What version of eeny-meeny did you learn?

I learned the middle version.
_Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go._

I also learned the same ending as you, never heard your husband’s version.

And I learned all that before I knew of the “n” word version. The “n” word version was what was used when I returned to California and lived in a housing development of all new houses with people from all over.

We didn’t use the word tiger let us just say we were not very politically correct at 12 but other than that it went like this:

Eeny meeny miny mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go
Eeny meeny miny mo.
My mother told me
To pick the very best one
And you are not it.

Although, the “If he hollers make him pay $50 dollars every day” was not unusual.

It bit bird shit
You are not it

Unfortunately, it was the very un p c version of the rhyme that jumps from my memory, and that is because of the reaction from my parents on my requesting a definition of the N word.

Eeny meeny miny mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go
Eeny meeny miny mo

My mother said
To get things done (wait, that’s not right)

O-U-T spells out and you are not it.

Took me a while to remember what we used for the last bit.

I think we used the dreadful version but I am pretty sure I had no idea what “it” meant. I was really little at the time.

The proper Quentin Tarantino version.

Eenie meenie miney mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go
Out goes Y-O-U
My mom told me to pick the very best one
And it is you.
The [sea, sky, etc.] is blue.

Me and you
miller’s cow
miller’s donkey, that is you.
That is not what you are,
first tell me how old you are.
1,2,3,4,5.
5 is not a word
and you are out.

None of them. I understood at an early age that a rhyme with a fixed number of words was practically useless for randomly picking someone or something, since the process was determined by the initial selection.

The “N” version.
Eenie meenie miney mo
Catch a “n…..” by the toe
If he hollers let him pay
$50 every day
My mother told me to choose this very last one.

It’s weird how slowly this is coming back… there was more to the one I posted:

O-U-T spells out
and you are not it
in this game of tag
because the Queen and King said SO.

Although… I think we said “Queen and King says so”.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers, let him go.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

My mother told me
To pick the very best one,
And you are [not] it.

(In my experience, the last line was often altered to manipulate the result. Sometimes the “not” would be omitted; other times it would be expanded to “not going to be.” This was especially hilarious when the kids who couldn’t count very well would get a result they didn’t like and then try to make up extra words to fix their mistake.)

My experience was similar to @SavoirFaire,‘s we figured out pretty quickly how to tell which one it would end on, so we’d change the wording to manipulate the result.

We always said the one @SavoirFaire posted. I’ve never heard it said any other way.

I learnt “eeny meeny miny mo, catch a tiger by the toe, if it hollers let it go,, eeny meeny miny mo!” Haven’t heard of any of the other ones. My friends also do, “Theres a party on the hill would you like to come, (yes) Then bring a bottle of chinese rum, (can’t afford it) Then pack your bags and get lost.” We also do… “Mickey mouse in his house pulling up his undies, quick mum slap his bum what colour were they? (person says colour, e.g red) R-E-D” Then that person is it or whatever.

…told me to pick the very best one & o-u-t spells out goes…. YOU!

Eeny meeny miny moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe,
If he hollers, let him go,
Eeny meeny miny moe.

This reminds me to teach this to my daughter. There were so many little rhymes and sayings that we used to say when I was little, that I don’t hear any more. I don’t know if kids nowadays say these things, or at least, not as much.

Same as @rojo.

Eeny meeny miny mo.
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go
Eeny meeny miny mo.
My mother told me
To pick the very best one
And you are not it.

Eenie meenie miney mo
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go
Out goes Y-O-U

We stopped right there and would greatly slow down the rhyme, for dramatic effect, when we got to the last line.

Right @jca like:

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick
Jack sit down
You’re making me sick

Jack wasn’t nimble
Jack wasn’t quick
Jumped over the flame
and burned his….............trousers.

@rojo: For me it was Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick
Jack jump over the candlestick.

@cookieman That’s the version I learned, and I know you’re from a similar area than me. Interesting.

Every one makes a fist and holds it out, thumb side up.
The leader pops fists all around with her fist as she says each word:

Eenie meenie miney mo
Catch a nigger by the toe
If he hollers make him pay
Fifty dollars every day.
Y O U spells YOU!

And whose ever fist got popped on “YOU” was It, or whatever.

At some point, I’m thinking it was 1965 or so, it changed from “nigger” to “tiger.” I didn’t even know why, I don’t remember if anyone explained how awful it was, it just changed.

Looking over the other responses, sometimes instead of “Y O U spells YOU!” the leader would say, “My mother says you are IT!” Or “Not it.” Or the leader would keep making up words until he or she got to the person he or she wanted to be it!

@dxs: Could definitely be regional differences.

The version I learned was the “n…..” version. Back then, I had no idea what it meant. And we also had “squeals” instead of “hollers”, because nobody says holler in England.

The version I learned in 1960s New Zealand was an abridged version it would seem:

“eeny meeny mynee mo
catch a n… by the toe
if he squeals let him go
eeny meeny mynee mo”

I don’t believe I even knew what n… meant, it was simply a word.

Why is everyone saying “n….”?

@Dutchess_III I think it replaces the word “nigger” with something less vulgar.

@dxs Shouldn’t you have said ”...it replaces the n word?”

@Dutchess_III I don’t think so, because then I would’ve used a replacement for a replacement of a word, which doesn’t directly express the thought I am trying to convey: that I think they are using “n…” in place of that specific word.

It probably has something to do with the fact that the n-word isn’t allowed on Fluther except in a few circumstances.

I think of it as more from a greater context: that it’s not really allowed in society, in general. Not that people don’t say it (certain people), but it’s generally not accepted.

OK, I was being silly before, but seriously now—how is saying “n…..” any less offensive than saying the actual word? I can understand if it was directed specifically toward some one as flame bait and meant to insult, but in this general context I just don’t see the difference.

@Dutchess_III That question has been asked time and again on Fluther; if you’re curious, you could just search them up and read.

I’ll do that. I’ve never seen a discussion on the word.

@DUtchess I think it’s kinda cool actually, who wants to hear that ugly word repeated 50 times. :D