![origin of eenie meenie miney mo origin of eenie meenie miney mo](https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/cedar-central.jpg)
"Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, catch a tiger by the toe, If he hollers, let him go, eeny, meeny, miny, mo." This, however, is a recent revision. The classic American version most are familiar with goes like this: Nonetheless, it's clear that "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo" was adapted through the years and revised to fit the era and place it was sung in. Likewise, some believe the nursery rhyme is based on an ancient British counting system. Many versions exist, both within cultures and. This can be due to what The Paris Review refers to as Hobson-Jobson, when words that have the same sound are translated to fit the linguistics of the native speaker's language. Since many similar counting rhymes existed earlier, it is difficult to ascertain its exact origin.
![origin of eenie meenie miney mo origin of eenie meenie miney mo](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/50xOe2Ni5qc/maxresdefault.jpg)
That being said, it's almost impossible to track down the true origin of "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo." What is known is that countless variations of the nursery rhyme exist. Each country had their own lyrics, but the structure and melody remained the same. In the 1800s, the nursery rhyme could be found in both the US and Europe (via An Injustice). Whilst there are versions of the first line of this rhyme in both German. It is very hard to establish the exact origin of the song as it has so many accepted forms, in different languages and countries. Seemingly innocent, the rhyme is not what it seems. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe also known as Eena, meena, mina, mo is a popular counting rhyme and singing game. "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo" (sometimes written as "moe") has been chanted and beloved by children on playgrounds for centuries. In the 1950s, a Dutch language historian proposed that the first line eeny, meeny, miney, moe comes from anne manne miene mukke, the first line of an ancient heathen priest song in which the chanter supplicates the high priestess for a divine sign about who should live or die.