English Topics - Things Every American Child Knows

Alisha: Hi, everybody! my name is Alisha and I'm here in the studio today with …

Michael: Michael. Hello.

Alisha: Today, we're going to be talking about things that every American kid knows.

So, let's get right into it.

These are going to be things that we think that, maybe, now, I imagine most or all American

kids are aware of or have done to some degree.

So, let's compare, why don't you start us off.

Michael: Ah!

Here’s a good one.

I think everybody knows this, everybody still should know this is the “the magic word.”

So, usually when you want to like get someone to say, “Please,” you're trying to teach

little kids how to be polite, teach them proper manners and so you say, “What's the magic

word?”

And they say, “Please.”

Fr example, “Hey, Mom, can I have a cookie?”

“What's the magic word?”

“Can I have a cookie, please?”

And then, you give him the cookie.

Alisha: Yep.

It's better than saying, “Say, ‘please.’”

I feel like saying, “What's the magic word is…?”

It's kind of like a more fun way to tell kids, “Be polite.”

Say, “please” and “thank you.”

Michael: Kind of hypocritical to be like, “Say, ‘please.’”

Alisha: Yeah.

Michael: “Well, that's not very polite, Mom.”

Alisha: Yeah, yeah.

That's true.

Nice one.

Okay good.

Alright.

I'll go to my first one.

I picked--okay you'll see in a second what I picked…Let’s start with…

Oh, let’s start with this one.

I think kids probably all over the world are aware of this one or some variation.

I know it's called many different languages but hide-and-seek.

Hide-and-seek is a very, very basic game.

I mean that the game is explained pretty much here, “hide” and “seek.”

A bunch of kids hides and then one person usually seeks or looks for all the other kids.

This was one of those games that you'd play with a group of friends or even just with

one of your siblings if you don't have a whole lot of people.

But, the basic concept of the game is one or more people hide and then a few seconds

later, you go look for those people.

I assume that you played this game.

I assume that every child played this game.

Michael: Hours and hours and hours spent playing this game.

I mean, there's different variations of the game like you have a home base, usually, and

so, that's where the person starts and you usually you count to like what?

Thirty, a hundred, something?

Alisha: Yeah, something like that.

Michael: So, you close your eyes, the person who's it and they say, “1, 2, 3.”

And then, when you are finished you say, “Ready or not, here I come!”

And, you try to find them and then if you are hiding and you make it to the home base

and you touch it, you're free, you made it, you win.

Alisha: Yeah.

Michael: Or like, I don't know, multiple people can win.

It's really like a young, young kid game.

I don't think I played it after 9 years old

Alisha: Yeah, I think maybe around junior high school was probably the last time that

I played it, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, play hide-and-seek if you haven't.

I don't know, I bet it'd be fun as an adult too in the right situation

Michael: Make it a drinking game, something like that

Alisha: You said so, I didn't have to.

Okay, let's go to your next one.

What's your next one?

Michael: I guess, talking about games, “thumb war.”

Alisha: Oh.

Michael: Thumb war.

So, I think most people do this around the world.

They know the thumb war which is like this and you try to catch them.

But, the thing that not everyone knows is, and I think every American kid knows, is you

say, “1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war.

Ready?

Go!”

Alisha: Did you not have a “Ready?

Go!”

Michael: I don't remember that last part already

Alisha: Oh, I had a “Ready?

Go!”

Okay.

Michael: And then, you try to get him.

Alisha: You try to fight and keep the other person's thumb down.

Michael: Hmm.

Alisha: In retrospect, that's not a very good game, is it?

Michael: Nah.

Yeah, these are all…

Alisha: Terrible games.

Yeah, I did it too, though.

Michael: Tic-tac-toe or something.

Alisha: People would always be kind of like get a little bit too into it and then they'd

sort of kind of try and rip their hands out of it.

Michael: Or, you use this finger, you cheat.

What is that called?

“The hook?”

Like, “No hooks!”

Alisha: I'm not aware of that.

Michael: Like this.

You do that and then you use this finger.

So, you're trying to do it, it's hard and then you—ha!

You just cheat, basically.

So, yeah, stupid game for little kids, basically.

It's like tic-tac-toe.

You can play it like a million times and usually you get a tie it's just something to do when

the teachers talking and it's just easy you don't need a ball.

You're just kind of like, “Okay, let's play thumb.”

Alisha: You're a terrible child, weren’t you?

Michael: Yeah, I was pretty bad.

I never listen.

Alisha: Alright, I'm going to go to my next one.

Another game I picked, “duck-duck-goose.”

Yes?

Michael: Mhm.

Of course.

Everybody, everybody.

Alisha: Yeah!

Duck-duck-goose.

As I was writing this card, I was thinking to myself, “Why is it called duck-duck-goose

of all things?”

Okay, so, the game is very, very simple, I think.

You need a group of people for this one, though.

You form a ring, a ring of children, usually.

And then, there's one person who walks around the outside of the ring and they touch each

person on the head as they walk by and say, “Duck, duck, duck.”

And then, randomly, this one person will select one child and say, “Goose!

You're the goose.”

And so, if you are chosen as the goose, you have to get up and chase the other person

around the circle and try to get back to your the place where you were sitting down before

them, no, you have to tag them, right?

The person who was going, “duck, duck, duck,” and then, “goose,” they try to run around

the circle and steal your spot.

Alisha: Right.

Michael: And, you, if you're fast enough, you can run around and if you tag them, then

they keep going and you get your spot still.

Alisha: Right, right.

It's like a seated version of tag, almost.

But I don't know why we call it duck, duck, goose.

Michael: Yeah, no clue.

Alisha: I don't know.

Michael: Okay.

This one is actually, I think it's from Scotland or something.

I don't know, I forgot.

I looked it up.

“Eenie meenie miney mo.”

So, usually when you're trying to decide who--let's say, you want to play hide-and-seek and you

don't know who's going to be the one who's it.

So, then, you'll go, “Eenie meenie miney moe, catch a tiger by his toe.

If he hollers, make him pay a thousand dollars every day.

Okay, you're it.”

And there's a few variations of that.

Alisha: Uh-hm.

Michael: Pretty much everyone knows that.

I still use it to this day, honestly.

Alisha: Eenie meenie miney mo?

Michael: Eenie meenie miney mo.

Alisha: I think that most people shorten it, though.

Because, the tiger, the whole tiger thing is quite long.

So, I think, “Eenie meenie miney mo.”

It's just a rhyme to choose someone.

I mean, you could flip a coin or do like rock-paper-scissors or something like that.

But, for whatever reason, we do this, “Eenie meenie miney mo” thing.

Michael: Did you ever do nose goes?

Alisha: Um, as a child no.

As an adult, for a drinking game, yes.

See, this is the thing.

All the things that were like children's games become adult drinking games when you grow up.

Michael: Slowly get promoted.

Alisha: We are very, very mature.

Okay, my last one is “truth or dare.”

Perhaps, this is more for junior high school and high school age when you start getting

a little bit more like curious is maybe the right word.

So, the game is you have--there are two choices that you can make this game.

“Truth” where your friends will ask you a question and you have to reply with the

truth to that question.

So, usually, truth is like, “Who's the person that you like?” or “Do you want a boyfriend?”

or “Do you want a girlfriend?”

Usually, it's something like that.

If you don't choose truth, then you have to choose dare.

So, “dare” is the choice where your friends get to tell you to do something and it's usually

something crazy.

You either have the option of being in other words humiliated by sharing something secret

or humiliated by doing something embarrassing.

It's a fun game of humiliation to play with your friends.

I actually have some good memories playing this game.

Nothing bad really just really, really silly stuff actually like singing weird songs in

front of my friend's parents, that kind of thing.

Michael: Right.

Put underwear on your head or something.

Alisha: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael: The one I remember that just came to mind is they told me, I was like, “Okay,

dare.”

And then, they said, “Go outside, act like a cow, get on all fours and take a big mouthful

of the grass and chew it.”

So, that was kind of—

Alisha: That's a creative dare.

Michael: Yeah, yeah.

That's why I still remember.

Because it’s usually they're just kind of like, “I dare you to drink too much ketchup.”

I don't know.

Just something kind of—

Alisha: Uh-huh.

Drink too much ketchup?

Michael: Maybe.

I’ve never heard that either.

Alisha: Who gets to decide what too much ketchup is?

“That’s too much ketchup.

I decided two tablespoons is adequate.

Michael: It's like the—

Alisha: Anyway.

Alright.

I'm out.

I think, maybe you're out.

Okay, great.

So, those are a few things that perhaps, I think most, if not all American kids know

or are aware of, a lot of them were games.

Maybe you have similar games in your country.

So, if you have some interesting experiences playing these games or if you have a game

that's similar to one of the games or one of the ideas that we've talked about here,

please let us know in a comment and it’d be interesting to compare.

Any other ideas?

Michael: That’s about it.

Alisha: That's about it? Okay.

Well, thanks very much for joining us for this episode of English Topic.

We will see you again soon.

Take care. Bye!