"This is the version of 'Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe' that I sang as a child growing up on L.I. in New York." -Lisa

It's also recited by some people the same way in England.

Notes

When you chant this rhyme as a choosing game, you break it down by word. It's said like this below. On each line you point to a different kid:

Eenie,
meenie
miney,
moe,
catch a
tiger
by the
toe.
If he
hollers,
Let him
go.
My
mother
said
to
pick
the
very
best
one
and
you
are
noooot (not)
it.

*****

According to "The Name of the Number" (2007) by Michael A. B. Deakin, "eeny miney" seems to derive from the numbers 1 and 2 in the old Yarmouth dialect in England.

*****

Bretta Gerhard wrote: "I was looking through your U.S. songs and I noticed some differences between the ones you have and the ones I know."

Here's one of the songs Bretta sent...

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe

Eenie, meenie, miney, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers, make him pay.
50 dollars every day
My mother told me
to pick the very best one
And you are not it.
You dirty, dirty, dish rag, you.

Comments

Both Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe and Eenie Meenie Sicileeny are methods children use to choose one from a group (for instance, who goes first in a game). Children sing each word and point to each kid in turn, until they get to the end of the song. Whoever is being pointed at on the last word is either chosen or eliminated, depending upon the version or how the children choose to play.

-Mama Lisa

Note: Some people won't use this rhyme because the original version had a racial epitaph.

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MP3 Recordings by Mama Lisa.

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Thanks and Acknowledgements

Thanks to Bretta Gerhard for the alternate version of Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe.

Artwork by Gracie Gralike.