01-25-2010, 05:32 PM | #1 | ||
Demiurge
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,365
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Children's rhymes and games
My dad does this game with the kids. He is sitting on the couch, and the kid is standing in front of him, holding hands with arms outstretched. He places his feet over the kid's feet, to hold them down. Then he rocks the kid back and forth singing this:
Wash the lady's dishes Hang them on the bushes When the bushes begin to crack Hang them on the monkey's back When the monkey begins to run Shoot him with a rubber gun, Shoot him with a rubber gun! At the beginning of "shoot him", instead of rocking back and forth, it is more of a shaking action with the arms. The kids love it. Since my kids like it, I do it with them also. I believe this is something that my father's parents did with him. And I'm pretty sure my dad did this with me when I was little. And it probably goes back generations prior to my father. However, I always though the whole rhyme didn't make a lot of sense. Why hang dishes on a monkey's back? I wondered if monkey was a replacement for something else. This if from a book published in 1896: Quote:
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Anyway, I think it is interesting. |
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01-27-2010, 06:46 PM | #2 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: DC
Posts: 995
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01-27-2010, 07:01 PM | #3 | |
Demiurge
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 36,365
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Yes, when I was a young child, this was a common refrain among the kids when choosing things or choosing teams.
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02-01-2010, 06:20 PM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: DC
Posts: 995
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I've never looked into it. I just remember my grandmother telling me what it used to be. She probably didn't see the reason for the change.
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02-22-2010, 05:26 PM | #5 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 3
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Like that post you did.
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