Store pulls "Walking Dead" shirt

Tidewater · Feb 22, 2017

Eeny, meenie, miny, mo.
When I was growing up in Virginia, the way you started tag was saying eenie, meenie, miny mo, catch a tiger by the toe." None of us stopped to wonder whether tigers had toes, nor why they would holler if we did catch one, and not just slice us to death with his free paw.
Only when I moved to Alabama did I hear a different version.
That said, there is one offensive version of the rhyme, and one not so offensive version. Why do we have to assume the offensive version was the only one that could have been intended?
What's probably more offensive is appealing to people to buy a shirt because they watch The Walking Dead. (Not my cup of tea, I'm afraid.)

Bazza · Feb 22, 2017

I've heard both versions too. While still living in Virginia - but we were in Norfolk so different culturally than where you were, I expect.

None of this stuff surprises me any more.....the whole world has gone mad.

DzynKingRTR · Feb 22, 2017

sounds like some white English guy is the racist one.

Crimson1967 · Feb 22, 2017

I wonder if he has ever protested when a bookstore sells Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

The original title cannot be said or linked here.

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day-day · Feb 23, 2017

I remember two versions when I was little but neither involved a tiger. One used "monkey" and the other was the version referenced in the article. (Alabama and Florida)

A tiger hollering just doesn't make sense.

TideEngineer08 · Feb 23, 2017

Par for the course in today's culture.

I only ever heard the catch a tiger version while growing up. I guess I'm a racist.

Crimson1967 · Feb 23, 2017

We usually said tiger but I think I recall saying monkey. My mother said they used the bad word when she was young and she grew up in the north.

I have never said or heard anyone do the bad version.

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Bodhisattva · Feb 23, 2017

Only ever heard it as "tiger" as a kid. Didn't know I was using racist code until well into adulthood. Some people go way out of their way to be offended on the behalf of someone else. Perhaps these people should get a life. Or at least a hobby.

AV8N · Feb 23, 2017

I was always most concerned with where this tiger was going to find fifty dollars.
And every day? How long are you torturing this poor tiger?

DzynKingRTR · Feb 23, 2017

I sent this story to a black friend of mine and she thinks it is ridiculous too.

cbi1972 · Feb 23, 2017

Wikipedia: Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

A jocular use of a form of the rhyme by a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, encouraging passengers to sit down so the plane could take off, led to a 2003 lawsuit charging the airline with intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Two versions of the rhyme were attested in court; both "Eeny meeny miny mo, Please sit down it's time to go" and "Pick a seat, it's time to go". The passengers in question were African American and stated that they were humiliated due to what they called the "racist history" of the rhyme. A jury returned a verdict in favor of Southwest and the plaintiffs' appeal was denied.[20]

Another possible origin is from a Swahili poem brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans: Iino ya mmiini maiini mo.[11]

TrampLineman · Feb 23, 2017

I've been born and raised in Alabama and we only used tiger and monkey. While hearing the "other version" we never used it. It's not just an Alabama thing.

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Store pulls "Walking Dead" shirt

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