h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When I was a kid, we used these two a lot:

"Rich man, poor man, beggarman, thief,
doctor, lawyer, Indain chief."

"Bubblegum, bubblegum, tastes so sweet,
how many pieces can you eat?"
(The last person would pick and number, and you'd count around the circle until you got to that number. When we got older we stopped using this one because everyone would count out ahead of time who it would land on and it lost the element of randomness.)

Here's another rhyme we used to use.

"A bottle of ink fell down the sink.
What colour was it?"
A colour.
" spells (COLOUR)
And you are not it.

Repeat til one is left in.

Racing car, number nine,
Losing petrol all the time.
How many gallons did he lose?
[pick a number, count round, lets say 4]
1,2,3,4
You are not it.

Ibble bobble black bobble
Ibble obble out.
Turn a dirty dishcloth inside out
One if it's dirty, twice if it's clean,
Ibble bobble black bobble
You are out.

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I love it!

Ditto

We used a lot of rhymes that I've seen here, but all ours ended with "O.U.T spells OUT", rather than "And you are not it".

Anyway, there was one we used to do that I haven't seen yet which involves people in the circle saying things. If Zaphod was counting, and in the circle were Arthur, Ford and the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, it would go a little something like this (excuse me going all country & western on you there):

Z: There's a party on the hill, can you come?
A: Yes.
Z: Bring your own bread and butter and a bun.
RBBOT: Can't afford it.
Z: Who is your best friend?
F: Arthur.
Z: Arthur will be there, with his knickers in the air.
O.U.T spells OUT.

It's a bit of an odd one, because the input from the others in the circle doesn't affect the outcome, but it does break it up enough to make it difficult for the counter to count ahead & work out where to start to ensure getting/not being out.

G (sorry it has taken so long to get round to this) in yer above rhyme, do the people chosen at the end of the line then give the next part of the rhyme ? Or is there some other method of deciding who says the next line? (I have put your ip dip dip variation in, is it ok?)
BCNU - Crescent

Hi Crescent,

The Ip dip dip one is exactly right.

In the 'Party' rhyme, the person who's pointed to at the end of a line gives the response, and then the counter does the next part of the actual rhyme. Have I answered the right question? Come to think of it, it must have been possible for the counter to point to himself and have to give his own response.

And I should point out that in the above, I haven't used 'he' as a sexist, generic term; since I was a small boy at the time, I wouldn't have even considered playing with girls. Funny how things change...

Added your party rhyme, is it ok?
BCNU - Crescent

Yes, super.

Cheers,

G

Well you seem to have taken most of the ones I know already. However, you missed one-

" horses in the stable, and you are not it." Repeat until only one is left.

Not much, but I think it's worth mentioning.

Slight variation on Ip dip...

Ip dip sky blue
who's it not you