When I was in 5th grade, I had a group of 3 friends, and we had a particular counting game, which I never heard before, and haven’t heard since. It went (and I have no idea how to spell it, of course):
Eeny meeny tippetini
Ah bah boobelini
Achi cachi Liberace
Out goes you.
Has anyone ever heard this one? Any histories, geological locations, etc. for this linguistical bit of nonsense?
Eenie meenie miney moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers, let him go
Eenie meenie miney moe*
*that person is it, or out, depends on when you used it.
LilMiss does one much like yours, dangermom. If I can remember it correctly, it’s “Eenie meenie tippolini, ahne mahne tortelini, atchi batchi Liberace, Out goes you” She had to ask who Liberace was.
We always did “eenie meenie miney mo, catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, make him pay fifty dollars every day. o-u-t spells out and you are out”.
These are Minnesotan. LilMiss from now, mine from mid 70’s.
The one I learned from some fellow Army brats in Germany back in the late 70s was almost identical to yours, dangermom.
We would say:
Eeny meeny tippetini
Ooh gahg gahgalini
Achi pachi Liberace
Out goes Y-O-U.
Haven’t heard it in years, but I recently started teaching it to my 5 year-old daughter. I was amazed that I could remember it instantly.
(Bullwinkle in Gypsy/Fortuneteller Garb):
Eeny Meeny
Jellybeany
The Spirits are about to speak!
Rocky:
Are They Friendly Spirits?
Bullwinkle:
Friendly? Just listen!
(Cut to commercial)
Not what you asked for, but I’ll bet it inspired your rhyme.
eenie meenie,
ditzy deenie,
ah-chy pah-chy, domino-chy,
i tie test time
ugga bugga boo,
and out goes you!
Hey cool. There are variations of all sorts. Thanks, everybody.
In a funny twist, I mentioned to a friend today that I was teaching this rhyme to my daughter as a way of getting her to get dressed faster (I lay out a couple of shirts and she picks). She knew a different version again, had learned it at Bluebirds camp.
CalMeacham writes:
> Eeny Meeny
> Jellybeany
> The Spirits are about to speak!
No, it was
Eeny Meeny
Chilibeany
The Spirits are about to speak!