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BarbaraPA Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary

What do you say when you give up in a game of "hide and seek"?

Olly olly oxen free?

Olly olly out are free?

I think we said that "oxen free" one in New York where I grew up, but it makes no sense. What did others say?
  

Top answer

In NH it was "Olly olly in-free," but I've heard the "oxen" one - long before I knew what oxen were!

— Avangi

  • In NH it was "Olly olly in-free," but I've heard the "oxen" one - long before I knew what oxen were!
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7 Answers
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In NH it was "Olly olly in-free," but I've heard the "oxen" one - long before I knew what oxen were!
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Can't remember. Emotion: sad

Have you seen
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Ah! I thought I had seen a thread about it once, but my search skills are not great.

All ye, all ye, walk in free!

Unlike "red rover," few people have chipped a tooth playing hide and seek.

Did you ever play "sardines"? That's when one person hides, and the first person to find that person hides along with him, until there are a bunch of you jammed in like sardines. At
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Grammar Geek
Did you ever play "sardines"? That's when one person hides, and the first person to find that person hides along with him, until there are a bunch of you jammed in like sardines. At some point, someone's leg or head is clearly visible and so the jig is up, but I loved sardines even more than hide and seek!


That's a game that old
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Olly olly all come free.
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We said Ollie Ollie all come free.
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