r/AskEurope • u/DoomstalkerUser Switzerland • 1d ago
Language What is your counting-out rhyme?
In German-speaking Switzerland, the one I've heard the most is "Azelle, bölle schele, chatz god uf Walliselle, chond si weder häi, hed si chrommi bäi, piff paff puff ond du bisch ehr- ond redlech doss", which roughly translates to "Counting up, peeling onions, cat goes to Wallisellen, she comes home again, she has crooked legs, piff paff puff and you're out frankly and honestly".
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u/Drumbelgalf 1d ago
I'm German but trying to read the Swiss german rhyme felt like having a stroke.
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u/DoomstalkerUser Switzerland 1d ago
Using German vocabulary, it'd be "Anzählen, Böllen [Zwiebeln] schälen, Katze geht auf Wallisellen, kommt sie wieder heim, hat sie krumme Beine, piff paff puff und du bist ehr- und redlich draussen"
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u/Twilifa Austria 1d ago
To be fair, reading a dialect is a lot harder than listening to it. A lot of the nuances of pronunciation are completely lost like that. I'm fairly good at understanding Swiss German because my childhood dialect is at least from the same dialect group, but reading this was super, extra hard.
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u/VirtualMatter2 Germany 1d ago
Ene mene miste, es rappelt in der Kiste, ene mene meck und du bist weg.
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u/HimikoHime Germany 1d ago
I remember this from my childhood days:
„Ene mene muh und raus bist du.“
Optional Next step:
„Raus bist du noch lange nicht, sag mir erst wie alt du bist?“
This is asking the person who you landed on for their age and this is then counted up to determine who’s really out.
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u/atzedanjo 1d ago
Eine kleine Micky Mouse, zog sich mal die Hose aus, zog sie wieder an, und du bist dran
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u/jiminysrabbithole 1d ago
I also remember "1,2,3,4,5,6,7 wo ist denn der Hund geblieben? Ist er etwa noch im Haus holst du ihn raus!" and as the other one mentioned "eine kleine Mickey Maus.."
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u/BamSteakPeopleCake in 1d ago
When I was a kid in late 90s-early 00s, we would use this one to pick “it” for playing tag. You start by saying “plouf plouf” while tapping in the center and then
“Au bout de trois ce sera toi le chat, mais comme le roi et la reine ne le veulent pas ce ne sera pas toi, un deux trois”
“On the count of three you will be the cat*, but because the king and the queen don’t want it, it won’t be you, one two three”
*Playing tag in French is “playing cat and mouse”: “it” is the cat and the other players are the mice.
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u/Savings_Draw_6561 France 1d ago
There is also “Hole hole A golden ball said it's you who comes out But since the king doesn’t want it, it won’t be you…” Maybe some other versions
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u/tempestelunaire France 22h ago
Et aussi «Am stram gram, pic et pic et colégram, bourre et bourre et ratatam, am stram gram »
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u/carlosdsf Frantuguês 23h ago
When I was a kid (70ies/80ies) the version we used started with "plouf, plouf, un, deux, trois" but was identical to yours otherwise. Île de France.
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u/Aurielsan 1d ago
The original is "Ec-pec, kimehetsz, holnapután bejöhetsz, cérnára, cinegére, ugorj cica az egérre, huss!" translates to "Ec-pec, you can go out, you can come back the day after tomorrow, to the thread, to the tit(bird), cat, jump to the mouse, huss!". This is something that you learn as a kid in nursery or in kindergarten.
There's a more vulgar version of it but I reserve it for requests only.
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u/Captain_Grammaticus Switzerland 1d ago
I have a theory that many counting rhymes start out with a very corrupted way of saying "one-two-(three)" in a Indoeuropean language, or maybe something else too. As if children start out counting but either don't remember the correct words or find them boring. Or they tried counting in a foreign language.
A-zele (Iknoiknow, aazähle is an actual word)
Am-stram-dram
Am-dam-des
Eci-peci (from egy-kettö?)
En-ten-tini
Entten-tennten
And once it is forgotten that they are numbers, they are free to transform even more.
I also think that the underlying metre is often very similar: We see one foot with three accented syllables, then the same repeated, then a variation that is longer and with quicker syllables, and finally the last again.
×(-)×(-)×(-)|×⏑×⏑×|×⏑⏑⏑×⏑⏑⏑|×××
As if the sequence one-two-three, that in European languages are all one or two syllables, defines the overall metrical shape. I can't explain it well in English and I would have to make some diagrams.
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u/agrammatic Cypriot in Germany 1d ago
Username checks out.
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u/carlosdsf Frantuguês 16h ago
So... "Am stram gram" (which is used in french) would come from german "eins zwei drei"?
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u/annesche 15h ago
There is one in German that starts "Ene Mene mu", which fits in with this theory :-)
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u/Captain_Grammaticus Switzerland 15h ago
It really doesn't sound like counting, but yes, the rhythmic pattern is the same as elsewhere.
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u/Straika5 Spain 1d ago
In spain is weird, I don´t know if kids nowadays still using it: "Pito pito, gorgorito, dónde vas tu tan bonito, a la casa de mi abuela, pin, pon, afuera, tú te la salvas y tú te la quedas" / "Whistle, whistle, trill, where are you going so pretty, to my grandma´s house, pin, pon, outside, you are saved and you keep it".
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u/Sopadefideos1 Spain 20h ago
I always heard this slightly diferent version: "Pito pito gorgorito, donde vas tu tan bonito? a la era verdadera, pin pon fuera, tu te vas y tu te quedas".
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u/Straika5 Spain 17h ago
Hahaha, yes, I have heard both too, but I didn´t know how to translate "era verdadera" XD
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u/Sopadefideos1 Spain 16h ago
Era de trilla is "threshing floor" in english and era as in piece of cultivated land would be "patch" so "true thresthing floor" or "true patch"?, sounds weird either way but the words don't make sense in spanish anyway.
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u/platypussy_zx Croatia 1d ago edited 1d ago
First: Eci, peci, pec, ti si mali zec, a ja mala vjeverica, eci, peci, pec.
Second: En, ten, tini, sava, raka, tini, sava, raka, tika, taka, bija, baja, buf, trif, traf, truf.
First: Eci peci pec, you are a little rabbit, and I am a little squirrel, eci peci pec.
Second: No real meaning.
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u/PersKarvaRousku Finland 1d ago
Entten tentten teelikamentten, hissun kissun vaapula vissun, eelin keelin plot, viipula vaapula vot, Eskon saun piun paun, nyt sää lähdet tästä pelistä pois!
Most of the Finnish rhyme is gibberish, but the last sentence means "now you're out of this game".
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u/jukranpuju Finland 11m ago
It's originally German coming from multicultural Viborg, which used to belong to Finland. One of the German versions goes:
Entel tentel,
Zwei Regimentel
Gehn zu Tische,
Fangen Fische,
Zuckerkönig los
I wonder if there are other versions of that rhyme more closely resembling the Finnish one.
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u/gangsterHelloKitty Czechia 1d ago
"Ententýky, dva špalíky, čert vyletěl z elektriky, bez klobouku, bos, natloukl si nos! Boule byla veliká jako celá Afrika. Všichni čerti plakali, hrobeček mu kopali. A ten jeden neplakal, protože se pokakal!"
"Castrated duck, two blocks (our meenie miny or whatever)
A devil flew out of electricity
Without a hat, barefoot
He banged his nose!
The bulge was so big
Like the whole of Africa
All the devils were crying
They dug him a grave
But one didn't cry -
Because he pooped himself"
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u/full_and_tired Czechia 1d ago
Never heard that ending. When I was a kid we used to say this after the Africa part:
Čerti se mu smáli, na kytaru hráli. Čerti se mu nesmáli, na kytaru nehráli.
The devils laughed at him, they played the guitar. The devils didn’t laugh at him, they didn’t play the guitar.
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u/gangsterHelloKitty Czechia 1d ago
I've never heard of this version to be honest lol, this is the version from the internet that I found because I don't remember it much.
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u/trans-guy101 🇨🇿 in 🇬🇧 8h ago
I thought ententýky was just a nonsense word. And boule would probably better translate to bump.
This is definitely one of my favourite czech counting rhyme though. Enyky Benyky Kliky Bé is another fun one
"Enyky benyky kliky bé, Ábr fábr domine, Elce pelce dopekelce - Ven!"
Most of it is nonsense words, but in english roughly goes:
"Enyky benyky, handles, baa, Abr fabr domine, Elce pelce, into hell - Out!"
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u/LunarLeopard67 1d ago
Does ‘counting out rhyme’ refer to the equivalent of ‘eeny meeny miney Moe’?
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u/Vildtoring Sweden 1d ago
In Swedish the most common one is:
Ole dole doff, kinke lane koff, koffe lane binke bane, ole dole doff
And then I know at least two ways you can continue said rhyme, but there could be more:
Ärtan pärtan piff paff puff, du får en härlig knuff
Or
Ärtan pärtan piff, ärtan pärtan puff, simellimaka kuckelikaka, ärtan pärtan puff
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u/horrormoose22 Sweden 1d ago
Kommenterar på What is your counting-out rhyme?...
Äppel päppel
Äppel, päppel, pirum, parum puff Kråkan satt på tallegren Hon sa ett, hon sa tu, ute ska du vara nu!
Pelle Plutt
Pelle Plutt Plutt Plutt Tog ett skutt skutt skutt Flera mil mil mil Som en pil pil pil Över ån ån ån Tappa tån tån tån Klockan fem fem fem Kom han hem hem hem Hem till mej mej mej Ut med dej dej dej
Ole dole doff
Ole dole doff Kinkelade koff Koffelade kinkelade Ole dole doff
Esike desike
Esike desike luntan tuntan Simeli maka kuckeli kaka Ärtan pärtan piff, paff, puff!
Icke Picke Pö
Icke Picke Pö Bodde på en ö Ön börja brinna, alla börja springa Utom Icke Picke Pö För han var redan död
Alla byxor äro dyra
Ett två tre fyra Alla byxor äro dyra Den som inga byxor har Han får gå med rumpan bar
Ene mene
Ene mene ming mang Kling klang Åse dåse Aje vaje väck
Ett två tre
Ett två tre På det fjärde ska det ske På det femte gäller det På det sjätte smäller det!
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u/Eilmorel 1d ago
In Italy we have a few, but by far the most used is:
Ambarabà ciccì coccò, tre civette sul comò, che facevano l'amore con la figlia del dottore, il dottore si ammalò, ambarabà ciccì coccò
Translation:
Ambarabà ciccì coccò (gibberish) three owls on top of the dresser making love with the daughter of the doctor, the doctor got sick, Ambarabà ciccì coccò
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u/8bitmachine Austria 1d ago
Don't know if these are still in use, but in the 80s and 90s the most common one was:
Eine kleine Mickymaus zieht sich ihre Hose aus, zieht sie wieder an und du bist dran – A little Mickey Mouse takes off its pants, puts them on again, and it's your turn
Also used, but far less common:
Eins zwei drei vier fünf sechs sieben, eine alte Frau kocht Rüben, eine alte Frau kocht Speck, und du bist weg – One two three four five six seven, an old woman is cooking turnips, an old woman is cooking bacon, and you're out
Ene mene mu, und raus bist du – Ene mene mu, and you're out
Ich und du, Müllers Kuh, Müllers Esel, der bist du – Me and you, Müller's cow, Müller's donkey, that's you
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u/Serena_Sers Austria 1d ago edited 1d ago
And to "Ene mene mu und raus bist du" there often follows "Raus bist du noch lange nicht, musst erst sagen wie alt du bist" (Basically: "How old are you?") - and then it's a countdown to the person who's really out. In the late 90s and early 00s that was the most used rhyme where I am from.
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u/agrammatic Cypriot in Germany 1d ago
The most universal one in Greek is
Α μπε μπα μπλομ
του κίθε μπλομ
α μπε μπα μπλομ
του κίθε μπλομ
μπλιμ μπλομ.
which is entirely nonsensical.
It's optionally followed by the second round
Όταν θα πας εκεί;
Στη Βόρεια Αμερική
θα βρεις και τον ελέφαντα που παίζει μουσική
μ' ένα κόκκινο βρακί.
which translates to "When you're there, in North America, you'll find the elephant playing music in red panties", which is a different kind of nonsensical.
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u/Latvian-Spider 1d ago
This Latvian was thought "Anna vannā, kaķis pannā, tikmēr spārdās kamēr ārā! Viens, divi, trīs, tu esi brīvs!" Roughly to "Anna in the bath, cat in the pan, kicking until getting out! One, two, three, you're out!" Don't know who made it up, second grade teachers were teaching us that.
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u/HumanFromEstonia 16h ago edited 16h ago
I know quite a few in Estonian 🇪🇪
1)) 💣🐸 Üki, kaki, kommi, nommi, vanamees hüppas üle pommi. Pommis käis üks kõva pauk. Vanamees vaatas - püksis auk. Püksist hüppas välja konn. Küsis: "Kus su kodu on?" Vanamees vastas "Kivi taga." Sina oled mängust vaba.
Translation: One, two, three, four, old man jumped over a bomb. The bomb made a big bang. Old man looked - a hole in his pants. Out of the pants jumped a frog who asked: "Where is your home?" Old man said: "Behind the boulder." You are free from the game.
💣🐭 Alternative version: after the bomb explodes, there's not a frog but mice.
Hiired kõdistasid naba. Sina oled mängust vaba. (Mice tickled his belly button. You are free from the game.)
2) 🕊️🏴 Üks väike valge tuvi lendas üle Inglismaa. Inglismaa oli lukku pandud, luku võti katki murtud. Mitu seppa peavad seda parandama, seda ütled sina, väike tatinina.
One small white dove flew over England. England was locked, key of the lock was broken. How many smiths must mend this, that is what you must say, you little snot nose.
3) 🧓🥷 Vanamees, vanamees, 66, poolteist hammast oli tal suus. Kartis hiirt ja kartis rotti, kartis nurgas jahukotti. Jahukotis istus varas, ütles: "(mängija nimi), paras!"
Old man, old man, 66, he had one and a half teeth in his mouth. He was afraid of mice, afraid of rats, afraid of a bag of flour in the corner. In the bag of flour was a burglar, who said "(name of player), as you deserve!"
4) 🧑✈️🚢 Kapten, kapten kannan ette, teie naine kukkus vette. Pea ees jalad taga, sina oled mängust vaba.
Captain, captain, I report, your wife fell overboard. Head first, feet after, you are free from the game.
Edit: fighting my autocorrect
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u/Intelligent-Site6446 Belgium 1d ago
Dutch doesn't have a rhyme like that in active use anymore from what I can tell. The piff paff puff rang a bell vaguely though. We do have/used to have a children's game where a rhyme using that existed. It goes:
"Alle indiaantjes, Schieten met banaantjes. Pief poef paf, En jij bent af!"
The translation would be "All little Indians shoot with little bananas. Piff paff poof and you are out!" It's weird and uncomfortable enough to my sensibilities that I'm pretty glad it's gone out of use, really. Mostly we just count up to or down from 10 for children's games.
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u/Notspherry 1d ago
They don't do "iene miene mutte" in Belgium?
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u/no-dig-lazy 1d ago
En dit gebruikte we ook als aftelversje; Ik heb een roosje in mijn hand Aan wie zal ik het geven? Al wie dicht bij mij zal staan Zal ik dit roosje geven O, mooie vrouw Geef mij die hand van jou Dit roosje is voor jou, dag mevrouw
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u/Intelligent-Site6446 Belgium 1d ago
Oh wow, completely forgot about that one. Now I have some childhood memories rushing back.
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u/lixxandra 1d ago
A few from my childhood in 90s Romania:
Din Oceanul Pacific
A iesit un peste mic
Si pe coada lui scria
Iesi afara dum-nea-ta
From the Pacific Ocean
Came out a small fish
And on his tail it said
Y-o-u are out.
=========
Una mia suta lei
Ia te rog pe cine vrei
Din grădina cu purcei
A lui moș Andrei
Dacă n-ai pe cine
Ia-mă chiar pe mine.
One thousand hundred lei
Please take whoever you want
From old man Andrei's
Garden with pigs.
If you can't get anyone
Pick me.
=========
An-tan-te
Diza mane pe
Dize mane companie
An-tan-te
(this doesn't mean anything)
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u/Cuzeex Finland 1d ago
Entten tentten teelikamentten, hissun kissun vaapulavissun, eelin keelin klot, viipula vaapula vot. Eskon saun piun paun nyt sä lähdet tästä pelistä pois, puh pah pelistä pois
Which is totally nonsense gibberish until "nyt sä lähdet tästä pelistä pois, puh pah pelistä pois" which translates to "now you are out of this game, puff paff, out of the game"
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u/caffcatt Finland 18h ago
"Entten tentten teelikamentten, hissun kissun vaapula vissun, eelin keelin klot, viipula vaapula vot, eskon saun pium paum, nyt sä lähdet tästä pelistä pois, puh pah pelistä pois" most of the words don't mean anything and there’s a bunch of slightly different versions of this.
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u/CornelVito 1d ago
In Kindergarten we always did "Eine kleine Mickey Maus zieht sich ihre Hose aus, zieht sie wieder an und du bist dran." ("A little mickey mouse took off its pants, put them back on and it's your turn")
Alternatively there is "Eene meene muh und raus bist du / raus bist du noch lange nicht, musst erst sagen wie alt du bist [Person says their age and you count through]" (Eene meene muh and you are out / you are not out yet, first you tell how old you are)
The part I marked with / can be the end of the rhyme but doesn't have to be. People often used that one because they could either stop after the first time if it landed on the result they liked, or continue to get a different result.
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u/pannenkoek0923 Denmark 1d ago
See I had German in school, and whenever I visit Germany I can get by with only German. Danish is also close enough. But what the fuck is Swiss German? Are you typing in dialect?
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u/DoomstalkerUser Switzerland 1d ago
Swiss German is usually considered to be the family of dialects of the Alemannic language -- a language closely related to German -- spoken in Switzerland; so yes, I was typing «in dialect» but not in a dialect of German, rather of Alemannic. Naturally, you won't be able to understand a lot with only having learned German; in another comment, I tried to translate it to German as literally as possible.
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u/Fredericia Denmark 16h ago
Swiss German is really a thing - Schweizerdeutsch. I had two work colleagues who spoke it when they didn't want to speak Danish to each other.
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u/carlosdsf Frantuguês 23h ago edited 23h ago
un, deux, trois, nous irons au bois
quatre, cinq, six, cueillir des cerises
sept, huit, neuf, dans un panier neuf
dix, onze, douze, elles seront toutes rouges !
.
(1, 2, 3, we'll go to the woods,
4, 5, 6, to gather cherries
7, 8, 9, in a new basket
10, 11, 12, they will be all red!)
.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un,_deux,_trois,_nous_irons_au_bois
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u/pynsselekrok Finland 20h ago
Ukset sukset lammet loo Ukko putos avantoo Akka veti sen sieltä pois
Doors, skis, ponds, loo (a nonsense filler word) An old man fell into a hole in the ice An old woman dragged him out of there
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u/LittBoloMestNese Norway 20h ago
Norway🇳🇴
We have the following: Elle melle, Deg fortelle. Skipet går, Ut i år. Rygg i rann, To i spann. Snipp, snapp, snute, Du er ute, På ei lita silkepute.
Its about trolls who go to sea and fish, after the harvest turned bad.
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u/ClassroomMore5437 Hungary 18h ago
Ecc-pecc, kimehetsz, holnapután bejöhetsz, cérnára, cinegére, ugorj cica az egérre, huss!
(Ecc-pecc, you can go out, you can come in the day after tomorrow, on thread, on tit, jump on the mouse, kitty, shoo!)
Tit - the bird guys, the BIRD!
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u/lilputsy Slovenia 1d ago
An ban pet podgan, štiri miši, v uh me piši, vija vaja ven! (an ban, five rats, four mice, poke me(?) in ear, vija vaja out!)
En kovač konja kuje, kol'ko žebljev potrebuje? En, dva, tri, pa povej število ti! One Blacksmith is forging a horse, how many nails does he need? One, two, three, you tell the number.)
Gospod in gospa po cesti sta šla. Gospod je zavriskal, se v hlače podriskal, gospa je jokala, ker hlače je prala, gospod je pa klel, ker hlač ni imel. (Sir and madam were walking down the street. Sir screamed, shat his pants, madam cried because she was washing the pants, mister swore because he had no pants.)
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u/cyborgbeetle Portugal 1d ago
Um dó li tá,
Cara de tamandoá
Um soneto coroneto
Quem está livre, livre estará
Um dó litá!
Farinha, cadela, fora!
(As much as I understand it, it's mostly gibberish)
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u/Stoltlallare 23h ago
Ole dole doff kinke lane koff koffe lane binke bane Ole dole doff - then it change a bit
Ärtan pärta piff paff puff
Or like
Ärtan pärtan piff ärtan pärta puff
Then again can change my teacher as a kid would always add:
Singelimaka kuckelikaka ärtan pärtan piff paff puff.
Or
This one which idk no one used as a kid but teachers would teach us:
Äppel, päppel, pirom parum Kråkan satt på tallegren Hon sa ett, hon sa tu, ute ska du vara nu!
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u/cannarchista 11h ago
There's a traditional sheep counting sequence they use in various parts of the UK that they believe is influenced by Brythonic Celtic languages. It has a bunch of variations, the version from Swaledale in Yorkshire:
Yan, Tan, Tether, Mether, Pip, Azer, Sezer, Acker, Conter, Dick, Yanadix, Tanadix, Tetherdix, Metherdix, Bumfit, Yanabum, Tanabum, Tetherbum, Metherbum, Jigget
•
u/Reinardd Netherlands 5h ago
Dutch is:
Iene miene mutte Tien pond grutten Tien pond kaas Iene miene mutte is de baas!
There are also lots of different versions which add extra rhymes on to the end.
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u/Sir_flaps Netherlands 1d ago edited 1d ago
Not entirely what you’re asking, but 10 kleine teringtubbies comes to mind.
E: found a translation of the lyrics https://sonichits.com/video/One_Two_Trio/10_Kleine_Teringtubbies
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u/Ennas_ Netherlands 1d ago
I have never heard of this one. 😳
I think iene miene mutte is much more common/traditional.
Iene miene mutte, tien pond grutten, tien pond kaas, iene muene mutte is de baas.
(iene miene mutte, ten pounds of grits (some kind of cereal, used for porridge), ten pounds of cheese, iene miene mutte is the boss)
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u/Notspherry 1d ago
You can extend it with "a ef af", "maar jij mag de baas niet zijn, want je bent nog veel te klein, a ef af"
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u/HanzTermiplator Netherlands 1d ago
We always say, "klim naar boven in die mast en hou die kleine dikzak vast." Instead of a ef af. Never heard of that one
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u/caffeinated-chaos 1d ago
Extension when I was young (80s): maar de baas die was niet thuis, hij lag in het ziekenhuis, met zijn rode petje, lag hij in zijn bedje. Iet wiet wait is eerlijk weg.
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u/holocenetangerine Ireland 23h ago
We had "eeny meeny miny mo", which has some slurs, so I'm not sure if it's used anymore.
But we also had "if my mother and your mother were hanging out the clothes, and my mother gave your mother a box on the nose, what colour would the blood be?", with one person per word or per syllable, the person landed on names a colour and the counter continues spelling it out, with one person in the group per letter, the last person is actually "it"
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u/zeviea United Kingdom 14h ago
which has some slurs
I can't believe I didn't know that. On the one hand it's depressing that existed, but I'm glad it's so unacceptable that I never heard it growing up.
I know it as "eeny meeny miney mo, catch a piggie by its toe, if it squeals let it go, eeny meeny miney mo"
That was the most common for me growing up, followed by:
Ip dip doo, doggy done a poo, who stepped in it, it was you
Also:
One potato, two potato, three potato, four
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more
And finally:
One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because he bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on my right
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u/fidelises Iceland 1d ago
The Icelandic rhyme is "Úllen dúllen doff, kikke lane koff, koffe lane bikke bane, úllen dúllen doff". It has no meaning and is absolute nonsense. Apparently, it's Nordic in origin.