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Original poster

A little experiment - When you were at school and you were playing tag or british bulldog...

50 replies

treacletart · 21/07/2006 21:55

or any other kind of "you're it" game, and you needed to go to the loo or do your shoelaces up, or otherwise be excused momentarily from the game ... what was the code word you used?

Apparantly in state schools it changes all over the country. At my state primary school in Brighton we said "veins" or "veinites" - public secondary was "Pax" as it is allegedly in most public schools.

OP posts:

FrannyandZooey · 21/07/2006 22:21

Paxies

Aimsmum · 21/07/2006 22:22

Message withdrawn

Original poster

treacletart · 21/07/2006 22:22

so whats red rover then?

OP posts:

FrannyandZooey · 21/07/2006 22:22

oh and you showed your crossed fingers

Have read this was symbolise Christian Cross and pax obviously means "peace" - what's the veins thing come from?

JonesTheSteam · 21/07/2006 22:23

Actually, 'paxies' rings a bell with me as well - have a feeling we used to say that in British Bulldog.

Fastasleep · 21/07/2006 22:23

What's red rover?

Electric chair wa when we stood in a circle around a chair, holding wrists, there was someone sat on the chair fearing for their llife and the aim of the game was to run around the chair as quickly as possible, hurling people towards the chair (while still holding them) when they looked like they might trip, if you touched the electric chair you were dead...

nasty it was, like chinese burns and bruises

JonesTheSteam · 21/07/2006 22:25

Two teams - lined up and arms linked and you used to shout,

'red rover, red rover, let XXX come over'

and then that person would run at you and try to get through your linked arms.

If they got through, they rejoined their team, if they didn't they joined yours.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 21/07/2006 22:25

Also, if something went wrong or game over for a reason you would shout "ollie ollie in" or something similar....

Aimsmum · 21/07/2006 22:25

Message withdrawn

Fastasleep · 21/07/2006 22:26

Oh I've played that!

We yelled something for game over too, might have been ollie something..

Aimsmum · 21/07/2006 22:26

Message withdrawn

JonesTheSteam · 21/07/2006 22:27

How did you play British Bulldog then, really can't remember now!!

flutterbee · 21/07/2006 22:28

Well my 3 older brothers and I were all born in Nottinghamshire and moved down to Hastings when I was 7 (they would have been 14, 13 and 11 I think) and remember them using it all the time and when we moved down here people used it as well so the younger ones used it when they went to school.

I do remember some people using Red Rover aswell.

ArseBiscuits · 21/07/2006 22:29

We played Red Rover too, think that got banned an' all.

flutterbee · 21/07/2006 22:30

Your description of Red Rover is what we called British Bulldog I think and that definately is banned, my younger sister smashed her two top front teth in half playing it. Brilliant game.

Aimsmum · 21/07/2006 22:32

Message withdrawn

JonesTheSteam · 21/07/2006 22:33

Ah I remember it now - was all muddled up in my head with red rover

Aimsmum · 21/07/2006 22:37

Message withdrawn

MumRum · 21/07/2006 22:43

veinites.... I always said fainlights.... no wonder they still got me... I was saying the wrong word...

NannyL · 21/07/2006 22:45

Bull dog was banned at my school as well...

20 years ago

i do remember we had a code word of scribbs though (always said with fingers crossed if i rememebr rightly)

NannyL · 21/07/2006 22:45

Red rover was also banned at my school!

psychomum5 · 21/07/2006 22:49

my school played 'red rover' until it got banned because of me

the other side called me over and the hands were too bloody tight for me to break thro. I flipped over instead and got knocked out... Was off school for days with concussion, and the others playing the game had to send me apology cards for injuring me(again!!)

Soooo.....anyone going to stanley green who liked that game and was upset it was banned....very sorry. BUT, if you were those whose hands I was unable to break thro.....god you were strong.

MrsBadger · 21/07/2006 23:02

there's a fascinating article on this by Iona and Peter Opie - fains / veineyes etc more common in the south, in the North I think it was 'keys' or similar, and there was a pocket of something really weird like Corncakes in the Midlands.

in North London we said vein-eyes - I assumed at the time it meant you were so tired you had blooshot eyes hence needed a break, but apparently it comes from 'fain I' from ie 'I don't want to'.

asked DH what he used to say in Wales but he can't remember.

Skribble · 21/07/2006 23:03

We said keys, and if I remember you had to put your thumbs up, but perhaps that is another game.

QueenBodicea · 21/07/2006 23:21

In East Anglia we said 'X's' and we crossed our fingers to make an X. My mum from London told me that when she was at school (in the 1930s!) it was Pax or veinites although as I never saw it spelt I thought she was saying 'faynights!

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