I spy

I spy is a guessing game. One player chooses an object that is visible to all the players and says, "I spy with my little eye something beginning with ...", naming the letter the chosen object starts with (e.g. "I spy with my little eye something beginning with C" if the chosen object is a car). Other players have to guess the chosen object.^[1] An alternative version is played where the colour is given rather than the initial letter (e.g. "I spy with my little eye something blue")^[2]

I spy is often played with young children as a means to avert boredom in long journeys. A survey by British insurance company Direct Line found that 58% of families played I spy, and 65% of the parents consulted had played it on journeys as a child.^[3]

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines it, under Spy giving the earliest citation as a mention in Rosamond Lehmann's 1946 work The Gipsy's Baby.^[2] One etymological website though reports an earlier mention in a 1937 Canadian publication.^[4]

The game and its wording are well known in western popular culture, for example the title of the 2002 horror film My Little Eye uses part of the wording from the game.^[5]

See also

• I-Spy, series of children's "spotter books" taking their name from the game
• "Cock Robin", a nursery rhyme that includes the phrase "my little eye"

References

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