15:23:42Z")
Don’t know if this is 20/20 hindsight, me making things up, or a genuine regional variation, but I have a vague recollection suddenly of also saying “catch a tinker by the toe”. Any other Irish want to back me up, or am I inventing things? ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/119 "2004-02-12T15:29:11Z")
Tiger, and very rarely Monkey, da Bronx, age 39. When I was about twelve I heard that some nasty evil kids down South (the South was a mysterious backwards foreign place where horrible and inexplicable things had happened to black people in the recent past when I was a kid, and MLK was our recently martyred secular saint) used the unthinkable word in the rhyme, but we wouldn’t use it because it was as wrong as cursing in front of Grandma. Also, in my mostly-white Irish and Italian enclave we knew that white folks were and are the minority in the Bronx, so it was all sort of turned around anyway. I’m trying to understand a place where everybody you know or see is white and utterly failing 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549/120 "2004-02-12T15:29:13Z")
“Tiger,” 41, Willingboro, New Jersey Never heard of the n-word version until I read about it here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/catch-a-by-the-toe-a-survey/228549.md?page=7)