"But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again"
Stephy, got me thinking. I wonder if some of the things I think are just general kid stuff are unique to NYC.
flat leaver: When I was a kid we called any other kid that left in the middle of a game or left you by yourself a flat leaver.
gills: These had a few other names, but I can't think of the others. Basically whenever someone said something stupid or were proven wrong, other folks would get "gills" from them. You'd take your hand and swipe it behind the neck of the person (pressed mainly on your middle finger). I guess the idea was to burn the back of the person's neck? I dunno. lol It was strange. But after someone said something off, you'd hear a bunch of kids saying "gimme mine" and they'd damn near line up to get them. It was mainly a boy thing, but it was co-ed sometimes.
Girls had a saying we did when we didn't want anyone to come along late and invite themselves into a rope game:
Tick tock, the game is locked.
Nobody else can play.
But if they do, I'll take my shoe
And knock them black and blue!
When we played "It" (aka tag) if people hovered near "homebase" too much, whoever was "It" would be like:
1, 2, 3
get off my father's appletree!
[The assumption was that homebase was the appletree and anyone who wasn't off it by the time the little rhyme was finished would be "It." It was rarely enforced though.]
The comeback to that was:
Father's permission!
And no babysittin'!
And on days when we were feeling particularly fresh and cute a group of girls would line up, arms on each other's shoulders and walk down the block saying/singing:
We ain't stoppin for no-body!
Can you dig it?
Woooo!
Can you dig it?
Woooo!
I'm pretty sure Kick, Open, Side-to-side was universal. You stand with another person in front of you and... kick, open your legs for the other person to kick, then both of you kick off to each person's side. lol Pretty straight forward.
And I KNOW Back is achin was widespread.
My back is achin'!
My belt's too tight!
My booty's shakin' from left to right!
Left! Left! Left, right left!
But I'm not so sure about Telephone
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1. It's the telephone.
2. Who is it?
1. It's yo man.
2. I know. He want my lips, my tits, my booty and hips!
He want my pussolotta, pussolotta, pussolotta, ah!
Pussolotta, pussolotta, pussolotta, ah!
LOL! What the hell, man? And the follow up was:
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1. It's the telephone.
2. Who is it?
1. It's that girl.
2. I know she want my man. Goddamn! That bitch is outta hand!
She want my fistolotta, fistolotta, fistolotta, ah!
Fistolotta, fistolotta, fistolotta, ah!
I can look back on it fondly 'cause it's part of my childhood, but ugh, man. =/ It's actually like listening to Onyx. I was a pretty big Onyx fan. And I still enjoy Bacdufucup, but in an odd way. Like I'll get hyped remembering junior high and then cringe a bit at how ridic some of those songs were. EVERY BOY shaved his head after Throw Ya Guns in the Air came out. It was all shaved heads and army fatigues that summer. I wonder if, 15 years from now, some girl who's 13 years old will look back on her love of Yung Berg and 50 cent with that same mix of fondness and disgust.
Anyhoo, anyone else have things similar to this stuff? Or any other stuff from childhood you wanna share? I'm really interested in if anyone else did "gills"/"gimme mine."
flat leaver: When I was a kid we called any other kid that left in the middle of a game or left you by yourself a flat leaver.
gills: These had a few other names, but I can't think of the others. Basically whenever someone said something stupid or were proven wrong, other folks would get "gills" from them. You'd take your hand and swipe it behind the neck of the person (pressed mainly on your middle finger). I guess the idea was to burn the back of the person's neck? I dunno. lol It was strange. But after someone said something off, you'd hear a bunch of kids saying "gimme mine" and they'd damn near line up to get them. It was mainly a boy thing, but it was co-ed sometimes.
Girls had a saying we did when we didn't want anyone to come along late and invite themselves into a rope game:
Tick tock, the game is locked.
Nobody else can play.
But if they do, I'll take my shoe
And knock them black and blue!
When we played "It" (aka tag) if people hovered near "homebase" too much, whoever was "It" would be like:
1, 2, 3
get off my father's appletree!
[The assumption was that homebase was the appletree and anyone who wasn't off it by the time the little rhyme was finished would be "It." It was rarely enforced though.]
The comeback to that was:
Father's permission!
And no babysittin'!
And on days when we were feeling particularly fresh and cute a group of girls would line up, arms on each other's shoulders and walk down the block saying/singing:
We ain't stoppin for no-body!
Can you dig it?
Woooo!
Can you dig it?
Woooo!
I'm pretty sure Kick, Open, Side-to-side was universal. You stand with another person in front of you and... kick, open your legs for the other person to kick, then both of you kick off to each person's side. lol Pretty straight forward.
And I KNOW Back is achin was widespread.
My back is achin'!
My belt's too tight!
My booty's shakin' from left to right!
Left! Left! Left, right left!
But I'm not so sure about Telephone
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1. It's the telephone.
2. Who is it?
1. It's yo man.
2. I know. He want my lips, my tits, my booty and hips!
He want my pussolotta, pussolotta, pussolotta, ah!
Pussolotta, pussolotta, pussolotta, ah!
LOL! What the hell, man? And the follow up was:
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1: Hey [insert name]
2: Yeah?
1. It's the telephone.
2. Who is it?
1. It's that girl.
2. I know she want my man. Goddamn! That bitch is outta hand!
She want my fistolotta, fistolotta, fistolotta, ah!
Fistolotta, fistolotta, fistolotta, ah!
I can look back on it fondly 'cause it's part of my childhood, but ugh, man. =/ It's actually like listening to Onyx. I was a pretty big Onyx fan. And I still enjoy Bacdufucup, but in an odd way. Like I'll get hyped remembering junior high and then cringe a bit at how ridic some of those songs were. EVERY BOY shaved his head after Throw Ya Guns in the Air came out. It was all shaved heads and army fatigues that summer. I wonder if, 15 years from now, some girl who's 13 years old will look back on her love of Yung Berg and 50 cent with that same mix of fondness and disgust.
Anyhoo, anyone else have things similar to this stuff? Or any other stuff from childhood you wanna share? I'm really interested in if anyone else did "gills"/"gimme mine."