In the case that the remainder is zero, you choose the last item. For example, if you have 15 choices for the 16 element phrase, you’ll count through all 15 and then go back to the first option and end on it (i.e. The math is such that you take the modulo (which is equivalent to a remainder in long division). There are multiple variants of the rhyme, but the primary one mentioned above has 16 counting elements.
Hover over the graph to see which option is chosen. For each set with different numbers of options, you will get a different individual from that set chosen so I thought I’d visualize who gets selected.Ĭlick “Start” to see which option gets selected when there are different numbers of options. Some of you may be surprised to learn that, in the 1880s, the. The second line in the American rhyme, catch a tiger by the toe, has a clearer and more dismal ancestry that traces right back to the United States. Since there were only two of them, it got me thinking, if you knew which one it would fall on at the end, you could decide who to start counting with to ensure that you select who you want. The diverse origins of the first line eeny, meeny, miney, moe are plausible but contested. Variant spellings of eeny, meeny, miny, mo are eenie, meenie, miney, moe, or eany, meany, miney, mo, and many others. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go, eeny, meeny, miny moe.” I was watching my kids try to pick who got go first by doing the kids rhyme,
I promised to do some research and get back to them. Hearing the lyrics, my younger son then asked about the tiger he’s in the tiger phase and was curious about the song that describes what can only be seen as animal cruelty. If he hollers, let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Shes indecisive, she cant decide She keeps on looking from left to right Girl, come a bit closer, look in my eyes Searching is so wrong, Im Mr. Who is selected when kids do Eeny Meeny Miney Moe? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe. Eenie meenie miney mo Catch a bad chick by her toe If she holla, if, if, if she holla let her go.