Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest Update - Dec. 14, 2023
This is Part I of a four part pancocojams series that presents a compilation of examples of "Stella Ella Ola" & similar group hand slapping games that include information about their geographic locations.
This post presents complete examples of group hand slapping rhymes whose geographic locations are from cities or states in the United States that begin with A-H. When commenters mention both the city and the state for United States examples, I've listed those examples under the first letter of the name of the city. Examples that cite a region of the United States are listed under the first letter of that region (for example: "New England" is listed under the letter "N".
This post also presents complete examples whose geographic locations are from countries outside of the United States whose names begin with the letters A-H.
The rhymes that are included in this compilation have the titles "Stella Ella Ola", "Strolla Ola Ola", "Quack Diddley Oso", "Crocodilly Oh My", ""Slap Billy Oso", and similar titles.
The online sources for these examples are cited along with their full comments (except for additional examples or off topic comments).
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/11/pancocojams-compilation-of-examples-of.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents examples whose geographic locations are from I-M. These examples are resented in the same way as indicated for Part I of this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/11/pancocojams-compilation-of-examples-of_87.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents examples whose geographical locations are given under letters N-S.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/11/pancocojams-compilation-of-examples-of_48.html for Part IV of this pancocojams series. That post presents examples whose geographical locationsare from T-Z.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-search-of-sources-for-stella-ella.html for the 2016 pancocojams post entitled "In Search Of Sources For "Stella Ella
Ola"/"Quack Dilly Oso" Rhymes".
****
DISCLAIMER
This compilation isn't meant to represent all of the examples of these rhymes in a given city, state, or country during any particular period of time. This post also doesn't present any information or examples that purport to be the earliest example/s of this rhyme. Nor does this compilation stipulate that any example of these rhymes is more correct than any other examples.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS COMPILATION
The rhymes that are included in this pancocojams compilation
are selected examples from various sources.
I found almost all of these examples in this pancocojams compilation by reading multiple online discussion threads, including YouTube discussion threads (Thankfully, I had documented some of the comments from YouTube discussion threads that are now deleted because in Feb. 2019 YouTube deleted most of the discussion threads for videos that feature children. A few YouTube discussion threads for videos that feature children show old comments and are still open for new comments. This compilation includes some of those examples.)
In addition, a few of examples in this pancocojams compilation of "Stella Ella Ola" and similar group hand slapping rhymes are from comments that I received in other posts on this pancocojams blog.
In addition, a few of examples in this pancocojams
compilation of "Stella Ella Ola" and similar group hand slapping
rhymes are from comments that I received in other posts on this pancocojams blog.
The exceptions to the online sources for these examples are those that I learned from my direct experiences in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania beginning in the 1980s.
These examples are given in alphabetical order under the geographical location that is mentioned in the comment. Examples from cities in the United States are given under their state's name. Examples from regions in the United States are given under the first letter of that region's name (for instance examples from "New England" is given under the letter "N".) Examples from outside of the United States are given under the name of the country.
Multiple examples from each of these geographical categories are given in no particular order.
The YouTube videos of "Stella Ella Ola" and other related hand slapping games whose links are included in this compilation are played the same way as I've seen in my direct experiences of that game (from the 1980s to early 2000s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and some of its surrounding communities, mostly among African American children).The exception is that my recollections of those games is that they were always played by people standing in a circle while YouTube videos sometimes show these games being played by people who are seated.
Also, the videos of "Stella Ella Ola" and other related hand clapping games that are included in this compilation have the same recognizable tune & tempo as those particular hand slapping games that I have had direct experiences with in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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SELECTED EXAMPLES
A, B
Alaska ; https://kids.kiddle.co/Stella_Ella_Ola
"Quack diddly oh so
Quack, quack, quack
Sam, or Rico
Rico, Rico, Rico
Flora, Flora, Flora, Flora, Flora
1, 2, 3, 4"
****
C, D
California [the San Francisco Peninsula]Stock_Worldliness150, 2023, https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/15nq462/can_anyone_confirm_my_version_of_quack_a_dilly/
"What part? on the peninsula it was
Quack-Diddly Oso, Quack Quack Quack
Say Señorita, -rita, -rita, -rita (I think)
Dolores, Dolores, Dolor-, Dolor-, Do-lor
1234"
-snip-
The commenter responded to a commenter who wrote that a previous example from New York City was like the rhyme that was done in the Bay.
****
Canada
[These examples aren't given in alphabetical order]
Toronto, Canada
reposted by Azizi Powell in https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=77066 Subject: RE: Kids chant Stella Ola Ola / Stella Ella Ola [henceforth given in this post as "Mudcat: Stella Ella Ola"] from -Muni; 10/25/2008; http://www.cocojams.com/handclap_rhymes.htm [website no longer active],
" 'Stella-Ella-Ola, quack quack quack Say YES! Chico chico, chico chico chack Say YES! Chico chico, fellow, fellow, the toilet overflows Say 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-----10!'
I'm a high school teacher in Toronto and my students taught me this version of Stella-Ella-Ola this week. They're in grade 9 or 10 and learned this version in Toronto when they were in elementary school (i.e. in the last 10 years)."
**
Ontario, Canada
GUEST,Sierra; 19 Dec 08; "Mudcat: Stella Ella Ola"
"I remember that rhyme - I'm 15 so it wasn't that long ago that I used to do that. I would always sing along but never be quite sure of the lyrics, but ours went:
S-chigo chigo
chigo chigo chopsticks
S-sayanora
Valo, valo,
The toilet overflows go
1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
Sometimes it was "tigo or chigo" and "valo valo valo" instead of "the toilet overflows". We also would sometimes go to 10.
It's fun, we still sometimes do it when we're bored and it's
cold outside, so we can all sit in a warm circle, haha! Oh and I live in
Canada, Ontario."
**
Manitoba, Canada; "Mudcat: Stella Ella Ola"
GUEST,Julia, 02 Jun 10;
"I'm from manitoba, Canada and we would sing the rythm like
this :
Stella stella hola
Clap clap clap
Say es chico chico
Chico chico
Craker jack
Es chico chico
Balogne,balogne
With cheese and macaroni
Say 1,2,3,4,5"
the far west of Canada
GUEST,Anon;
"I played this just a couple of days ago. I'm on the far, FAR
west of Canada, and this is how I've been playing since I was maybe nine? I'm
fourteen now. It's a little different than all the ones already posted, but
it's got most of the same elements.
Stella stella ola
Clap clap clap
Singin' es chica chica
Chica chica chap
Singin' es chica chica
Baloney, baloney
Cheese and macaroni
Fire, one two three four five!
I think I might have a little bit of a different tune than
some of you, though, because I've been singing them in my head to the one I
know and they don't really match up."
greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
GUEST,Anon2,
"I grew up in the greater Vancouver BC area, the version I
learned was
Stella Stella Ola
Clap Clap Clap
Singing ess chiga chiga
Chiga chiga chap
Singing ess chiga chiga
Valo valo valo valo valo fire
1 2 3 4 5!
It's funny how it's so close but not identical to Anon's
from Aug 2012.. though my version's nearly 20 years older than hers.
Anyone know the origin of this song/game?
Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
GUEST,Vancouver Anon,
"Coquitlam checking in. We had:
Stella Stella Ola
Clap Clap Clap
Say Yes Chica Chica Chica Chica Chap
Say Yes Chica Chica
Baloney Baloney
And Cheesy Macaroni
Fire 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
Pretty similar to 2012 Anon and 2016 Anon2."
**
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
@goldensloth7, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loltwWPM0Uo&t=18s
"Stella stella ola clap clap clap, singing es cheego cheego,
cheega cheega chap, singing ess cheega chee-ga, val-o, val-o, say 1, 2, 3, 4,
5! - 90's, Vancouver BC"
**
Reply
@goldensloth7,
..."And it always ended on 5! That's the loser,
five."
**
Canada
@hillaryflynn9375, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyhL2Wdjpbc
"at my Summer Camp in Canada we sing it:
Stella Ella Ola, quack quack quack
Say Es Chico Chico, Chico Chico Chack
Say Es Chico Chico, Valo, Valo
The Toilet Overflows!
So 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 10!"
****
West Canada
@claytonclausen1760, 2021,
"Stella ela Ola
Clap clap clap
Singin' es tiga tiga
Tiga tiga clap clap
Stella ela Ola
Baloney baloney
With cheese and macaroni
Fire one two three four five!
(West canada)"
**
rural Ontario, Canada, https://kids.kiddle.co/Stella_Ella_Ola
"Rural Ontario (Canada): variant from the early 1980s could be sung in French or English. The French version usually counted to five, and the younger children's English version was similar. For elder children, in both language versions, the game required four steps: The player who shall begin announces their count of how many players remain; the other players agree aloud to the count; the players recite the verse; once recited, then the players began clapping out the count as quickly as possible. This made it much harder to anticipate the outcome. The basic verse follows in French and English, respectively.
Est tika-tika
Tika-tika tan-tan
Est tika-tika
âllo âllo âllo âllo âllo-ah
Un deux trois quat-re cinq!
Ess tika-tika
Tika-tika tap-tap
Ess tika-tika
Hello hello hello-ello-ello and
1 2 3 4 good-bye!"
**
Kitchener/Waterloo,Ontario, Canada,
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/58hfzn/til_that_nearly_every_part_of_canada_has_slightly/ , posted by patfav, 2016
"Stella ella ola
Chop chop chop
With an ess-tigo tigo
Tigo tigo chop chop
Ess-tigo tigo
B-low b-low
B-low your nose
And a 1 2 3 4 5
That was my KW variant."
**
Vancouver, Canada
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/58hfzn/til_that_nearly_every_part_of_canada_has_slightly/, posted by ThePlanner, 2016
"My recollection of how I thought it went as a kid in Vancouver:
Stella stella O-la clap-clap-clap
Say-yess-cheeka cheeka cheeeka cheeka chak
Say-yess-cheeka cheeka below below below below below!
Say-1-2-3-4-5!!"
**
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/58hfzn/til_that_nearly_every_part_of_canada_has_slightly/, posted by deleted, 2016
"Stella Ella ola Clap clap clap Singing Yes Chico Chico Chico Chico crackerjack Yes Chico Hello hello I gotta blow my nose And 12345
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada"
**
Sudbury/northern Ontario, Canada
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/58hfzn/til_that_nearly_every_part_of_canada_has_slightly/, Mindless-Eggplant202, 2023
"Thé version i know is a mix of multiple regions and ear téléphone changing the words so I grew up with
Es chico chico Chico chico chopsticks Es valadora (I don’t even think this ones a word but that’s what everyone said) Vélo vélo The toilet over flows saying 1-2-3-4-5
I’m from Sudbury/northern Ontario"
****
E, F
Florida ; https://kids.kiddle.co/Stella_Ella_Ola
"Quack diddly oso
quack quack quack;
Señorita, rita rita rita;
Valor, valor, valor-valor-valor! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10"
****
G, H
Germany
GUEST,How it's played in Germany; 28 Aug 09; "Mudcat: Stella Ella Ola"
"I found this on a German site;
http://www.labbe.de/liederbaum/index.asp?themaid=21&titelid=104
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor: Nov. 6, 2023- Here's the example and its directions given in German and translated to English by Google Translate
"Aquaka delle oma quak quak quak,
dscheslowa triko triko triko trak.
Balu balu, bala, balu, balu, balu,
eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf.
So wird's gemacht:
Zum Klatschspiel werden Paare gebildet. Jedes Paar legt die
Hände aneinander und jeweils einer übernimmt das Sprechen des Liedes. Im
Rhythmus des Liedes klatschen die Partner die Hände einmal oben und dann wieder
unten gegeneinander.
Wenn zum Schluss gezählt wird, heißt es aufpassen. Denn bei der Zahl fünf muss der eine Partner die Hände ganz schnell wegziehen, damit er nicht vom Sprecher getroffen wird. Dann darf er nämlich den nächsten Durchgang sprechen. Wird der Partner vom Sprecher getroffen, so darf der Sprecher noch eine Runde weiter machen.
Es gibt noch eine weitere Variante: Der Partner, bei dem die Hände bei der Zahl fünf oben sind, muss versuchen den anderen zu treffen.
In einer Gruppe stellen sich alle im Kreis auf; jeder legt
seine rechte Hand auf die linke seines Nachbarn. Nun wandert der Schlag im
Rhythmus reihum. Bei der Zahl fünf muss wieder der Letzte in der Runde seine
Hand wegziehen. Gelingt es ihm nicht, muss er ausscheiden. So geht es weiter,
bis nur noch einer übrig ist"
-snip-
Google translate from German to English:
"Aquaka delle grandma quak quak quak,
dzeslova triko triko triko trak.
Baloo baloo, bala, baloo, baloo, baloo,
one two three four five.
How to do it:
Pairs are formed to play the clapping game. Each pair puts
their hands together and one person takes over speaking the song. In the rhythm
of the song, the partners clap their hands against each other once at the top
and then again at the bottom.
When it comes to counting at the end, you have to be careful. Because with the number five, one partner has to pull their hands away very quickly so that they are not hit by the speaker. Then he can speak the next round. If the speaker hits the partner, the speaker can continue another round.
There is another variant: The partner whose hands are at the number five must try to hit the other one.
In a group, everyone stands in a circle; Everyone places their right hand on their neighbor's left. Now the beat moves around in rhythm. At the number five, the last person in the round has to remove his hand. If he doesn't succeed, he has to leave. This continues until there is only one left."
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This concludes Part I of this four part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Ella_Ola includes 14 regional Canadian examples of "Stella Ella Ola" as of Nov. 7, 2023. Most of those examples include the note that "versions differ" (meaning there are other versions of that rhyme that are different from the version that is featured on that page.
ReplyDeleteI believe that all of the examples shown in the geographical areas named in this pancocojams compilation of "Stella Ella Ola" rhymes have (had) different versions in those rhymes at the same time or before or after those examples were posted online. It's likely that that version may have gained some following because it was posted online, but that's likely only a very tiny part of the reasons why it was/is known in that area-and elsewhere.
I started that discussion thread in 2005) and it's now 2023- My motivation remains to document, study, and share information and examples of these rhymes and other rhymes and how they were/are chanted & played.
ReplyDeleteI believe that children's recreational rhymes (and particularly rhymes collected from people remembering their childhood and especially directly posted by children and teens) are cultural artifacts that are a treasure trove of socio-cultural and historical information. For that reason, whenever possible, people sharing rhymes online should include as much demographic information as possible (including race and ethnicity -meaning Latina/o in the United States).
I wrote this comment in 2016 in response to a guest commenter who wondered about the source for "Stella Ella Ola" rhymes:
ReplyDelete"I believe that the source for the large family of "Stella Ella Ola"/ "Quack Dilly Oso" rhymes (and other titles) is the chorus to the 1945 American novelty song "Chickery Chick" plus a great deal of folk processing (folk etymology; oral tradition).
Here's that song's chorus:
"Chickery-chick, cha-la, cha-la
Check-a-la romey in a bananika
Bollika, wollika, can't you see
Chickery chick is me?"
-snip-
"Chickery Chick" appears to me to be a re-working of the nonsense word filled choruses the 19th century or earlier racist (anti-Chinese) ridicule song "Chingery Chang" (also known as "Once In China There Lived A Great Man".) So "Chingery Chan" can also be said to be a source of the non-racist, nonsense word filled "Stella Ella Ola"/ "Quack Dilly Oso" rhymes.
Here's the chorus to one of the versions of "Chingery Chan":
"Chingery-rico-rico-day,
Ekel-tekel. Happy man!
Kuan-a-desco-canty-o,
Gallopy-wallopy-china-go." [1868]
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-china-there-lives-great-man-sources.html Once In China There Lived A Great Man" (Sources, Text Examples, & Video Example)
Here's the "summary" of that post:
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series that traces the lightly competitive hand clapping game "Stella Ella Ola" (also known as "Quack Dilly Oso" and other titles) to the 1945 American novelty song "Chickery Chick" and that song's source - the 19th century or earlier song "Once In China There Lived A Great Man" (and other titles).
Part I provides source information, text examples, and video examples of "In China There Lived A Great Man" (and other titles).
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-search-of-sources-for-stella-ella.html for Part II of this series. Part II provides information, lyrics, and a video example of the 1945 hit novelty song "Chickery Chick". Part II also provides information, a few text examples, and two video examples of "Stella Ella Ola" and "Quack Dilly Oso".
Here's a comment that was posted to the comment section for https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-search-of-sources-for-stella-ella.htmlby one of the adults in the 2008 YouTube video that is embedded in this post entitled "Stella ella ola clap clap clap say yes chico chico":
ReplyDeleteChris Schryer, September 1, 2019
"Hey there,
I just found this post looking into Stella Ella Ola, (and actually saw the thread at Mudcat which I assume is now dead). I was only looking it up as I'd had a conversation about the song, about how when I took a group of teens from Toronto to Nicagragua 2 years ago, to a rural coffee farm in Matagalpa, some of the girls in the team "taught" the game to the local kids, and discovered that they already knew the song. The local kids then taught the girls the actual words in Spanish.
The girls had assumed it was mostly just nonsense words. At the time I didn't think anything of it, as I had always assumed the song as I knew it was just a bastardization of a Spanish song, and I didn't write down the Spanish lyrics as I assumed they were readily available.
Today when I brought the story up (in the context of how funny it was when the girls learned that it wasn't nonsense, they were just singing it wrong) I decided to look up the Spanish lyrics, and, of course, discovered that it seems to be considered a regional folk song/game with no definite origin. I realize this comment isn't very helpful, and it's possible that the Nicaraguan children had learned the song from a North American and simply adapted the words into clear Spanish (or the song had been passed down in a previous generation).
Nicaragua had massive US influence for the first half of the last century (baseball is still far more popular than football/soccer, for instance), so it is possible the song had come south, but there are definitely kids singing it in Central America, using Spanish lyrics that are not nonsense words."
-snip-
I reformatted this comment to increase its readability.
Read my response to Chris Schryer thanking him and also including the information that it's very rare that Mudcat threads would be closed.
Btw, that comment exchange also has an interesting comment from Justin in Ontario, Canada about his memory of being part of a choir in Ontario, Canada in 1980. Justin recalls that backstage before the concert began an African children's choir that was also performing taught other performers a song that he believes is very much like a version of "Stella Ella Ola" that his son sung for him 38 years later.
I thanked Justin for that comment and shared with him that there's no way of knowing now, but it's possible that someone from the United States could have shared that song with those African children who then shared their (probably folk processed) version of that song with other people in the United States.
That's how the folk process works and has done and will do so forever.