JSUK Monday - It's Baaaaaackkkkk.

"Olly Olly Oxen Free" or "Alli Alli Outs In Free" or "What in the World are You Talking About"?

Did you know that in different areas of the country there are different variations of words that mean essentially the same thing? I'm sure you knew this. It is called dialect - or a regional language. Often times these words are discovered when one ventures out of their original hometown. This happened once for me at college.....we were discussing how to arrange the itty-bitty dorm rooms, and someone said, "let's put it kitty corner." Hmmmm.... "Do you mean catty corner?" Turns out we meant the same thing - just different terms being used....we of course polled almost everyone on the floor and found that the majority of people from the Chicago area referred to it as kitty-corner, whereas the mid-southern portion of Illinoisan's called it catty-corner. Interesting.

So, this weekend while my mom & Randy were visiting us, I randomly sang out, "Olly Olly Oxen Free." To which my mom chuckled, and said - you mean "Alli Alli Outs In Free." And Randy said, "no she doesn't!" And Dave had no idea... apparently that never made it to the kick-the-can or hide-and-seek games in Kansas. I'm estimating arrival in 2010. (hahahah... ONLY KIDDING!)

My mom took this opportunity to explain that it meant all outs are free to come in. It is typically used as a method to let the other players who are still out hiding know that the game is over, and it's okay to come back into home base.

And so the debate was born --- I agreed with Randy that I had heard it the other way, but that my mom's version actually made more sense. So, what did we do? We headed to the most reliable source on the internet - Wikipedia! (hint of mild sarcasm here)

Anyway - Wikipedia said the following:
The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but etymologists suspect it is the childish corruption of the phrase "All Ye, All Ye All Come Free!" shouted by the British and American forces to the natives as they liberated France in World War II

The phrase can also be used to coordinate hidden players in the game kick the can, in which a group of children hide within a given radius and a seeker is left to guard a can filled with rocks. The seeker has to try to find the hiders without allowing them to sneak in and kick the can. In many areas the phrase used is "Ally Ally In Come Free" which is a way to tell all hidden that is time to start the game of trying to get in to the can without being caught.

SO - I guess we'll call this one a draw - and write it off to another instance of the old soda vs. pop debate.

If you know of any of these dialect inconsistencies, I'd love to hear them - OR your vote on either the Olly Olly Oxen Free or the Ally Ally Outs in Free debate.