# Origin of the "nanny nanny nanny!" taunting melody? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874 "2010-06-12T01:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/21 "2010-06-18T19:32:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Didn’t it start out as a series of “nyahs” rather than “nannys”? > [@Ruby](#): > > Definitely different, Opal. In retrospect, I’ve heard both in my childhood. I don’t think I’ve every heard it like **Chefguy’s** , though. Nyah… fits how I learned it. I’m 41 and grew up in Pennsylvania and New York, in case that makes some sort of difference. I’m sure I’ve heard it (either nyah or nah, but the right melody) in older movies. I will continue to try and remember which ones. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/22 "2010-06-18T22:19:27Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > **Opal Cat** , that’s exactly what I was about to post. > > Nanny-nanny boo-boo > Stick your face in doo-doo yep, this was our version. Except it was head instead of face. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/23 "2010-06-19T03:22:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Mine was Nanny nanny boo boo. > > And it’s really fun to play on trumpet with each trumpet playing it a half step off. Or better yet, a off by a tritone (which I just played on my keyboard.) > [@OpalCat](#): > > Do other people recognize the verse following “nanny nanny boo-boo” as being “stick your head in doo-doo”? > [@acsenray](#): > > **Opal Cat** , that’s exactly what I was about to post. > > Nanny-nanny boo-boo > Stick your face in doo-doo Did we all miss the second post in this thread, or were some of you just agreeing? Because I missed it. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/24 "2010-06-19T20:23:36Z")
Hubby just mentioned another one that has that descending minor third: “Rain, rain, go a-away, come again some other day” ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/25 "2010-06-19T21:42:55Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > yep, this was our version. Except it was head instead of face. Ick. Ours was worse yet: Nanny nanny boo boo Stick your head in doo doo Eat it Eat it With some pee pee and poo poo. ---
**Author:** ![Poyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Poyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poyo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/26 "2015-10-25T02:59:58Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > In my family it was more like, “neener neener neener” My mom and Grandma say “neener neener neener” but I say “Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah” The way I say it sounds like “yeah” but with an “n” in front of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/27 "2015-10-25T08:41:12Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I remember that Leonard Bernstein dealt with this question in one of his lectures on music. Unfortunately, it’s been a good 30 years since I saw that lecture, so my grasp of the detail of his explanation is somewhat spotty. But what I do recall seems to follow **drpepper** ’s brilliant musical husband’s idea, that minor descending thirds is so basic in some way that it is appealing to small children. You said what I wanted to say. The lecture series was called “The Unanswered Question” and early on Bernstein explained how the overtone series is inherent within each musical tone, and that notes from this series are how the first melodies were constructed. Then to illustrate he played it on the piano singing “nyah nyah nya-nyah nyah.” And pointed out that the notes are the 5th, 6th, and 7th in the overtone series. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/28 "2015-10-25T09:03:33Z")
As is common with verbal traditions, this childrens ryhme has changed since I was a lad. We sang: _Ring-a ring-a roses A pocket full of posies Atishoo Atishoo We all fall down._ Children would form a circle holding hands and dance around. On the last line - everyone fell down and played dead. The rhyme is generally supposed to have originated from the plague in London in 1665. The _ring of roses_ was the external evidence of plague and sneezing and dying followed soon after. The posies were to fend off the miasma that they thought was the way it spread. ---
**Author:** ![Weirofhermiston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e274bd/32.png) [@Weirofhermiston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirofhermiston)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/29 "2015-10-25T11:21:04Z")
Back in 1973 Leonard Bernstein proposed that such fragments were part of an underlying universal musical phonology, borrowing heavily from Chomsky on language. He explains a bit [here](https://youtu.be/ntmTQ8J7m5Y?t=1628). The rest of the lecture is worth watching (as is the rest of the series) if you have the time. It’s a long time ago so musical understanding may well have moved on. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/30 "2015-10-25T12:38:17Z")
> [@Poyo](#): > > My mom and Grandma say “neener neener neener” but I say “Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah” > > The way I say it sounds like “yeah” but with an “n” in front of it. Is this the version you’d use when surrounded by zombies? ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/31 "2015-10-25T13:17:20Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > _Ring-a ring-a roses > A pocket full of posies > Atishoo Atishoo > We all fall down._ > The rhyme is generally supposed to have originated from the plague in London in 1665. The _ring of roses_ was the external evidence of plague and sneezing and dying followed soon after. The posies were to fend off the miasma that they thought was the way it spread. Snopes is skeptical about this, > **[FACT CHECK: Is 'Ring Around the Rosie' About the Black Plague?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ring-around-rosie/)** > > The nursery rhyme 'Ring Around the Rosie' is not about the Black Plague. and so is the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. However your statement that the rhyme is ‘generally supposed to have originated from the plague in London in 1665’ appears to be correct, even if the supposition itself is not. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/32 "2015-10-26T15:59:29Z")
I seldom notice a zombie thread, but seeing a post from Opal was quite jarring. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/33 "2015-10-26T17:37:43Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Do other people recognize the verse following “nanny nanny boo-boo” as being “stick your head in doo-doo”? I do recall all that from childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/34 "2015-10-26T18:18:06Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > Baby, baby, > Stick your head in gravy > Wash it off with bubblegum and send it to the Navy! At my school (central New Jersey) it started “Kindergarten baby”. At the end of David Brin’s novel **Startide Rising** … As the human/dolphin ship is escaping the aliens, the captain of the aliens’ ship is demanding a translation of the human chant, “Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.” ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/35 "2015-10-26T19:19:29Z")
I read someplace that the taunting descending minor third that shows up at sports events, e.g. Craw-ford, Craw-ford, air ball, air ball, etc., is usually done on the same actual pitch, namely f and d. Checking this out the last time I heard it at a hockey game confirmed it, at least for that instance. Most peculiar. Seems to suggest that while only a handful of individual people have perfect pitch, most sports crowds do. I await the research grant that funds a deep investigation into this phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/36 "2015-10-26T20:00:09Z")
This thread makes me sad. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/37 "2015-10-26T22:45:00Z")
> [@CC](#): > > I read someplace that the taunting descending minor third that shows up at sports events, e.g. Craw-ford, Craw-ford, air ball, air ball, etc., is usually done on the same actual pitch, namely f and d. Checking this out the last time I heard it at a hockey game confirmed it, at least for that instance. Most peculiar. Seems to suggest that while only a handful of individual people have perfect pitch, most sports crowds do. I await the research grant that funds a deep investigation into this phenomenon. Your tax dollars at work. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/38 "2015-10-27T14:38:07Z")
I thought it was “hey, nonny-nonny” > **[Definition of nonny-nonny | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/nonny-nonny)** > > Nonny-nonny definition, (used as a nonsense expression, especially in Elizabethan songs and verses): with a hey nonny-nonny. See more. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874/39 "2015-10-27T15:43:59Z")
I imagine the variations; neener vs nyah, the pronunciation of “nyuah”, etc. are regional. I grew up in the late 50 in Philadelphia, and there, at that time and in my neighborhood, we always caught a tiger by the toe during “Eenie Meenie Minie Moe”. I never knew about the other version until I was in my 20s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-nanny-nanny-nanny-taunting-melody/542874.md?page=1)