![]() While the verses seem relatively harmless, what’s interesting to note underneath the surface is the growing minds of the children who recite the verses. While myriad versions of the rhyme exist throughout history and playgrounds, below are some of the more commonly remembered quatrains:Īs you can see “Hell” is turned into “Hello operator” and the zipper on pants is turned into buzzing “flies” and so forth. Landers Was a Health Nut” from the taboo animated television show, South Park. Later recordings include “ Miss Lucy Had Some Leeches” by Emilie Autumn and “Mrs. Popular topics include kissing, boys in bathrooms, bras, lying, crazy family members, foreign spies and more. Later versions began popping up in the middle of the 20th century as public schools became more and more popular and normalized.Īs the rhyme became more and more popular, the references became more and more silly, involving embellishments. The earliest recorded version of the rhyme, which is all about a girl named Mary, appears in vaudeville, from the early 20th century. Terms common amongst many versions are “switchboard operators,” “World Wars,” “buttons” and more.įor those that don’t know, a switchboard operator is a telephone operator from way back before smartphones. This style is known as enjambed double entendre.īecause the rhyme is so common on the playground and because children can be so creative, there are any number of verses to the song, some wildly known, others not so much. And these phrases are dovetailed or cut off by the following quatrain’s beginning. But what makes the verses unique here are the taboo phrases and terms used (as you can see below). The verse is arranged in quatrains with a common A-B-C-B rhyme scheme. Anthony makes an appearance, or on other occasions even more unique characters come into play. Sometimes a woman with an alligator purse is involved, sometimes Susan B. The rhyme was born from others like it, including “Bang Bang Rosie” from the U.K., and “Bang Away Lulu” from the hillbilly locale of Appalachia. Moreover, sometimes hand signals come into play, like the ringing of an invisible bell. Today, though, the rhyme is used just as often in “clapping games,” where children keep rhythm by using hand claps that they do on their own or in unison with others. Originally, this rhyme was used for when kids would jump rope so as to keep the fun going and simultaneously create rhythm to follow with each jump, jump, jump. But the magic of the rhyme is that the profane word is dulled by the next phrase, which takes the bite out of the teeth. The reason this one became so favored is because of its cheeky verses, which almost always lead to a bit of profanity or a rude term or two. This popular schoolyard rhyme has many names, from “Miss Susie had a Steamboat” to “Hello Operator” to “Miss Suzy” to even “Miss Lucy.” (Though, we hope that is still happening today, in the digital era.)ĭoing so, there are many games, from blacktop kickball and clapping to the recitation of rhymes like “Miss Mary Mack” and, the subject of today’s inquiry, “Miss Susie Had a Steamboat.”īut what does this popular rhyming game mean, exactly? And what is the meaning of its history? Growing up, kids spent a lot of time on the playground. ![]()
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