A few days ago
Where does the expression “Ollie Ollie income free” come from?
Where does the expression “Ollie Ollie income free” come from?
Top 5 Answers
A few days ago
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The original form of the quotation is from the game Hide and seek, and is a corruption of “ally ally, outs in free, which became over time “Ollie Ollie oxen free” meaning all who had not been found could return to base safely. Spoken quickly and by young children, it is easy to see how the “Outs in free” became “Oxen free”. This is the etymology of the phrase, thus ends the lesson.
1
A few days ago
It’s “olly olly oxen free.” I don’t know where the expression comes from, though. Wikipedia says it’s unknown and probably a childish version of another old phrase…maybe when the oxen got out of the fences, the townspeople would yell, “All ye, All ye! Oxen free!” I don’t know! But it’s great for hide and seek!
3
A few days ago
It is a refrain used in the children’s game, Hide and Seek. ( I know it as “Ollie Ollie oxen free.”) In Hide and Seek, the person who is “it” says the phrase once they have found one of the hiders, thus ending the game. It is basically saying “all the rest, come in free”, meaning that the other players can safely come out of their hiding places.
3
A few days ago
I was told that “Ollie”is “All Ye” therefore:
“All Ye, All Ye, come in free”
0
A few days ago
isn’t that from hide & seek
1
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