telophase: (Default)
telophase ([personal profile] telophase) wrote2012-02-09 10:19 pm

Children's rhyme

For some reason the other day I started thinking about a kid's rhyme/whatsit I hadn't thought of in years. I haven't remembered it 100%, but searching on it reveals that there are all sorts of variants on it that people did.

It was a way to give someone else chills (quite nice in hot Texas weather!) You stood behind someone and performed actions on their back with your hands as you said the lines. Our went:

X marks the spot (draw a big X on their back)
A dash and a dot (draw an exclamation point)
Two bullet holes (jab them lightly twice)
Blood runs down (Draw your palms down their back, mimicking bloodstreams]
(Tight squeeze)*
Cool breeze [blow gently on the back of their neck]
And chills [said with a dropped voice, dramatically]

And then you stood back to watch them shiver. :) Did anyone else here do something of the sort? What was your variant?




*I'm not 100% on this line, but can't find anything else that sounds familiar. Presumably you'd give a quick squeeze to their shoulders or something.

[identity profile] ebony14.livejournal.com 2012-02-10 02:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't remember which version we did when I was a kid, but I do remember the "Tight squeeze, cool breeze" rhyme. As I recall, it was done on the inside of the wrist, rather than the back, but the effect was the same.