The familiar melody of eeny meeny miny mo can be found in various forms around the world. In Zimbabwe, it appears as eena meena ming mong, while in France it is known as une mine mane mo. The origins of this tune are uncertain, with linguists suggesting it may have roots in Dutch or a creole language spoken by African slaves. One intriguing theory proposed by Princeton lecturer Adrienne Raphel in 2016 traces the melody back to a rhyming counting system used by northern English shepherds, which included words like yan, tan, tethera, methera, pimp. Over time, nonsense words were substituted, but the tune remained the same.
Unfortunately, the second part of the rhyme that many schoolchildren know today, catch a tiger by the toe/if he hollers let him go, used to contain derogatory language referencing capturing African Americans. This offensive version was later replaced with more innocent lyrics. In 2004, a Southwest Airlines stewardess recited the revised rhyme on a flight, causing distress to an elderly Black passenger who ultimately sued the airline (though the case was unsuccessful). Further information on this topic can be found on the Wikipedia page and in articles like this one and this article on racist children’s songs.
