Talk:Olly olly oxen free

message: When I was a kid I heard this odd sing-song and though it must be a corruption of something like: "All ye, all ye, all come free"  
I have no scholarly research supporting this theory; so it is simply my old childhood theory.  It could be a case of linguistic/cognitive closure (we hear things that "sound right") on my part.  It could also be that it really was something like that and slowly got corrupted over time.  JimD (talk) 08:00, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: This is sugested by Frederick Gome Cassidy & Joan Hall, Dictionary of American Regional English, (1985) Vol III (I-O), p. 874, under "Ole Ole Olson All In Free."DavidOaks (talk) 02:33, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

text: Good god. I always assumed it was descended from an actual warning. Ollie ollie or similar just a shout for attention, like Hey, or all-ye or something, because the oxen had gotten lose. So take cover, watch out! There are free oxen, FGS. I didn't think the kids' cry was anything but a pirating of an old cry that had nothing to do with how they were using it.Venqax (talk) 18:22, 28 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible etymology 

message: I don't see why this article title, a common phrase, should be capitalized. So I will change it "Olly olly oxen free" in approximately 36 hours unless someone comes forth with evidence that one or all of the words in the current title are proper nouns (due to the phrase's origin). Remember, the nomenclature of uncapitalized abelian groups originates from the proper noun last name of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel. So if "ollie" comes from "Oliver," should "ollie" be capitalized? I opt for "nay." If the silent masses unanimously (and unknowledgeably) agree, then I will change it; if one person dissents, I will leave the article name as it is and take it from there.
Also, I would advise the following redirects, which I will also create if no one objects:
*Oley oley oxen free
*Oly oly oxen free
*Ollie ollie oxen free
The only redirect that currently exists is ollyollyoxenfree.
Thanks for reading, if you are.
--Gracenotes T § 01:26, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Seconded. Maikel (talk) 02:30, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Change article name

message: This is described as a six-tone signal in the Halo books, but I count seven individual notes, but only four distinct notes... am I doing it wrong? Tar7arus 16:18, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I know nothing of the Halo books; but I always heard it sung out as seven notes: "o-lee, o-leee, o-xen, freeeeeeeeeeee" (with the first four syllables sung as normal notes, the next two short and staccato, and the last one lingering and trailing off). (As described above I also ways sang it with the same pattern but using the words that made more sense to me). JimD (talk) 08:16, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Sound

message: I have removed the "cleanup" tag as it was not argued out on the discussions page. Maikel (talk) 18:16, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cleanup 

message: As a kid (60 years ago) we shouted "Olly, Olly, Ox in free" to indicate that all players still in hiding could come in without being "captured" or otherwise penalized. The "in Free" portion agrees with the meaning of the phrase. Perhaps it is a corruption of "All ye, All ye, All in free". Former Iowa Kid (talk) 21:32, 23 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alternate pronunciation 

message: It took me a while to find the article, as I was looking for "ally ally ...". Maybe someone would care to make a few more redirects? Here's what I'm talking about --BjKa (talk) 11:44, 15 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  More Alternatives 

message: I never heard this, growing up in Las Vegas (a culturally strange place that almost seems backwards). It wasn't until an episode of My Name is Earl did I hear this strange phrase and decided to research it. Is it a Midwest phrase or anything like that? Sierraoffline444 (talk) 17:57, 16 January 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I was wondering about regions too. As someone who grew up in the south east UK, this is just another of those weird unexplained phrases you occasionally hear in a US movie or sitcom. Google n-grams seems to confirm that, finding some US references for "oxen free" but no British (though, admittedly it finds nothing at all anywhere for the full phrase). 208.87.58.246 (talk) 18:40, 25 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  My Name is Earl 

message: Does anyone has any information linking it a similar hide and seek game 'pop' played in Kent at least in the 1980s?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.151.110.13 (talk) 20:55, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Similarity to the Kentish game 'Pop' 

message: I would like to see a possible heading for "All the outs in free!"  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dhb4lol (talk • contribs) 16:13, 5 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  All the outs in free! 

message: Since the dubious German etymology for the phrase is being added again and again, I added a sentence explaining why it's unlikely to be true. Technically, this is original research, of course, so if you feel it's not up to WP standards, I would suggest the alternative of deleting both the German etymology as well as my addition to it. --Baumi (talk) 13:14, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  German etymology 

message: He used to play it when he was a little kid in Lower Saxony.  The German is  "alle alle Ochsen sind frei", that is, 'all the oxen are free', which is, of course, a good reason for the designated oxen and their chasers to run like crazy.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.40.214.245 (talk) 05:39, 7 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  My German husband laughed when he saw all this controversy 

message: Does anybody actually even care what TV shows have simply said this phrase? GalantFan (talk) 14:05, 20 July 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  The phrase has been used on television