Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

Am stram gram (ou ams tram gram ou bien amstramgram) sont les premiers mots d'une comptine enfantine :

Am, stram, gram,
Pic et pic et colégram,
Bour et bour et ratatam,
Am, stram, gram.

On peut aussi la trouver sous cette forme :
Am, stram, gram,
Pic et pic et colégram,
Bour et bour et ratatam,
Am, stram, gram ; pic ! dam.

ou encore:
Am, stram, gram,
pic et pic et colégram,
Bour et bour et ratatam,
Am, stram, gram ; pic ! monsieur ; pic ! madame.

On peut aussi parfois ajouter les paroles suivantes à la fin de la comptine pour changer le processus de sélection et le faire apparaître moins déterminé.
Mais comme le Roi (et la reine)
ne le veut (veulent) pas,
ça ne sera pas toi !

Cette comptine dont les mots n'ont aucun sens (ni aucune graphie exacte) en français, est la déformation phonétique d'une ancienne comptine allemande. Comme de nombreuses comptines, elle commence par l'énumération première "Un, deux, trois," soit "Eins, zwei, drei" en allemand contemporain.

La traduction de la comptine germanique donne à peu près ceci (on remarquera la ressemblance phonétique entre Reiter (cavalier en allemand) et rata dans ratatam) 1:

Une, deux, trois,
Vole, vole, hanneton,
Cours, cours, cavalier,
Une, deux, trois.
Une autre interprétation l'apparente à la persistance d'une incantation chamanique d'origine nordique en vigueur dans les veillées funèbres chez les Francs. Elle permettrait la possession de l'officiante par l'esprit loup. Les paroles originales auraient été2 :

Emstrang Gram
Bigà bigà ic calle Gram
Bure bure ic raede tan
Emstrang Gram

ce qui se traduirait par :

Toujours fort Grain
Viens donc viens, j'appelle Grain,
Surviens car je mande au brin,
Toujours fort Grain.
À manger ! (Mos- incantation finale)
Le brin (tan) étant la baguette des sorts, et Grain le « Grain de la Lune », le loup céleste. À rapprocher de Ysengrin, le nom du loup dans le roman de Renart.

En Provence :
In sin grin
Pique pique colégrin
Bourre bourre lacagrin
Mouscrin

En Belgique (en langue Wallonne) :
Èn, swey, drey
Pike et pike et comedeye
Bôre et bôre et ratatam
Mousse, tram

En Hollandais :
Iene miene mutte
Tien pond grutten
Tien pond kaas
Iene miene mutte is de baas

En Grèce :
As tra dam
Piki piki ram
Pouri pouri ram
A stram dam

Au Brésil :
Uni Duni Te
Salame mingue
O sorvete colore
O escolhido foi você

En Roumanie :
An tan te
Dize mane pe
Dize mane compane
An tan te

À La Réunion :
Plouf
Inetikèt
Mari-bonbèt
Kani-kanèt
Trik

En Hébreu
אן דן דינו
סוף על הקטינו
סוף על הקטי קטון
אליק בליק בום
en den dino
sof al hakatino
sof ak hakati katon
elik belik bom

En Arabe Algérie
chadi madi kalli rassi
neddi hadi wella hadi
Fatima bent Ennabi
شادي مادي قالي راسي
ندي هذي ولا هذي
فاطمة بنت النبي

MurielB a écrit:Je ne sais pas si "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe "est utilisé de la même façon !

A common modern version is:

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers, let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

There are many common variations, such as replacing tiger with "piggy", "tinker", "tigger", a two-syllable name, etc.; and changing the verb in the third line to "screams", "wiggles", "squeals" or another verb.

Sometimes additional lines are added at the end of the rhyme to draw out or manipulate the selection process or make it seem less predetermined, such as:

My mother told me/says to pick the very best one, and that is Y-O-U[3]

Or alternatively:
O-U-T spells out, you are not it.
Pig snout you are out. (Kiwis only)
Out goes Y-O-U.

Occasionally the line copies 'Ip dip':
Not because you're dirty,
Not because you're clean,
Just because you kissed a boy/girl behind the magazine.

The first record of a similar rhyme is from about 1815, when children in New York City are said to have repeated the rhyme:

Hana, man, mona, mike;
Barcelona, bona, strike;
Hare, ware, frown, vanac;
Harrico, warico, we wo, wac.[3]
The "Hana, man" was found by Henry Carrington Bolton in the US, Ireland and Scotland in the 1880s but was unknown in England until later in the century.[3] Bolton also found a similar rhyme in German:

Ene, tene, mone, mei,
Pastor, lone, bone, strei,
Ene, fune, herke, berke,
Wer? Wie? Wo? Was?[3]
Variations of this rhyme, with the nonsense/counting first line have been collected since the 1820s, such as this Scottish one:

Hickery Pickery, pease scon
Where will this young man gang?
He'll go east, he'll go west,
he'll go to the crow's nest.
Hickery Pickery, Hickery Pickery[6]
More recognizable as a variation, which even includes the 'toe' and 'olla' from Kipling's version, is:

Eenie, Meenie, Tipsy, toe;
Olla bolla Domino,
Okka, Pokka dominocha,
Hy! Pon! Tush!
This was one of many variants of "counting out rhymes" collected by Bolton in 1888.[7]

A Cornish version collected in 1882 runs:

Ena, mena, mona, mite,
Bascalora, bora, bite,
Hugga, bucca, bau,
Eggs, butter, cheese, bread.
Stick, stock, stone dead – OUT.

One theory about the origins of the rhyme is that it is descended from Old English or Welsh counting, similar to the old Shepherd's count "Yan Tan Tethera" or the Cornish "Eena, mea, mona, mite".
Another possibility is that British colonials returning from the Sub-Continent introduced a doggerel version of an Indian children's rhyme used in the game of carom billiards:
ubi eni mana bou,
baji neki baji thou,
elim tilim latim gou.

Some older versions of this rhyme had the word nigger instead of tiger:

Eeny, meena, mina, mo,
Catch a nigger by the toe;
If he hollers let him go,
Eena, meena, mina, mo.

This version was similar to that reported by Henry Carrington Bolton as the most common version among American schoolchildren in 1888. It was used in the chorus of Bert Fitzgibbon's 1906 song "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo":

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo,
Catch a nigger by his toe,
If he won't work then let him go;
Skidum, skidee, skidoo.
But when you get money, your little bride
Will surely find out where you hide,
So there's the door and when I count four,
Then out goes you.

There are considerable variations in the lyrics of the rhyme, including from early twentieth century in the United States of America:
Eeny, meeny, miny moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers make him pay,
Fifty dollars every day.

A distinct version of the rhyme in the United Kingdom, collected in the 1950s & 1960s, is:
Eeeny, meeny, miney, mo.
Put the baby on the po.
When he's done,
Wipe his bum.
And tell his mother what he's done. (Alternatively: Shove the paper up the lum)

Versions collected in New Zealand in 2002 include:
Eeny, meeny, miny mangi,
Catch a mangi by the tangi.
If he squeals, steal his wheels,
Eeny, meeny, miny mangi.

In Latin America the children play a game to choose or discard players, or to draw a winner/loser, singing: "De tin marín, de dos pingué, cúcara mácara títere fue. Yo no fuí, fue Teté, pégale pégale a quien fue".

MurielB a écrit:Gérard a part from "trigger" I have never seen "tigger"