I heard a phrase on the radio today that made me aware of what I believe is another difference in American and British phrasing.  A British woman used the expression, "Ready, steady, go!" and I thought, How odd that the phrase should be different here in the US!

-Tim

Very astute listening, Tim. Yes, it’s one of the hidden differences between our common languages. Another one, on a similar note, is what children shout when they’re playing hide-and-seek. In the US, it’s "Olly-olly-oxen-free", while in the UK it’s "Ready or not, here I come". Also, in my schoolyard, we played "You’re it", while you were probably playing the same game but calling it "Tag".

I won’t even go into the difference between Jelly and Jello. My wife still turns green at the though of me fixing "toad in the hole" for dinner.

Other oddities from my childhood include the "bunfight" (subject of some other thread here, I think) and the "beanfeast".  

It was a whole nuther time and a whole nuther continent.  ;D

- PW

PS. Returning to topic, I should mention the 60s TV pop music show "Ready, steady, go" with the DJ David Jacobs (the Brit equivalent of Dick Clark). Back in about 1962, it was "must-see" television for my generation of spotty teenagers.

[quote author=Palewriter link=board=idiom;num=1051667367;start=0#1 date=04/29/03 at 22:39:40]In the US, it’s "Olly-olly-oxen-free", while in the UK it’s "Ready or not, here I come".

I always used "Ready or not, here I come!", though I’ve heard ‘Olly-olly-oxen-free’ from my dad. I like the more comprehensible one better.  :)
(I recently heard someone on TV say ‘olly-olly all come free’, which makes considerably more sense. Perhaps the nonsensical one is a corruption of this? Or perhaps the one that makes sense is a product of people wanting to hear a real statement instead of babble?)

~Silver

"Ready or not!  Here I come!" is what I always said, and I think it is standard in NC.  I’ve heard "Olly-olly-oxen-free", but only on TV.  "Olly-olly all come free" makes much more sense, doesn’t it?!

~Shannon

[quote author=Tims Wife link=board=idiom;num=1051667367;start=0#3 date=04/30/03 at 08:08:18]"Ready or not!  Here I come!" is what I always said, and I think it is standard in NC.  I’ve heard "Olly-olly-oxen-free", but only on TV.

I was about to make the same comment, except for a reference to Florida instead of NC.

Demijohn

Interesting. Perhaps olly, etc is a regional thing. I can’t imagine TV making it up. Perhaps we should conduct a poll.

- PW

I think I heard olly, etc. on Lassie, but it may have been somewhere else.

If you’re going to talk about regional differences, I should point out that the South Florida of my tag playing days, while geographically south of the rest of the state, was considerably further north demographically.

DJ

Most of the tag I played took place in Alabama and Texas, and we used ‘ready or not…’ in both locations.

~Silver

When we played tag in Washington, "Ready or not, here I come" was what the "it" said as he or she uncovered eyes to find everyone.  "Ally ally oxen free" or "ally ally in come free" we used to tell people the game was over and the people not caught could come in "free."

I grew up in Chicago and we always played "it", not "tag", with "freeze-tag" as the exception to that rule, and used "ready or not…" and "Olly Olly…" just as Rosewoman described them. Wonder if it’s a generational thing as well as regional. I haven’t been a child playing "it" for slightly more than two decades. Wow. That really depresses me when I see it in print.

Do kids still play "it"? Or do they just play Gameboy?

Roberta (who confiscated her daughter’s GameCube yesterday and insisted she go outside)

Well, as I’ve said in other threads, my clan was a little different (lights ‘bulbed’ out… ), but we sometimes referred to the game as ‘You’re it’ too.  We never, never said ‘olly-olly-oxen-free’ though.  I have heard it, but I always thought it was a British expression! LOL

Other oddities from my childhood include the "bunfight" (subject of some other thread here, I think) and the "beanfeast".

My mom’s family had a dish they made with loads of beans and mayonnaise and various other ingredients.  They called it, rather affectionately, a bean mess.  (Sounds like a Texan dish name, doesn’t it, PW? ;D)

Short OT story… The youngest member of the family was having friends over from school one day, and was too embarrassed to say they were having ‘bean mess’ for dinner… So she called it a bean casserole.  Her sisters and brothers pick on her about that to this day.

PS. Returning to topic, I should mention the 60s TV pop music show "Ready, steady, go" with the DJ David Jacobs (the Brit equivalent of Dick Clark). Back in about 1962, it was "must-see" television for my generation of spotty teenagers.

And we go full circle!!  The woman I was listening to was a producer on that show!  I was listening to an NPR series called Where Are All The Women Record Producers?

I can’t remember the woman’s name!  Aargh!

-Tim

P.S.  Aha!  It was Vicki Wickham!

Here in "Mare-lyn" Hide-and-Seek started with someone counting out loud with their eyes covered and shouting "Ready or not here I come!" when they began the search for the hidden players.  If someone could not be found before he snuck back to base and you were tired of searching, you would call "All-ee all-ee in free!" (phonetic spelling [all in free]) to end the game.  No Ollies or oxen in our games.

Tag, Chain Tag, and Freeze Tag were playground games.  

The call for tag: Tag! You it!

Hide and seek: I got you! No you didn’t, I’m safe. Are not. Am too, are not. Am too. Not. too. (Never ever heard the ollies and oxens til I was grown up).

I didn’t play either very much. I didn’t have the friends to play with.

*shrug*

Patricia/AgDrgn