Jump-rope rhyme

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A jump-rope rhyme, or skipping-rope rhyme, is a rhyme chanted by children while jumping rope. Such rhymes have been recorded in all cultures where jump rope is played. Examples of English-language rhymes have been found going back to at least the 17th century. Like most folklore, jump-rope rhymes tend be found in many different variations.

Some rhymes are intended to count the number of jumps the skipper takes without stumbling. These rhymes can take very simple forms, such as this chant collected in London in the 1950s:

Big Ben strikes one,

Big Ben strikes two,

Big Ben strikes three,

(etc.)

Other counting chants are more sophisticated, beginning with a rhyme and then counting the number of jumps to answer a question posed in the last line.

Cinderella

Dressed in yella

Went downstairs to kiss her fella.

She made a mistake

And kissed a snake.

How many doctors will it take?

1! 2! 3! 4! (etc.)

An Australian version of this rhyme was very popular in the 1960's

Cinderella

Dressed in yella

Went to meet her handsome fella.

On the way her undies busted

How many people were disgusted?

1! 2! 3! 4! (etc.)

Another rhyme with a definite sadistic twist. The fifth line is not said in the same rhythm as the preceding four, but is instead much faster.

Bumper car, bumper car,

Number eight,

Went round the cor-(skipper jumps out, and turners continue the syllable until they reenter)-ner

Without any brakes.

How many stitches did he have?

1! 2! 3! 4!

Many rhymes consist of pure nonsense, often with a suggestion of naughtiness:

Fudge, fudge, call the judge,

Mama had a baby.

Wrap it up in tissue paper,

Stick it in the elevator.

Mama called the doctor,

The doctor called the nurse,

The nurse called the lady with the alligator purse.

'Mumps' said the doctor,

'Mumps,' said the nurse,

'Mumps' said the lady with the alligator purse.

Another:

Three, six, nine

The goose drank wine

The monkey chewed tobacco on the telephone line

The line, it broke

The goose got choked

And they all went to heaven in a small rowboat

Other rhymes are highly topical, and sometimes survive long after the events that inspired them have disappeared from the headlines. Perhaps the most notorious rhyme of this type is one that began circulating during the 1893 trial of Lizzie Borden:

Lizzie Borden took an axe

And gave her mother forty whacks,

When she saw what she had done,

She gave her father forty-one.

And:

I had alittle bird, it's name was Enza.

I opened the window and..

In-Flew-Enza.

This was of course, referring to the 1918 Flu Pandemic.

Sometimes, rhymes have been known to offend people of different race and nationalities. This one offends Asians intentionally and children usually do not admit to this at first:

My parents have slant eyes

My mother's Chinese

My father's Japanese

My brother's Taiwanese

My sister's Vietnamese

(etc.)