Versions Of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" Counting Out Rhymes In The United Kingdom

 Edited by Azizi Powell

This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the "eenie meenie miney mo" counting out/choosing it rhymes and on eenie meenie epsileenie" jump rope/hand clap rhymes (or similar titles).

This pancocojams post presents some general information about "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" counting out/choosing it rhymes and presents a compilation of some versions of these rhymes from the United Kingdom. 

This post doesn't include speculation about the origin/s of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" rhymes.

I'm particularly interested in documented some examples of "Eeenie Meenie Miney Mo" rhymes from the United States that include demographic information (particularly when and where these rhymes were/are chanted). For folkloric purposes, I'm also interested in documenting examples of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" rhymes from the United Kingdom which include "the 'n' word" and which also include recollections about the chanter's reaction to and/or other people's reactiions to that word in those examples. 

The content is provided for folkloric and socio-cultural information. 

I am not compiling these examples for recreational purposes as I consider "the n word" to be very offensive regardless of the context. 

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/05/versions-of-eenie-meenie-miney-mo.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Versions Of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" Counting Out Rhymes In The United States".

Also, click for http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/02/examples-of-eeny-meeny-miney-mo-in.html for Part I and http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/02/examples-of-eeny-meeny-miney-mo-in_17.html for Part II of a 2015 pancocojams series about "Versions Of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" Counting Out Rhymes In The United States."

This 2021 post may contain a few of the examples that are included in one of those 2015 posts. 
-snip-
DISCLAIMER: This post isn't meant to be a comprehensive listing of online examples of these rhymes.

NOTE: The word that is commonly given as "the n word" is given as "n--ger" or other incomplete spellings in this post. Those euphemisms are noted by an asterisk: *. 

****
INFORMATION ABOUT "EENIE MEENIE MINEY MO" RHYMES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe"—which can be spelled a number of ways—is a children's counting rhyme, used to select a person in games such as tag, or for selecting various other things. It is one of a large group of similar rhymes in which the child who is pointed to by the chanter on the last syllable is either "chosen" or "counted out". The rhyme has existed in various forms since well before 1820[1] and is common in many languages with similar-sounding nonsense syllables.

Since many similar counting rhymes existed earlier, it is difficult to know its exact origin.

[…]

American and British versions

Some versions of this rhyme use the racial slur "n--ger*" instead of "tiger". Iona and Peter Opie quote the following version:

Eena, meena, mina, mo,
Catch a n--ger* by his toe;
If he squeals let him go,
Eena, meena, mina, mo.[3]

This version was similar to that reported by Henry Carrington Bolton as the most common version among American schoolchildren in 1888.[10].

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo,
Catch a n--ger* by the toe,
If he won't work then let him go;
Skidum, skidee, skidoo.
But when you get money, your little bride
Will surely find out where you hide,
So there's the door and when I count four,
Then out goes you.[11]

It was also used by Rudyard Kipling in his "A Counting-Out Song", from Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, published in 1935.[12] This may have helped popularise this version in the United Kingdom where it seems to have replaced all earlier versions until the late twentieth century.[3]

Iona and Peter Opie pointed out in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951) that the word "n--ger" was common in American folklore, but unknown in any English traditional rhyme or proverb.[3] This, combined with evidence of various other versions of the rhyme in the British Isles pre-dating this post-slavery version, would seem to suggest that it originated in North America, although the apparently American word "holler" was first recorded in written form in England in the 14th century, whereas according to the Oxford English Dictionary the words "N-ger*" or "'n--ger*" were first recorded in England in the 16th century with their current disparaging meaning. The 'olla' and 'toe' are found as nonsense words in some 19th century versions of the rhyme."... 

****
EXAMPLES OF "EENIE MEENIE MINEY MO" COUNTING RHYMES FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM 
These examples are given in no particular order. Numbers are included for referencing purposes only. Examples from the same website are given in chronological order.

1. ...The version of "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" that was current in playgrounds when I was a child (1960's Britain), replaced the word "tiger" with [word removed in order to comply with Google's Publisher Policy]. This is of course totally unacceptable by today's standards, given the massively pejorative and racist overtones that the word has gained over the ensuing years. At the time, however, it was used in total innocence.

 The "n____" version was current among U.S. children in the 1950s. As I understand it, the word hasn't gained racist overtones since then: it had them all the time. No, that's not strong enough. Not just overtones. The whole meaning of the word was just plain racist. What has changed is people's sensibilities about racism--including the words that help to perpetuate it. (In the U.S., we had a civil rights movement that got national attention inthe 1960s, followed by other changes in the culture.)

: There were more lyrics. The next verse started "If he hollers (or another verb here?), make him pay / Fifty dollars every day." I don't remember the rest. It might be in a book I don't have, Iona and Peter Opie, "The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren."
-R. Berg, February 22, 2002,  
https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/13/messages/381.html
-snip-
This is how this portion of that comment was written in that discussion thread.

As documented by some examples in the pancocojams post about United States versions of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo", some United States children in the 1950s (including me) chanted "catch a tiger by the toe" and not "catch an 'n word' by the toe..

**
2. "Eeny meeny miny mo
Sit the baby on the poh
When it's done wipe it's bum
Eeny meeny miny mo

Eenameena macaraca Airidackeraca Chickeraca boomeracka om pom push

Northern England, industrial, 1950's"
-Wyrd Sister, 01 May 02, http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147

**
3. "Also from North East England (50s 60s):

Eenie meeny mackeracka Dare-dum dominacker Ting-a-ling-a-lollipop Bing bang boosh.

Incidentally, 'eenie meeny myny mo' is one to four in one of the Celtic tongues ... 'hickory dickory dock' is eight nine ten."
-GUEST,Phil A,  01 May 02, http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147

**
4. "I[n] The East End of London it used as a dip, and went..

Immenacka ricker racka
Rare are dominacka
Chicka bocka
Bocka chicka
Om Pom Push.

And the person whom push landed on was unceremoniously pushed out of the ring.

OK. Spuds in!"
-Bert, 01 May 02, http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147
-snip-
Here's information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ip_dip about the term "dip" as it is used in tha comment:
"Ip dip is a rhythmic counting-out game with many variations, the purpose of which is to select an individual from a group, for instance to choose the starting player of a game. It has been commonly used in British playgrounds for many years.

The speaker of the rhyme points to a different person in order as each stressed syllable is spoken; the person pointed to as the final syllable is spoken is thereby elected."...

**
5. "We had (Glasgow late fifties-early sixties)

eenie-meenie-miney-mo
catch a N----- by the toe
If he cries let him go
eenie-meenie-miney-mo

my mother said that N----- was a bad wrd and that we should use 'darky' kind of hard to believe now. Kids nowadays use 'spider' which works well with the rhyme.”…
-Fiona, 02 Jul 06, http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147
-snip-
This is the way this comment is written in that discussion thread.

"Glasgow" is a city in Scotland.

 **
6. "Here's one from Cyfathfa Juniors and Brecon Road Infants School in Merthyr Thdfil*.

Eeni meanii mackaraka
Day Die dominaker
Cheeky Lacker
Lolly Popper
Out goes one,
Out goes Two,
Out goes another one
and out Goes you!"
-GUEST,richd, 03 Jul 06, http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147
-snip-
Merthyr Thdfil is a town in Wales.

**
7. "We had a number of counting rhymes in the 70's.

[1]

We used: -

Eenie meenie minie mo
Catch a tiger/n--ger* by the toe
When he hollers, let him go
Eenie meenie minie mo.

We mostly said 'tiger', although 'n--ger'* was known of.

Incedentally, the word 'n--ger*' wasn't considered any more insulting than 'brummie', 'geordie' or 'scouse' are now.

[2]

Less well known, but more prized was: -

Eenie meenie mackeracker
rare rare dominacker
chicker packer lollipopper
om pom push

(the spelling is arbitrary!)

[3]

Quite popular was: -

Racing car number nine
Losing petrol all the time
How many gallons did it loose?

At this point the person whose 'spud' (i.e. fist) was counted on the word 'loose' would supply a number, say 'seven'. The rhyme was then completed using the supplied number, thus: -

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven
And out you must GO.

[4]

Later, we got lazy and the counting rhymes degenerated to this: -

Girl guide, boy scout, OUT.

[5]

And: -

Ittle ottle,
Sh-t* in a bottle,
Ittle ottle,
OUT.

Nice, eh?"
-GUEST,Stephen (from Doncaster, South Yorkshire), 04 Aug 08, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=153&page=2&desc=yes
-snip-
This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

**
8. …"Our Eeny Meeny, in Birmingham England in the 60/70s was:

Eeny meeny miny mo
Catch a n--ger* by his toe
If he squeals, let him go
Eeny meeny miny mo

We were a school of 6-10 yr old middle class white kids and if anybody knew what nigger meant, I certainly didn't. I dare say we'd have still used it if we did; kids are not very pc left to their own devices and at that time there was no general awareness of racism. We had our own vocabulary of taunt and our own 'isms' too.

We had two school buses, one of which came past the Monyhull Hall mental hospital (as it then was). Inmates of the hospital were known to us as 'Monnies' (obviously derived from the name of the place) and this was, by extension, applied to kids who came in on that bus. "You're a Monny" rendered in a high-pitched Brummie accent takes me right back... We were little horrors.

Fortunately most kids grow out of it under the civilising influence of parents and teachers and generation by generation we leave it behind us. I hear no hint of it in my daughter's playground, but sadly they still find ways to be cruel to each other."
-GUEST,Apina, 09 Jan 08, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=153&page=2&desc=yes

**
9. "As children living in London in the 1960s/70s we used to say the following:-

Eeni meeni maca racka,
rare rye domin acka,
Chicka pocka lolli poppa,
Om pom push!"
-GUEST, 06 Jul 10.  http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147

**
10. "The version taught to me in Ireland in the 1970's was:

 Eeny Meany Macka Raka, Ray Row Domino,
Acka Packa Juli-acka, Tim Tom Tush!

It's interesting to see how it's a variant of the older one's above.
-GUEST, 25 Mar 11, http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147

**
11. "Eenie Meenie Makka-Rakka;
Dare, die, dominakka;
Chikka-rakka, om bom BUSH!

Wales, Pontypridd, 1982, from father who said he learned it in his childhood, same area, 10-20 years before.
- GUEST, 10 Sep 17,  http://awe.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=147

**
12. "Hi, I was at primary school in South Wales and learned it like this:

Eeny meeny mackeracca,
dare dai dominacca,
chickeracca pom pom,
push out
you are not it.

It looks like there are a huge number of variations to this. We always used it just as a way of choosing teams or who was It."
- GUEST,Mark, 31 Aug 18, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=153&page=1&desc=yes

 **
13. "If anyone's interested, growing up in Ireland I only ever heard the "n--ger*" version, so it's not just a US phenomenon. In fact, the first time I heard the "tiger" version was in the Simpsons episode Homer Defined."
-RMoloney 22:29, 7 August 2005 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

**
14." I grew up in Scotland in the non-pc 1970's and 80's I didn't know there were other, non-racist, versions of the rhyme. Many of the kids I played with at school or in my street even updated the rhyme and used "Paki" instead of “n--ger*”. Appalling really. —
-Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.122.175 (talk) 03:42, 30 July 2008 (UTC),  , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

**
15. "Without meaning to turn this into a page of reminiscences - I think it is quite interesting how widespread this rhyme is and the variations that exist. Growing up in NE Scotland in the late 80s/early 90s, we said "tigger" but were well aware of the origin. Though we substituted in the lines "If he squeals let him go" and added "You are not it" at the end. It might be worthwhile making this page a little less US-centric too IMHO
-taras 23:17, 11 November 2005 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

**
16. "Again, completely anecdotal but I remember hearing "catch a Paki by the toe" (i.e. Pakistani) growing up in England in the 90s. "
-Black Butterfly, 12:58, 21 January 2006 (UTC),  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

**
17. "In the sixties growing up in England all I ever heard was the version which used the word 'n--ger*'. It was all pervasive and could be quoted by adults and children alike. There was no shock value when it was used. We knew the word could be used to refer to a black person but as used by us in the playground it was devoid of any racist tone and served only as a means of selecting children for games in the playground. The heavy promotion of other versions since the eighties appears to have replaced it, in many publications, with more PC versions and sometimes history is written as though the original version did not exist at all, but that doesn't make it so."
- Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.187.233.172 (talk) 21:16, 12 February 2011 (UTC),  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

 **
18. "At school in North London 1972-78 we used the n--ger* version, without any ill intention; it was just part of the rhyme. This was also noted in the TV show The Goodies where they replaced the N--ger* word with "Hmm Hmm Hmm" a series of throat clearing coughs to indicate that embarrassment at the word's inclusion in the rhyme. This to me shows that a non-bowdlerised version wasn't prevalent at the time."
-DavidFarmbrough (talk) 23:29, 8 August 2011 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

**
19."Coming from the UK, I have never heard "tiger". Nor have I ever heard "baby". I have only heard "n--ger*" and "tinker" - a variation that nobody else has mentioned. Why haven't I heard "baby"? Is it something that was introduced in the last 10-20 years?
-Oxonian2006 00:25, 29 November 2006 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

**
20. "I remember in Scotland in the 1950s the version:

Eeny meeny miny mo: Sit the baby on the po: When he's done, wipe his bum: Eeny meeny miny mo." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.28.150.22 (talk) 11:20, 23 February 2013 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Examples Of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" Counting Out Rhymes In The United States

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision- August 20, 2023 (reformatted, more comments added)

This pancocojams post presents some general information about "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" counting out/choosing it rhymes and presents a compilation of some United States versions of these rhymes.

This post doesn't include speculation about the origin/s of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" rhymes.

The content is provided for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes. 

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
This pancocojams  post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the "eenie meenie miney mo" counting out/choosing it rhymes and on eenie meenie epsileenie" jump rope/hand clap rhymes (or similar titles).

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/05/versions-of-eenie-meenie-miney-mo_5.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Versions Of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" Counting Out Rhymes In The United Kingdom".

Also, click for http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/02/examples-of-eeny-meeny-miney-mo-in.html for Part I and http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/02/examples-of-eeny-meeny-miney-mo-in_17.html for Part II of a 2015 pancocojams series about "Versions Of "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" Counting Out Rhymes In The United States."

This 2021 contains a few of the same examples that were included in those 2015 posts. 
-snip-
DISCLAIMER: This post isn't meant to be a comprehensive listing of online examples of these rhymes.

NOTE: The word that is commonly given as "the n word" is given as "ni--er" or other incomplete spellings in this post. Those euphemisms are noted by an asterisk: *. 

****
INFORMATION ABOUT "EENIE MEENIE MINEY MO" RHYMES
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe"—which can be spelled a number of ways—is a children's counting rhyme, used to select a person in games such as tag, or for selecting various other things. It is one of a large group of similar rhymes in which the child who is pointed to by the chanter on the last syllable is either "chosen" or "counted out". The rhyme has existed in various forms since well before 1820[1] and is common in many languages with similar-sounding nonsense syllables.

Since many similar counting rhymes existed earlier, it is difficult to know its exact origin.

[…]

American and British versions

Some versions of this rhyme use the racial slur "n--ger*" instead of "tiger". Iona and Peter Opie quote the following version:

Eena, meena, mina, mo,
Catch a n--ger* by his toe;
If he squeals let him go,
Eena, meena, mina, mo.[3]

This version was similar to that reported by Henry Carrington Bolton as the most common version among American schoolchildren in 1888.[10].

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo,
Catch a n--ger* by the toe,
If he won't work then let him go;
Skidum, skidee, skidoo.
But when you get money, your little bride
Will surely find out where you hide,
So there's the door and when I count four,
Then out goes you.[11]

It was also used by Rudyard Kipling in his "A Counting-Out Song", from Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, published in 1935.[12] This may have helped popularise this version in the United Kingdom where it seems to have replaced all earlier versions until the late twentieth century"... 

****
EXAMPLES OF "EENIE MEENIE MINEY MO" COUNTING RHYMES IN THE UNITED STATES
These sources/contributor's comments are given in no particular order. Numbers are included for referencing purposes only. 

SOURCE #1
-http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/Lins005.html [retrieved May 4, 2021]
DESCRIPTION: "Eenie meenie minie mo, Catch a (n--ger*/tiger) by the toe, If he hollers, let him go, Eenie meenie minie mo."

AUTHOR: unknown

EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell-GamesAndSongsOfAmericanChildren); Simpson and Roud report an 1885 collection in Canada, and Opie/Opie-OxfordDictionaryOfNurseryRhymes claims that Bolton had a version in 1888

KEYWORDS: nonballad

FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Britain(England(West)) Australia New Zealand

[…]

NOTES … A child's counting-out rhyme, used e.g. for choosing who is "it" in a game of tag. The Opies declare it the most popular rhyme of this sort in both the United States and England, and certainly it is the only one I ever personally encountered. I remember, at about age ten, trying to convince other children that this was *not* random and that the counter could always pick who was "it" using this scheme. I suppose I was fortunate that they didn't listen, or I'd have been "it" every time.

More interesting is the fact that we (middle-class kids in Minnesota in about 1970) gave the second line as "Catch a tiger by the toe," compared to the seemingly-older version involving catching a "n--ger*." Did we modify it to "tiger" because none of us knew the meaning of the racial slur, or did our parents firmly straighten us (or our older classmates, who taught us the rhyme) out? I've no clue.

Paul Stamler, who learned the rhyme some years before I did, also learned it with "tiger" -- and says that the children he played it with liked the alliteration.

Simpson and Roud's Dictionary of English Folklore (article on Counting Rymes) suggests that the British original was "chicken" or "tinker," with "beggar" also used. This seems reasonable in context, but I've yet to encounter any of these forms in real life.

It may seem odd to include this in a Ballad Index; it certainly isn't a ballad -- but it is a song, and clearly of the folk variety."...

****
SOURCE #2-  http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=286551 

[Pancocojams Editor's Note: These are selected comments from that discussion thread. That discussion thread includes comments from United Kingdom, Australia, France, Canada, Argentina, and Italy. I only quoted some of the comments from the USA.  That discussion thread completely spells out what is now commonly referred to as "the n word". On this pancocojams blog, I choose to use amended spelling for that referent. That amended spelling is indicated by an asterisk *]

1. James M (Los Angeles, California), Nov. 7, 2006
"Growing up in California forty years ago, we said, "Catch a monkey by his toe." I don't think political correctness had been invented yet."

**
2. MissFit (Great Lakes region, USA), Nov. 7, 2006
"I learned "catch a tiger" as a child, and we used the rhyme frequently. I never knew there was an another offensive version until I was 39 years old (last year.) I'm certain that my parents (who born in the early 1940's) never knew the offensive version either, or they would never have allowed us to use it.

I wouldn't use the rhyme now...not because it's politically incorrect, but because I wouldn't want to be unkind. Erroneously or not, many black people have learned that it first contained the word n---er*. On the other hand, if I were black, I would like to think that I would be mature enough to "let it go" if I heard somebody use it--at least if they used it without ni--er*.

**
3. Defy_Convention (USA) Nov. 8, 2006
"I was completely unaware of any racist undertones until I read this thread. Here's how I learned it:

Eeny meeny miney mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers make him pay
Fifty dollars every day
My mother told me to pick the very best one and you-are-not-it!

Speaking as a teen in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S., this expression is totally acceptable (if a bit childish :D )"
-snip-
The person who started that discussion thread asked whether the words "eenie meenie miney mo" were acceptable and then asked people to share which version of that rhyme they know. The comment "...this expression is totally acceptable (if a bit childish) refers to the first poster's query. . 

**
4. Isp (New York, Nov 8, 2006
"Elroy said
"Wow, up until now I had no idea that the song had any racist connotations whatsoever!”

I'm in shock, I never knew until this moment that there were any other versions than the one I learned (below), much less a racist version.
Eeny meeny miney mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go
My mother said that you are O - U - T!"

**
5. pob14 (central Illinois), Aug. 5, 2011
"Many of us said "piggy," although I was aware of the racist version also. (Chicago/1960s). Members of my family would often use a version of the racist word that was modified to rhyme with "piggy," and so I always assumed that that's where the "piggy" version came from."...

**
6. Egmont (Massachusetts), Aug. 5, 2011
"Growing up in the northeast U.S. in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I heard, learned, and used it with "tiger" and "monkey." Didn't know it had a racist version until a decade or two later. (That is still well before I came upon this thread, of course)

To me, using "piggy" makes little sense. In my childhood, as well as those of my children and grandchildren, a "piggy" was a toe - as in "This little piggy went to market, this little piggy ..." How can you catch a toe by the toe? Do toes have their own toes? If they do, do those toes have toes too? It boggles the mind ..."

**
7. chibikitty9000 (Wisconsin), April 2, 2012
"We always just used "Catch a tiger by it's toe", growing up in Wisconsin. "Eeny meeny miny moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go, eeny meeny miny moe"."

**
8. pwmeek (SE Michigan), April 2, 2012
" I was certainly aware of the offensive (n---er)* version, as many of my playmates (1948-1958 Mid-West US) used it when out of earshot of adults. I never heard it at home, and only rarely heard the tiger/monkey/etc. versions. I seem to recall chastisement and a long discussion when I tried it (once) at home."

**
9. Smarky Marlarky (Indiana), Oct. 2, 2012
"This discussion is fascinating.

Growing up in the 1950s, we said "Crack a ni--r* on his toe," and even though we knew better than to use that word in other circumstances, we thought nothing of it. In the 1970's my son came home with "Touch a tiger on his toe."

The line also appears in a song 'I woke up in the morning':

Eenie meenie miney moe
Miney moe, catch a whippersnapper by the toe
And if he, if he hollers, hollers, let him go
Singing eenie meenie meenie, miney moe

There's a second verse, but I don't know it. Silly song, but my point is that the phrase seems to appear in other places as well as the rhyme."...

** 
10. JustKate, (Indianapolis, Indiana), Oct. 3, 2012
"I grew up in Southern California saying the "tiger" version. I think my mother, who was born in the South, was the one who told me about the n-word version after I got a little older, NOT because she approved of it, because she most definitely did not - I'm not sure what she would have done had she ever heard me use that word, but I would not have enjoyed it - but because she thought it was important for me to know about the rampant racism she grew up around. (They had separate water fountains and everything when she was a kid.) "N--ger*" was never an innocent word in the South, or if it ever was, it had been several generations since this was so even when my mother was growing up. I'm quite sure that people in other parts of the country and the world could have used it quite innocently, though.

And anyway, I don't think anybody could possibly object to "eeny meeny miny mo." You hear it alllllll the time."

**
11.mflcs (Illinois), Oct, 3, 2012
"I learned the N-version in 1950, during the first days of the first grade in a small town near Indianapolis. When I recited it outdoors with playmates at home, my mother and my father suddenly both appeared at my right and left elbows and ordered me to STOP! and to NEVER! use that word again. My mother suggested, incomprehensibly, that I say "monkey" instead. "But Mother," I insisted, "that's not the way the poem goes." I don't remember when I eventually learned what the N-word signified, but I do know that every part of that rhyme now, for me, is anathema."

**

12. mplsray (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Oct. 4, 2012
 "I am 58 and grew up in a rural area of Central Illinois. I know that both the "n--ger*" and "tiger" versions of "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" were available when I was a boy because I insisted on using the "tiger" version while my peers used the "ni---er" * version."

**
13. rch (North Carolina),Jan 23, 2014
"Grew up in US-Pennsylvania in the 1940s-50s. I heard the n version from classmates, but was not allowed to use it. We said tiger. But my grandmother, born in 1884, daughter of missionaries and grown up on a Blackfeet reservation in Fort Hall, Idaho and later in California, taught me two other versions, completely different, which I liked simply because they were different and fun to say:

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo,
Crack a feeny finey foe.
Ippa nuja poppa tuja,
ick, bick, ban, dao.

Or:

One-ree, orey, ickery ann,
Philisy, pholisy, Nicholas John.
Queevy, quavy, English Navy,
Stickolum, stackolum, John Buck.

The spelling in both is pure guesswork, of course.

Her father claimed English ancestry. Could he have taught her the second one, perhaps? Could the first one include some counting in the Blackfeet language, or are those nonsense syllables? I suppose I'll never know"

**
14. RMS1(SS), (Connecticut,) Jan 24, 2014
"When I was a kid we used the "ni--er" * version - this was small-town southern Michigan in the early '60s, and at that point I don't believe I'd ever actually seen a black person except on telly. It's been years since I last used it, but I see no reason not to do so when the situation calls for it, though I would say "tiger" or "penguin" now. (As in the song Sparky quoted, we said "Eeny meeny miney mo" again after "let him go.")

As for Rch's alternates, ZUI The Outdoor Handy Book, by Daniel Carter Beard (1896):

One-ry, or-ry, ickery, Ann!
Fillison, follison, Nicholas, John.
Queevy, quavy, English Navy,
Stinckelum, stanklum, Buck!

Or, as it is sometimes repeated:

One-ery, two-ery, hickory han,
Fillison, follison, Nicholas, John.
Queevy, quavy, Virgin Mary,
Stingelum, stangelum, berry buck!

He then goes on to list a few more variants. The whole section on "How to Count Out" can be read on Google Books; I found it by doing a Google search for fillison follison."

**
15. bennymix (Now: Ontario, Canada, California, Princeton, New Jersey), Jan 24, 2014
" It's quite amazing that a whole generation or two, above seem unaware of the racist version, which I certainly heard in So Cal in the 1950s. The word 'tiger' [or the more transparent 'tigger'] is the attempt to clean up the rhyme, and, I thought, came in about that time. I sure a number of transitional folks knew that 'tiger' etc. were stand-ins."...

**
SOURCE #3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AEeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe
1. -Bouncey (talk) 22:36, 2 January 2008, 
"USA, central Oklahoma, born in the mid-1970s... The only version I heard as a child was "catch a tiger" and "make him pay 50 dollars every day". (Or "catch a ___" where the blank is filled in with the listener's name. Playfully grab big toe at that moment.) I never knew there was any other way to say it until recently. Certainly I had never heard it said with the N-word or any other racist intent."

**
2. 98.116.75.98 (talk)AR,  
"I was born in 1966 (New York City) and when I was a little boy (1970's) we sang: Eenie Meeny Miny Moe catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go, my mother says to pick this one and out goes Y-O-U (and we sometimes followed that up with - "and you are not it") I personally never heard the "N" word version until the Pulp Fiction movie."

**
SOURCE #4- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe
"During the Second World War, an AP dispatch from Atlanta, Georgia reported: "Atlanta children were heard reciting this wartime rhyme:

Eenie, meenie, minie, moe,
Catch the emperor by his toe.
If he hollers make him say:
'I surrender to the USA.'"[13]"

****
SOURCE #5 - https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47148&messages=153&page=2&desc=yes, eena meena mackeracka (children's rhymes) 
1.GUEST, Nerd, 01 May, 02,  
".I grew up in upper Manhattan, where using the n-word would get you seriously [profanity deleted on this pancocojams post] up if not killed, but everyone knew the tiger rhyme, and none of us kids knew it had anything racist in it. When an older black man told us the original, we didn't believe it. Until he showed it to us in a book. Personally, I think "Tiger" is an improvement precisely because it isn't racist anymore (and because if you catch a tiger by the toe you will get what you deserve!)"

**
2.Bonnie Shaljean,  01 Jul 06
..."I first picked up eeny-meeny from the bigger kids in my street when I was four. They used the N word, and I didn't know what it meant. When my mother heard me reciting it she told me that wasn't a nice word to use and that I should sing "tiger" instead. I subsequently heard the chant used both ways, so there were two versions floating around."

****
SOURCE #6- http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=3&t=889 [This website is no longer available,]
"Eeny meeny miney mo
Catch a tiger by the 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
With a dirty dirty dishrag on your toe.
eny meeny miney mo

Source: USA (south St. Louis, Missouri), circa early 1980's"  

****
SOURCE #7 -  http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=167023 "Does "Eenie Meenie Miney Moe" have racist origins?"
1. astorian, 03-06-2003
"Bizarre twist- in the New York neighborhood where I grew up, kids always said "Catch a NICKEL (???) by the toe."

Now, obviously, "nickel" makes no sense, but none of us thought much about it- after all, MOST childish rhymes didn't make much sense to us.

It was only years later that I figured out "nickel" was simply a sanitized version of the older, more offensive rhyme."

**
2 pkbites, March 2003,
"Originally posted by Jomo Mojo 

When I was a little kid in the early 1960s, I learned it as “catch a tiger by the toe.” I never heard of the racist version until many years later.
[end of quote] 

I grew up in the 60’s too, but it was just the opposite. The first time I heard someone use “tiger” I told them they were saying it wrong. (hey, I was just a kid. what did I know?:smack: )"

**
3. JBDivmstr Guest, Sept. 2013
"I can recall hearing this as a child growing up in Houston, Texas in the mid to late 60’s, and what I first remembered hearing was "catch a n**ger by the toe, if he hollers let him go’.

My SO says that she recalls hearing the exact same wording as a child in the late 40’s, while growing up in Washington state (Pacific Northwest)."
-snip-
This is how this comment is written in that discussion thread.

****
SOURCE #8 - Comment from Azizi Powell
""I remember my sisters and our friends chanting this rhyme for counting out or for choosing who was "it" in games like "Tag" or "Red Green Light"

Eenie meeine miney moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go
Eenie meenie miney mo

We would then add something like 
"My mother told me to choose the very best
And it is not YOU"
[The person pointed to on the word "YOU" is out.

or

Out goes the rat
Out goes the cat
Out goes the lady
with the sea saw hat"
[The person who is pointed to on the word "hat" is out.]

When I moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1969 and subsequently heard the "eenie meenie miney mo" rhyme chanted by other people, that rhyme was always given as "Catch a tiger by a toe".

It wasn’t until I was in my fifties that I learned that “tiger” (or some other word) was a replacement for the “the n word”.
-Azizi Powell (African American), memories of my childhood in the 1950s in Atlantic City, New Jersey and statement about Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 1960s to date (2021)." 

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.