Comments | dw_britglish: "Piggy in the Middle"?

purple_bug in dw_britglish

"Piggy in the Middle"?

Oct 12, 2012 05:19

There's a game, played by bullies, where they take something belonging to the victim and throw it from one to another while the victim tries to get it back. In Scotland, we call this "Piggy in the Middle", and I've heard it called "Keep Away" but mainly by Americans. What would it be called in England, specifically in the 70s and 80s? Is it Piggy ( Read more... )

specific phrases, children, slang

Comments 18

seanchaidh October 12 2012, 04:34:10 UTC

Canadians also call it "Piggy in the Middle" which probably indicates what the UK does.

xcarex October 12 2012, 10:52:15 UTC

Not all Canadians! I've always called in Monkey in the Middle. I hadn't heard the Piggy version until this post.

donutsweeper October 12 2012, 04:53:11 UTC

Just as an FYI, I asked the exact same question several years ago and the response was a resounding "piggy in the middle"

purple_bug October 12 2012, 04:59:00 UTC

Ah, thank you :) Should've just gone through the tags, shouldn't I? :)

donutsweeper October 12 2012, 05:00:57 UTC

Glad to help. Going through 5 years of tags would have taken a long, long time. :)

purple_bug October 12 2012, 05:12:52 UTC

I'm embarrassed to say that it's only on the second page of tags for 'children', and given that that's the first tag I would've found in the tag list, I probably would've found it quickly if I'd thought to look before I asked :) *facepalm* But your help is appreciated! :)

gorengal October 12 2012, 05:02:57 UTC

Just FYI, Americans also call it Monkey in the Middle. In case you need it for a fic set in the US. ;)

purple_bug October 12 2012, 05:14:12 UTC

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for another fic, maybe one with Peri :)

fannishliss October 12 2012, 13:23:53 UTC

oh yeah, in my region of the US it's monkey in the middle -- east coast.

Suzanne Vega has a song called Fat Man and Dancing Girl which repeats the phrase but doesn't describe the game.

The wikipedia on "keep away" has a lot of different variant names. I think of "keep away" as a sometimes legitimate playground game in addition to the bullying variety. I am short so my response to the mean kind of keep away was immediate furious tackling. :D

stlscape October 12 2012, 15:41:55 UTC

Hmm...I've never heard of Monkey in the Middle before. (I'm American, but spent a goodly portion of my youth in the UK & Europe.)

Also, to me, "Keep Away" is a non-bullying, approved playground game, played more as a "how long can we keep tossing this thing between us without dropping it" type of game.

Thread 5

lightofdaye October 12 2012, 13:43:47 UTC

Huh? This is something done by bullys? I swear this was just a regular game when i was a kid,

dorsetgirl October 12 2012, 14:08:41 UTC

marence October 12 2012, 17:05:01 UTC

American, raised in the midwest, 60s & 70s, personal experience -

There was a game called "Pickle in the Middle", 3 players, 2 facing each other, one in the middle.
There was another game that this devolved into, where other kids would "join" & then choose one kid to keep the ball away from. In our neighborhood, it then devolved further into throwing the ball directly at the victim-kid so it would bounce off.
I suppose it was loads of fun, for them.

eofs October 13 2012, 00:14:47 UTC

Yeah, I don't think I ever came across it as a form of bullying (and I got to sample many varieties of that!) It was just a game to play in the playground, at birthday parties etc. Played with a ball rather than someone's bag.

I have a vague feeling we called it Pig in the Middle, but Piggy in the Middle wouldn't bother me. (This is growing up in the East Midlands but later than your time period, early 90s.)

Thread 7