Category Archives: Game

Car Game – Hinsdale, Illinois

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hinsdale, Il
Performance Date: April 25, 2008
Primary Language: English

Car Game- Hinsdale, Illinois

If you are in a car, and see a car with one or both headlights out, you hit the roof of the car and yell “pa-diddle!” The last person to complete this action must remove an article of clothing.

Alex learned this game from his friends while in high school in Hinsdale, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. He said he usually played the game with friends to pass to the time or, he said half jokingly, “to see a naked girl.” However, he said one of his friends learned it from his mom. Interestingly, she played with different rules. Instead of having the last person to hit the roof remove an article of clothing, the first person to hit the roof got to kiss anyone they wanted in the car. She also included taillights in her version of the game, with the same rules as headlights, except you would say “pa-dunkle” for a taillight that is out instead of “pa-diddle” for a broken headlight.

Alex doesn’t know how the game evolved to the last person taking off an article of clothing, but he figures that his friends made that rule up. This makes sense, as many times it would be awkward to kiss someone randomly. When his friend’s mom was growing up, it was a little more socially acceptable to be outlandish and kiss random people, but that is not the case in today’s society.

This game is played when there is a mix of boys and girls in the car. It is not fun to play this game when the car is full of guys, as he, nor any of his friends, want to see another guy naked. However, Alex said that rarely has the game gotten as far as somebody being entirely naked.

This game is suited for teenagers as it is an immature game and adults would prefer something more sophisticated. Moreover, many adults who ride in a car together are married and it would be unruly to have a man’s wife remove her clothes in a car.

Another variation of this game can be found in On a Revolution: My Estrus Escapades in the Sexual ’70s by Lauryne Wright (iUniverse, Published 2006, page 53).

Hand Game – New Jersey

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Livingston, New Jersey
Performance Date: April 16, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

East Coast Folklore – Children’s Hand Game

Miss Mary Mack

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black.

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

All down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother

For fifty cents, cents, cents

To see the elephants, elephants, elephants

Jump over the fence, fence, fence.

They jumped so high, high, high

They reached the sky, sky, sky

And they didn’t come back, back, back

‘Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!

Alicia learned this rhyme when she was in elementary school from her group of friends at school when they were playing during lunchtime. Following the melody shown above, she and her friends had matching hand motions to each line of the song. They would repeat the motions for every single line, and the melody would repeat for every line as well. She stated that this rhyme was the most popular one in New Jersey, and that all of her friends knew it. She was quite surprised when I told her that I had never heard of it. Thus, she called it “an east coast thing.” When asked what she thought it meant, she said that she always pictured the rhyme to be describing a circus. She believes that it is interesting to see young kids play such games because it is completely different from what adults would do. She states that elementary school was a time of no worries and blatant joy, and she misses it.

I believe this rhyme clearly illustrates the frivolous minds of children. I also had rhymes like this when I was younger, but I have never heard of this particular one. I agree with Alicia when she says that there were pretty much no worries in elementary school. Children would make up games such as the one above, or hear it somewhere and sing it everywhere. Because children in elementary school are barely learning a language, it is common to find rhymes that make no literal sense, but have words that rhyme quite nicely with each other. Children are a goldmine for folklore for this reason. This children’s tapping rhyme also appears in The Book of Tapping and Clapping by John M. Feirabend.[1] The fact that there’s variation further constitutes this as folklore.

[1] Annotation: Feierabend, John M., comp. The Book of Tapping and Clapping. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2000. 35.

Children’s Game – Rhode Island

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 9, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

Children’s Game – Rhode Island

“First you gotta get an apple. Then, you like (pause) twist the stem until it breaks off from the apple. Every time you twist the stem, you say a letter of the alphabet. The letter in which the stem breaks off is the first letter of your future spouse’s name. After that, you like (pause) stab the apple with the stem until the stem breaks the skin of the apple. Just like before, each time you stab the apple, you state a letter of the alphabet. The letter in which the skin breaks is the last initial of your future spouse.”

This interview with Catherine was conducted while we were waiting for an annual a appella concert called “SOLtrain” to begin. This concert was hosted by Cal State Northridge’s a cappella group called Aca Sola. She said that she had not played this game in a very long time, so there were quite a few pauses in her description of the game. In addition, the environment we were in was very loud and she was practically screaming while she was telling me about this game. She said that she used to play this game with her friends when she was in middle school in the lunchroom. Most people in her school knew about it. She said that it might be a “Rhode Island or New England thing.” She said it was more of a superstitious game her friends would play every time they were eating apples for lunch. She feels that it was cute back then, but she feels stupid looking back at her times in middle school. Whenever her group of friends would get the initials of someone they actually knew, they would have a great time of laughter and fun. It was a way for her circle of friends to get closer to each other and share in times of jubilance.

It was fascinating for me to hear about this game because I grew up with a similar version. Rather than twisting the stem of an apple, my friends and I would flip back and forth the ring-pull tab of a soda can. Each flip would be equivalent to the first initial of the person you had a crush on. This difference between using a soda can and an apple is particularly interesting because I am from the west coast, while she is from the east coast. Most of my friends from the west coast had also heard about this game using a soda can. The fact that we both played this game during elementary school illustrates that children enjoyed joking around about relationships between men and women.

Children’s Game – Marietta, California

Nationality: African-American, Japanese
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

Marietta – Children’s Game

Version 1:

Eeenie meany missalini

Otchi Katchi Liberachi

I love you

Version 2:

Eeenie meany missalini

Otchi Katchi Liberachi

I hate you

Lauren would play this game with her friends or cousins whenever she was bored. Being half black, half Japanese, and living in Marietta, California her entire life, Lauren spent her entire life hanging out with a variety of friends. She stated that, in every circle of friends she has had during elementary and middle school, they would play this hand game. She said that she noticed that the lyrics or the motions would slightly change from one group to another. Version 1 would be used among people she was not as close to, but were still friends with. Version 2 could be used among her closest peers. When asked about the meaning of this hand game and rhyme, she stated that there was supposed to be no literal meaning behind this game. However, it was just a means of passing time and having fun with your girlfriends.

I believe it is interesting to see that children take such words as love and hate so lightly, which reflect the innocence of their youth. Also, the fact that these random words are clustered together in a way that is pleasing to the ear reflects children’s desire to learn about language. Their frivolous minds just seem to find joy out of repeating words that end in the same vowel. Also, many adults teach their children clapping games such as the one mentioned above because it allows for child and adult communication through play in addition to words.

Holiday Game/Tradition

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 21
Residence: New York, NY
Performance Date: March 10, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Holiday Tradition/Game

“Every year, for Christmas, our family plays the game “White Elephant.”  We have a lot of family and extended family come to visit for the holidays, so its fun to put some games together that everyone can participate in and be amused by.  In “White Elephant,” each player/individual involved brings something, or a couple things, from home that they don’t want anymore.  They wrap it in Christmas paper, and everyone sets these gifts in a pile near the tree.  On Christmas, starting with the youngest present, each person takes turns going up to the pile and picking a gift; the gifts can be as random as an old sweater or a gardening pot, but the concept of the game is based on the old proverb “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.””

This is a game that my family has played for years.  As my sister stated, we usually have a ton of guests over for Christmas: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, significant others, etc.  Though many groups still exchange sentimental Christmas gifts, we wanted to start using a game that would result in everybody participating and everybody receiving a gift.

The game is traditionally played Christmas afternoon after the unwrapping of the normal gifts and right before dinner.  This is also a point in the day at which many family members had consumed a beer or two and are ready for a few good laughs.  The people who participate general provide very humorous or unique gifts; some past gifts have been: a flask, a fur coat, wind chimes, old board games, etc.  This provides for a lot of entertainment, and many of the gifts relate to jokes within the family.

Little children do not generally participate in “White Elephant” for these reasons.  The gifts provided by the older family members are typically supposed to be used by older teens and adults, and wouldn’t be understood by small children.  Also, the adults most likely wouldn’t appreciate receiving a Barbie toy that was put into the pile by a 5-year-old.

The concept of “White Elephant” seems to be greatly influenced by the old proverb “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  In this game, something that seems old and useless to one player/family member can serve two functions:  provide another person with something they might actually use, and provide the family with entertainment if the piece happens to inspire memories or jokes.

This game, among others, seems to be popular not only in my family, but in other families, as well.  After discussing the game with various friends, I found that many of them participate in the same game, or at least one very similar with only slightly different rules.  (These rules vary in terms of small details, such as order of picking gifts and what kinds of gifts can be given.)  “White Elephant” also supports the Christmas spirit because it encourages the acts of giving and receiving gifts on this day, and being grateful for what members of a family have to give to each other.  Though it is only one among many Christmas traditions, it still proves to be a consistently popular game among families who celebrate this holiday.