Naming
Keep away refers to a broad range of sports that may include, but not be limited to, monkey in the middle, soccer, American football among others, similar to the broad category of "racquette sports," which include tennis, squash, etc. Monkey in the middle is the most famous keep away sport and is very often (and mistakenly) referred to as "keep away." The name of the game varies with region. In the United States, the descriptive name Keep Away seems to prevail, while Canadian children commonly refer to the game as either Pig in the Middle (Western Canada) or Monkey in the Middle (Eastern Canada, parts of New England, and parts of the Midwest). In the UK the name Piggy in the Middle is used (almost) exclusively. In Australia, children call it Keepings Off. The game is also common in Turkey under a name which translates to Rat in the Middle, in Denmark where it is known as what translates into Butter blob, in the Netherlands they call it "Aap in het Midden" and Silly Johnny in Poland.
While the name Keep Away is self-explanatory, the origin of some of the other titles are less clear. Monkey in the Middle is likely to have arisen because the middle player jumps and waves his arms around like a monkey or ape. The names Piggy in the Middle and Pickle in a Dish are of unknown derivation.
"Pickle in the middle" derives from a baseball game... where the runner is "caught between bases" (he is in a "pickle")!
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Famous quotes containing the word naming:
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul—half a drop! ah, my Christ!—
Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!—
Yet will I call on him!—O, spare me, Lucifer!—
Where is it now? ‘T is gone; and see where God
Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!—
Mountains and hills, come, come and fall on me,
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!”
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
“Husband,
who am I to reject the naming of foods
in a time of famine?”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)