From: Subject: Re: Eeny meeny miney mo Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 01:31:40 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C551DB.5A29BE60"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4807.1700 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C551DB.5A29BE60 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/18/messages/777.html Re: Eeny meeny miney mo
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Re: Eeny meeny miney mo

Posted by ESC on February 04, 2003

In Reply to: Ee= ny=20 meeny miney mo posted by Kai Lung on February 04, 2003

: My father, who is something of a classical scholar, = taught me=20 that the verse was originally medieval and Scottish. The = verse is=20 supposedly a kind of exorcism that has been garbled in = translation,=20 like "Hoc est corpus meum" became "hocus pocus".
: His=20 explanation seems much more rational than any that I have = seen on=20 this forum or elsewhere, but I am having trouble finding=20 etymological references for it and would be grateful for any = assistance.

: The racial term that seems to be present predated = slavery and=20 originally meant the "black one" or the Devil.=20

: Here's the explanation he gave me:

: First line
: ----------
: "Eeny meeny miney = mo"
:=20 Inimicus animo is Latin for "enemy of the spirit".

: Second line
: -----------
: "Catch the nigger by = the=20 toe"
: Use of "the" this reinforces the concept that this = refers=20 to the Devil. It is further reinforced in that many variants = use the=20 term devil.

: Third line
: ----------
: "If he hollers let him = go"
:=20 This is the key line. If you catch or pinch a human toe, = they will=20 feel it and protest, but the Devil has a cloven hoof and = therefore=20 has no sensation in the toe. If the person tested cries out = in pain=20 it suggests that they are not the Devil and you should = release them.

: As a racial slur the line is meaningless which helps to = make=20 the case that the origin is earlier and was not pejorative = (except=20 to the Devil, perhaps).

There's some discussion in the archives under "eeny." = Here is all=20 I know:

EENA, MEENA, MINA, MO or eeny, meeny, miny, mo - ".It is, = of=20 course, part of a counting-out expression used in children's = games=20 to determine who will be 'it' among a group of players. The = full=20 rhyme, probably dating back to the 19th century, was = originally the=20 insensitive (at best): 'Eena, meena, mina, mo,/Catch a = nigger by the=20 toe,/If he hollers, let him go,/Eena meena, mina, mo.' = Sometimes the=20 fourth line is "My mother says I should pick this here one,' = and=20 happily, the second line is much more frequently today = 'Catch a=20 tiger by the toe.' The rhyme is said, of course, with the = counter=20 pointing at each player in rotation with each word, the = player who=20 is last pointed at being 'it.' One tradition has it that=20 counting-out rhymes are relics of formulas Druid priests = used to=20 choose human sacrifices." From "Encyclopedia of Word and = Phrase=20 Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, = 1997).=20



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