Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Childhood Rhymes

Six, Eight, Nine,
The goose drank wine
The monkey chewed Tobacco
On the Street Car Line

The Line Broke
The monkey got choked
And they all went to Heaven
In a Little Row Boat

Quack Quack!

Recently I was thinking of that rhyme that I learned as Bobo- Shi Otten Totten. But the site that I found listing it had the words all wrong. They had it as Bobo Ski Wotten Totten.

Bobo Shi Otten Totten
Uh-uh, I ain't no fool!
Itty bitty Otten Totten
Bobo Shi Otten Totten
Bobo Shi Otten Totten
Boom!

But they had

Bo-bo ski watten totten,
Ah-ah-ah, boom boom boom
Itty bitty wotten totten
Bo bo ski watten tatten
Bo bo ski wotten tatten-BOOM. (Thanks to Azlyn)

Which is correct? Does it matter? Anyhow.
So, I thought I would blog about it!! Ha-ha.

"I like your verbs that are things. I think I'm gonna sandwich after I sofa here for a bit."

Yeah, that's from some commercial, I think it's funny.

Well, boring post, this is goodbye.
K

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

In my search to see if ANYONE else ever heard of the "bo bo ski watten tatten" ryhyme, I have found SO many that did. I don't know why this particular one stuck in my head after all these years, but it sure is refreshing to know I didn't dream the whole thing up.

Anonymous said...

I thought it ws

bobo ski otten dotten
nanananana
inny inny ott not bobo ski ott not
bobo ski ott not
boo

Perry said...

Oh my gosh, you brought me back to a long-ago summer at camp in Lake Peeksill, NY!(1970?)
I learned this one as:
"Bo-bo-ski-waten-doten,
EH-EH-EH-EH(boom boom boom)
Bo-bo-ski-waten-doten,
EH-EH-EH-EH(boom boom boom)
ITTY-bitty-waten-doten,
bobo-ski-waten-doten,
bobo-ski-waten-doten,
EH
EH
EH!!!!

Thanks so much!!

Perry ~(:>)

Posalootly said...

Oh man! The one I learned at Piney Run Park in Maryland went like:

Bo bo ski otten totten
Nay nay I am
boom boom boom
itty bitty otten totten
bo bo ski otten totten
itty bitty otten totten
boom

(and then you just smack hands together for this:)
Please cheese american cheese
please don't put your fingers/hands/eyes/teeth on me
(Then you repeat the rhyme but close up your fingers/use your elbows/close your eyes/put your lips over your teeth)

Anonymous said...

yeahh! me and my friends played it all the time! but ours was:
bo bo si otten totten
nay nay i am boom boom boom
itty bitty otten totten
bo bo si otten totten
1 2 3 american cheese
you cant show your ____ at me
and then we repeted it
but i dont remember how exactly we played! hxkoriee@aol.com

Anonymous said...

Our version went like this:

Bobo see otten totten
ah ah say boys are rotten
itty bitty otten totten
bobo see otten totten
bobo see otten totten
Boom!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8!

Anonymous said...

Mine was kinda like that too. :)

Bobo skit otten dotten
nay nay I am
boom boom boom
itty bitty otten dotten
bobo ski otten dotten
naynay skit otten dotten
get down, turn around, make a funny face and freeze. :)

WE played it with wiggly hand motions and clapping.

Tiff & The Menagerie said...

i'm so glad i found this blog! thanks! i learned a totally different version we well:

bo bo see otten tottan
nay nay i am boom boom boom
itty bitty bo
bo bo skid-oh!

Anonymous said...

Bobo sea otten totten
nay nay
I am boom boom boom
itty bitty otten totten
bobo sea otten totten
boom, down, cross, you're you.

Kelly said...

I learned it thus:

Bobo siaten tahten
Nay nay, I am a moo-moo
Bobo siaten tahten
Bobo siaten tahten
Bobo siaten tahten
BOO!

Anonymous said...

I'm a summer camp counselor and this is how we do it:

bo bo ski wotten totten
nah nah
boom boom boom boom boom
itty bitty wotten totten
bo bo ski wotten totten
bo bo ski wotten totten
NAH!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10!

Anonymous said...

Bo bo ski watten dotten
Wah dot n sh
Go bo ski watten dotten
Wah rotten n sh
Ish biddly oten doten
Bo bo ba ditten dotten
(Or ho do ba dit n dotten - 2nd verse!)
Wah dot n sh

Unknown said...

Bo go ski otten totten
Eh eh see boys are rotten
Itty bitty otten totten
Bo Bo ski otten totten
Bo bo ski otten totten
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!

Anonymous said...

Bo Bo Ski Rotten Totten
I say that boys are rotten
Itty bitty rot tot
Bo Bo Ski Rot Tot
Bo Bo Ski Rot Tot
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 OUT!
(Or)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8!

Anonymous said...

O Ob See (Clap) Ot Tin (Clap) Tot Tin
Eh(Slap your leg)
Eh(Snap finger) I am
Boom' Boom' Boom' (Clap)
Itty Bitty (Clap) Ot Tin
Tot(Slap leg) Tin(Snap)
O Bo See Ot Tin (Clap)
Tot Tin(Clap)Boom!��

Anonymous said...

i thought it was obo shen otten tot tin nanana i am boom boom boom itty bitty otten tot obo shen otten tot BOOM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 OUT!! who else heard it like this

Unknown said...

Bo bo ski otten totten
Nay nay - i am boom boom boom
Bo bo ski otton totten
Bo bo ski otton totten
Bo bo ski otton totten boom!
1,2,3,4,5!

Unknown said...

Sorry my bad that was wrong.
Its
Bobo ski otten totten
Nay nay I am boom boom boom
Itty bitty otten totten
Bo bo ski otten totten
Bo bo ski otten totten boom! 1,2,3,4,5!

LadyShakespeare said...

The one I did in the 90's near Chicago was like this and it was a complicated group clapping game.

LadyShakespeare said...

Bo bo ski waten ta-ten
Eh Eh, say boys are rotten
(Faster) Bo bo ski waten taten
Eh eh say boys are rotten
Bo bo ski waten taten
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,out!
^As learned in the 1990's near Chicago

LadyShakespeare said...

This was done sitting in a circle with our right hands on top of the person next to us' left and a clap would go around and the last person's hands to be clapped was out.

Unknown said...

Obo shin otten totten hey hey i am boom boom boom eeny weeny oten totton obo shin otton totten boom 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1

Anonymous said...

Bo bo see watten totten
Eh eh eh eh boom boom boom
Mini mini wa wa bo bo see wa wa
Bo bo see watten boom boom boom~ Cleveland '80s with claps

Unknown said...

I remember it as:

Bo bo ski otton totten
Nay nay I am boom boom boom
Itty bitty otton totten
Bo bo ski otton totten
Bo bo ski otton totten
Boom

Anonymous said...

SAME!!! LOL 1990 baby... there was this crazy hand clapping/ slapping, snap your fingers, slap your legs thing we did to the song? Been awhile! Stumbled upon this blog while I was looking up the version of "whistle while you work" we sang as kids! Turns out there's tons of variations to that too! The one we sang was like,
"whistle while you work
Hitler was a jerk,
Mussolini bit his weeny
Now it doesn't work!"

...but I swear there was more to it hahaha

Back to this rhyme, do we even know if there's ANY meaning to these sounds/words?!?
I'm just glad the dream I had about playground songs as kids was a memory... I'd have felt like a lunatic if I didn't find the "whistle while you work" lyrics!!

MINNESOTA!!!

KayQue said...

Just went searching this on an old memory from summer camp (Massachusetts, early 80s)! So interesting to see all the different versions from all over the northeast! Ours was a hand clap and the words were:

Bo Bo ski waten taten
Na Na, I am Bo Bo
Eeny Meeny waten taten
Bo bo ski waten taten
Bo bo ski waten taten
BOOM! (With a big mutual hand clapTo end it 🙌🏼

Unknown said...

Hooray! I thought I was making up gibberish when these words came into my head! Our 12 yr old learned the hand motions but not the words and then I felt crazy saying them! So glad to see we all grew up with this odd little song on the playground!!

Unknown said...

I was taught as a kid bo bo shi aten taten hi hi I am boom boom itty bitty otten taten bo bo shi aten taten bo bo shi aten taten boom!

Unknown said...

That's how we did it on the school bus! With the right person's hands over the left person's. Made a 40-minute bus ride shorter.
Obo shin otten totten
Nay nay I am boom boom boom
Eeny meeny otten totten
Obo shin otten totten
I am boom boom boom

Anonymous said...

I remember the words a little differently. It made no sense to me, but i enjoyed it at the time lol :-) I remember it as:

Bo bo ski otten dotten
Nay nay, nay nay nay bo bo
Icky knock knock bo
Ski knock knock bo
Ski knock knock bo

I know its not right but thats what it sounded like to me so thats how we said it. It was never watten tatten though. That much i know for sure! I just wanted to share how we said it as well. Lol :-)

Anonymous said...

The way Katie May learned it is exactly how I recall hearing it. It would have either been in Groton, Conn, early 80s, or Hampton VA, mid 80s.

Bobo Shi Otten Totten
Uh-uh, I ain't no fool!
Itty bitty Otten Totten
Bobo Shi Otten Totten
Bobo Shi Otten Totten
Boom!

My mind translated it to be an argument between two people, ending with a slap. As a kid, I figured the translation would go something like this...

Bobo, she often taught him.
No, I am not a fool.
Lizzy Betty often taught him.
Bobo, she often taught him.
Bobo, she often taught him.
Boom.

Anyway, I am convinced that ditty started with actual words, which may or may not have made sense, and much like the whisper game, the words/sounds moved farther away from their origins for each new generation that sang it.

Anonymous said...

I had never heard it as watten totten either. I dont remember the whole song as we did it but the parts i remember were "bo bo she otten cotton hey hey i am boom boom boom."

clunkygirl said...

We did the "wotten tottem" version late in Miami way back around 1980. Finding this confirms that the words really were gibberish!

Anonymous said...

Yes!!!!!!! I have been looking for this! Girl scout camp near Chicago in the 90s!