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  • Alisha: Hi, everybody! my name is Alisha and I'm here in the studio today with

  • Michael: Michael. Hello.

  • Alisha: Today, we're going to be talking about things that every American kid knows.

  • So, let's get right into it.

  • These are going to be things that we think that, maybe, now, I imagine most or all American

  • kids are aware of or have done to some degree.

  • So, let's compare, why don't you start us off.

  • Michael: Ah!

  • Here's a good one.

  • I think everybody knows this, everybody still should know this is thethe magic word.”

  • So, usually when you want to like get someone to say, “Please,” you're trying to teach

  • little kids how to be polite, teach them proper manners and so you say, “What's the magic

  • word?”

  • And they say, “Please.”

  • Fr example, “Hey, Mom, can I have a cookie?”

  • What's the magic word?”

  • Can I have a cookie, please?”

  • And then, you give him the cookie.

  • Alisha: Yep.

  • It's better than saying, “Say, 'please.'”

  • I feel like saying, “What's the magic word is…?”

  • It's kind of like a more fun way to tell kids, “Be polite.”

  • Say, “pleaseandthank you.”

  • Michael: Kind of hypocritical to be like, “Say, 'please.'”

  • Alisha: Yeah.

  • Michael: “Well, that's not very polite, Mom.”

  • Alisha: Yeah, yeah.

  • That's true.

  • Nice one.

  • Okay good.

  • Alright.

  • I'll go to my first one.

  • I picked--okay you'll see in a second what I pickedLet's start with

  • Oh, let's start with this one.

  • I think kids probably all over the world are aware of this one or some variation.

  • I know it's called many different languages but hide-and-seek.

  • Hide-and-seek is a very, very basic game.

  • I mean that the game is explained pretty much here, “hideandseek.”

  • A bunch of kids hides and then one person usually seeks or looks for all the other kids.

  • This was one of those games that you'd play with a group of friends or even just with

  • one of your siblings if you don't have a whole lot of people.

  • But, the basic concept of the game is one or more people hide and then a few seconds

  • later, you go look for those people.

  • I assume that you played this game.

  • I assume that every child played this game.

  • Michael: Hours and hours and hours spent playing this game.

  • I mean, there's different variations of the game like you have a home base, usually, and

  • so, that's where the person starts and you usually you count to like what?

  • Thirty, a hundred, something?

  • Alisha: Yeah, something like that.

  • Michael: So, you close your eyes, the person who's it and they say, “1, 2, 3.”

  • And then, when you are finished you say, “Ready or not, here I come!”

  • And, you try to find them and then if you are hiding and you make it to the home base

  • and you touch it, you're free, you made it, you win.

  • Alisha: Yeah.

  • Michael: Or like, I don't know, multiple people can win.

  • It's really like a young, young kid game.

  • I don't think I played it after 9 years old

  • Alisha: Yeah, I think maybe around junior high school was probably the last time that

  • I played it, yeah.

  • Okay.

  • Yeah, play hide-and-seek if you haven't.

  • I don't know, I bet it'd be fun as an adult too in the right situation

  • Michael: Make it a drinking game, something like that

  • Alisha: You said so, I didn't have to.

  • Okay, let's go to your next one.

  • What's your next one?

  • Michael: I guess, talking about games, “thumb war.”

  • Alisha: Oh.

  • Michael: Thumb war.

  • So, I think most people do this around the world.

  • They know the thumb war which is like this and you try to catch them.

  • But, the thing that not everyone knows is, and I think every American kid knows, is you

  • say, “1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war.

  • Ready?

  • Go!”

  • Alisha: Did you not have a “Ready?

  • Go!”

  • Michael: I don't remember that last part already

  • Alisha: Oh, I had a “Ready?

  • Go!”

  • Okay.

  • Michael: And then, you try to get him.

  • Alisha: You try to fight and keep the other person's thumb down.

  • Michael: Hmm.

  • Alisha: In retrospect, that's not a very good game, is it?

  • Michael: Nah.

  • Yeah, these are all

  • Alisha: Terrible games.

  • Yeah, I did it too, though.

  • Michael: Tic-tac-toe or something.

  • Alisha: People would always be kind of like get a little bit too into it and then they'd

  • sort of kind of try and rip their hands out of it.

  • Michael: Or, you use this finger, you cheat.

  • What is that called?

  • The hook?”

  • Like, “No hooks!”

  • Alisha: I'm not aware of that.

  • Michael: Like this.

  • You do that and then you use this finger.

  • So, you're trying to do it, it's hard and then youha!

  • You just cheat, basically.

  • So, yeah, stupid game for little kids, basically.

  • It's like tic-tac-toe.

  • You can play it like a million times and usually you get a tie it's just something to do when

  • the teachers talking and it's just easy you don't need a ball.

  • You're just kind of like, “Okay, let's play thumb.”

  • Alisha: You're a terrible child, weren't you?

  • Michael: Yeah, I was pretty bad.

  • I never listen.

  • Alisha: Alright, I'm going to go to my next one.

  • Another game I picked, “duck-duck-goose.”

  • Yes?

  • Michael: Mhm.

  • Of course.

  • Everybody, everybody.

  • Alisha: Yeah!

  • Duck-duck-goose.

  • As I was writing this card, I was thinking to myself, “Why is it called duck-duck-goose

  • of all things?”

  • Okay, so, the game is very, very simple, I think.

  • You need a group of people for this one, though.

  • You form a ring, a ring of children, usually.

  • And then, there's one person who walks around the outside of the ring and they touch each

  • person on the head as they walk by and say, “Duck, duck, duck.”

  • And then, randomly, this one person will select one child and say, “Goose!

  • You're the goose.”

  • And so, if you are chosen as the goose, you have to get up and chase the other person

  • around the circle and try to get back to your the place where you were sitting down before

  • them, no, you have to tag them, right?

  • The person who was going, “duck, duck, duck,” and then, “goose,” they try to run around

  • the circle and steal your spot.

  • Alisha: Right.

  • Michael: And, you, if you're fast enough, you can run around and if you tag them, then

  • they keep going and you get your spot still.

  • Alisha: Right, right.

  • It's like a seated version of tag, almost.

  • But I don't know why we call it duck, duck, goose.

  • Michael: Yeah, no clue.

  • Alisha: I don't know.

  • Michael: Okay.

  • This one is actually, I think it's from Scotland or something.

  • I don't know, I forgot.

  • I looked it up.

  • Eenie meenie miney mo.”

  • So, usually when you're trying to decide who--let's say, you want to play hide-and-seek and you

  • don't know who's going to be the one who's it.

  • So, then, you'll go, “Eenie meenie miney moe, catch a tiger by his toe.

  • If he hollers, make him pay a thousand dollars every day.

  • Okay, you're it.”

  • And there's a few variations of that.

  • Alisha: Uh-hm.

  • Michael: Pretty much everyone knows that.

  • I still use it to this day, honestly.

  • Alisha: Eenie meenie miney mo?

  • Michael: Eenie meenie miney mo.

  • Alisha: I think that most people shorten it, though.

  • Because, the tiger, the whole tiger thing is quite long.

  • So, I think, “Eenie meenie miney mo.”

  • It's just a rhyme to choose someone.

  • I mean, you could flip a coin or do like rock-paper-scissors or something like that.

  • But, for whatever reason, we do this, “Eenie meenie miney mothing.

  • Michael: Did you ever do nose goes?

  • Alisha: Um, as a child no.

  • As an adult, for a drinking game, yes.

  • See, this is the thing.

  • All the things that were like children's games become adult drinking games when you grow up.

  • Michael: Slowly get promoted.

  • Alisha: We are very, very mature.

  • Okay, my last one istruth or dare.”

  • Perhaps, this is more for junior high school and high school age when you start getting

  • a little bit more like curious is maybe the right word.

  • So, the game is you have--there are two choices that you can make this game.

  • Truthwhere your friends will ask you a question and you have to reply with the

  • truth to that question.

  • So, usually, truth is like, “Who's the person that you like?” orDo you want a boyfriend?”

  • orDo you want a girlfriend?”

  • Usually, it's something like that.

  • If you don't choose truth, then you have to choose dare.

  • So, “dareis the choice where your friends get to tell you to do something and it's usually

  • something crazy.

  • You either have the option of being in other words humiliated by sharing something secret

  • or humiliated by doing something embarrassing.

  • It's a fun game of humiliation to play with your friends.

  • I actually have some good memories playing this game.

  • Nothing bad really just really, really silly stuff actually like singing weird songs in

  • front of my friend's parents, that kind of thing.

  • Michael: Right.

  • Put underwear on your head or something.

  • Alisha: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

  • Michael: The one I remember that just came to mind is they told me, I was like, “Okay,

  • dare.”

  • And then, they said, “Go outside, act like a cow, get on all fours and take a big mouthful

  • of the grass and chew it.”

  • So, that was kind of

  • Alisha: That's a creative dare.

  • Michael: Yeah, yeah.

  • That's why I still remember.

  • Because it's usually they're just kind of like, “I dare you to drink too much ketchup.”

  • I don't know.

  • Just something kind of

  • Alisha: Uh-huh.

  • Drink too much ketchup?

  • Michael: Maybe.

  • I've never heard that either.

  • Alisha: Who gets to decide what too much ketchup is?

  • That's too much ketchup.

  • I decided two tablespoons is adequate.

  • Michael: It's like the

  • Alisha: Anyway.

  • Alright.

  • I'm out.

  • I think, maybe you're out.

  • Okay, great.

  • So, those are a few things that perhaps, I think most, if not all American kids know

  • or are aware of, a lot of them were games.

  • Maybe you have similar games in your country.

  • So, if you have some interesting experiences playing these games or if you have a game

  • that's similar to one of the games or one of the ideas that we've talked about here,

  • please let us know in a comment and it'd be interesting to compare.

  • Any other ideas?

  • Michael: That's about it.

  • Alisha: That's about it? Okay.

  • Well, thanks very much for joining us for this episode of English Topic.

  • We will see you again soon.

  • Take care. Bye!

Alisha: Hi, everybody! my name is Alisha and I'm here in the studio today with

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