英语词汇eena meena mina mo的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

eena, meena, mina, mo; eeny, meeny, miny, mo. Look in the O.E.D., Webster’s Second, Mathews’s Dictionary of Ameri- canisms, Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—look anywhere, in any etymological refer- ence work—and still you will not find the “counting out” ex- pression eena, meena, mina, mo, or eeny, meeny, miny, mo, as it is perhaps more often said. Yet this is a very familiar phrase in both the United States and Britain, used at one time or another by almost all children and frequently employed by adults. It is, of course, part of a counting-out expression used in children’s games to determine who will be “it” among a group of players. The full rhyme, probably dating back to the 19th century, was originally the insensitive (at best): “Eena, meena, mina, mo,/ Catch a nigger by the toe,/ If he hollers, let him go,/ Eena mee- na, mina, mo.” Sometimes the fourth line is “My mother says I should pick this here one,” and, happily, the second line is much more frequently today “Catch a tiger by the toe.” The rhyme is said, of course, with the counter pointing at each player in rotation with each word, the player who is last point- ed at being “it.” One tradition has it that counting-out rhymes are relics of formulas Druid priests used to choose human sac- rifices. Another source says these are old Welsh words for one, two, three, four.

词汇	eena meena mina mo
词源	eena, meena, mina, mo; eeny, meeny, miny, mo. Look in the O.E.D., Webster’s Second, Mathews’s Dictionary of Ameri- canisms, Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—look anywhere, in any etymological refer- ence work—and still you will not find the “counting out” ex- pression eena, meena, mina, mo, or eeny, meeny, miny, mo, as it is perhaps more often said. Yet this is a very familiar phrase in both the United States and Britain, used at one time or another by almost all children and frequently employed by adults. It is, of course, part of a counting-out expression used in children’s games to determine who will be “it” among a group of players. The full rhyme, probably dating back to the 19th century, was originally the insensitive (at best): “Eena, meena, mina, mo,/ Catch a nigger by the toe,/ If he hollers, let him go,/ Eena mee- na, mina, mo.” Sometimes the fourth line is “My mother says I should pick this here one,” and, happily, the second line is much more frequently today “Catch a tiger by the toe.” The rhyme is said, of course, with the counter pointing at each player in rotation with each word, the player who is last point- ed at being “it.” One tradition has it that counting-out rhymes are relics of formulas Druid priests used to choose human sac- rifices. Another source says these are old Welsh words for one, two, three, four.
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