Can someone explain what this is about. I’ve seen this in at least two shows
In an episode of Monk where Adrian takes pills that make him act even more weirdly than usual, he swims around in a pool with his eyes closed saying “marco … marco … marco” then opens his eyes to discover that he’s alone.
In an episode of *Family Guy *, Stewie swims around in a pool saying “marco… marco… marco” while a girl just stands still.
Oh, and an episode of The Simpsons Where Ned Flanders talks about his sons saying “marco” and “polo”
What’s the reference I’m missing here? Is this a game you Americans play, that is unknown over here?
It’s a hide-and-seek game called Marco Polo, in which (i believe) the seeker keeps their eyes closed and says “marco” having to find the other players who say “polo” in reply. So the seeker has to find them by the sound of their voice.
The Family Guy joke was that the girl was Helen Keller, IIRC, who obviously would have trouble playing such a game.
One person in the pool is “it”, and is trying to tag the other people in the pool. The catch is that he must keep his eyes closed. His means of locating other players is by saying “Marco” to which they have to respond “Polo”.
Not being able to parse “Epen Ny”, can you clue me in on where “over here” is? Just curious if playing Marco Polo in the swimming pool is indeed unique to the US, or if you’re Dutch or something (thus explaining the fluent English) and it’s still possible that Brits play this game. Though I expect they’d have some far more English name for it, like “Picket The Duke of Nottingham” or “Ragged Tom O’ Shanters” instead
For that matter it might be the case that even within the US it’s got regional names. Was “Ponce de Leon” completely made-up and facetious, or is that really a variant?
One explanation I’ve heard is that like Marco Polo, the seeker is setting out blind and has no idea where he will end up.
Personally I’ve always suspected it may be a reference to “Water Polo” as well, which is a volleyball like game also played in the swimming pool. If you have enough people to play Water Polo, but some folks aren’t into the idea or there is no net available, well, shift gears and play “Marco Polo” instead
I’ve never played it, or seen it being played in person (only on American TV).
One reason might be that less of us have our own swimming pools over here. Not that you couldn’t play it at a public pool, but it would be much more difficult with the noise and the chance you’d swim into someone random.
