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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Olly Olly Oxen Free



Oh My! I have not been playing alphabe Thursday lately! I don't want to dig up the muck and share so I will try to be nice and share some fun with you! Oh, the bad things happen at work! Yuck! Enough said! My oldest daughter always says "Shut the f..........ront door!" I love it, I will!
Do you remember Olly Olly Oxen Free? As a kid we played so hard and had so much fun ! We were not overweight or inactive. We were simply kids and we played hard! I know times have changed and kids can't be as foot loose and fancy free as we were! But they can still play these fun games! I will give you a bit of history on "olly olly oxen free" and then you can go share with Jenny! She is the outtasight teacher we have at Alphabe Thursday! She is such a devoted blogger and I love knowing her! She can always make you smile and she shares the best things with us!
Olly olly oxen free is a catchphrase! It is used in children's games like hide and seek and when it is called out players who are hiding can come forward and not lose the game! It is thought to derive from the phrase "All ye all ye outs in free". In other words all who are "out" may come in without penalty.  However this may not be the etymology at all--olly olly oxen free is suspisously close to the German phrase of "Alle alle auch  sind frei.  Its meaning is everyone everyone is free.Various calls used for such purposes go by the collective name  of ollyoxalls in some places.
The phrase can also be used to coordinate hidden players in the game kick the can. In this game a group of people hide within a given radius and a "seeker" is left to guard the can filled with rocks. The seeker has to try to find the hiders  without allowing them to sneak in and kick the can. In many areas the phrase used is "All_y  All_y in come free. This is a way to tell the remainder of the players that it is time to regroup.in order to restart the game. The phrase is annouced by a player who successfully sneaks in and kicks the can!

20 comments:

  1. Whatever the meaning, this activity sounds like fun.

    Thank you for the lovely comment over at my blog.
    I'm quite a newbie here at Alphabe-Thursday...this is only my third entry.

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  2. Oh I remember it and also "Red light, green light" and of course, in summer Marco Polo in the pool! It used to drive my mom crazy! lol

    Hope you're having a good summer!!

    XO
    Cindy

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  3. Oh yes, we played like that and called out Olly Olly Oxen Free! We played until dark, ran, jumped and skipped and swam.

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  4. I remember that! I was never sure what the words were really - just used to say something that sounded similar! Thanks for clearing it up!

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  5. I have never heard of this phrase - well maybe because I'm worlds away (Malaysia). It's nice knowing the history of it. Thanks!

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  6. What a fun blast from the past. I didn't play many of those games. My childhood was dodge-ball and mother may I.

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  7. That's a great game that I haven't thought of in awhile. Thanks for the memories.

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  8. Those old games were so much fun. Kids today have never even heard those words.

    Kinda sad.

    =)

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  9. I remember playing "Kick the Can". Such fun on a summer evening!

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  10. All the times I played that game as a child I never even thought about what we were saying! Thanks for the background! Ann

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  11. I do remember it! I was at the reservoir with my grandson last weekend and the kids were playing Marco Polo. I felt like I was 10 again! (Well except for the creaky knees and bad back)...

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  12. I can't remember if we played this or not. It sounds like fun!

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  13. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I think we may have played a slightly different version, but it was fun nonetheless!

    Great post!

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  14. I loved that game as a kid...and we played Rover, Red Rover...and we played a game where we were fruits and vegetables in a team leaders cellar and each team leader kept calling for fruits or vegetables until they were all in one cellar. Imagine calling anyone a fruit or vegetable today-NOT politically correct at all! Ah.yes...the good old days! xo Diana

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  15. Everyone brought back so many wonderful memories! We played 'em all, dodge ball, hide and seek, red rover, red light green light, tetherball, jump rope, walking the sidewalk we'd say "Step on a crack and you'll break your mother's back!" I love NanDiana's fruit and veggie game! LOL! Thanks for sharing. Anne

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  16. I played so many street games as a child, Anne. We would be out from early morning till dinner time in the summer. Sometimes a friend's mom would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone and we'd sit on the stoop (what Brooklynites call the front porch) and eat them. Once a mom gave us all a quart of ice cream to share! Such fun memories.

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  17. I remember that game so fondly...and freeze tag...

    Oh what sweet memories.

    You don't just have to share sweet stuff, Miss Anne. You can share your worries, too!

    Thanks for an outstanding post this week.

    A+

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  18. Just remembering the times spent playing as a young kid makes me want to go back to those simpler times...

    Thanks.. I never knew what Olly Olly Oxen Free meant (or might of meant) but do remember hearing it.

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