What does that mean?? I guess the easiest way of saying "Ollie ollie oxen free" is to really say "Come out, come out, whereever you are!!" But where did Ollie and oxen come from? Well, someone today said "Ollie Ollie, outs in free" which made NO sense . . . until I looked closer. And thanks to the internet, now I know what "Ollie Ollie, Oxen Free" really is supposed to say.

During those summer nights of playing hide and seek there was always a "safe!" place. Usually a tree. Everyone hides while someone counts to 100 or whatever. We had no patience - we counted to 10. Then when someone was tagged or we all had lost interest/given up on the game we called out "Ollie Ollie Oxen free!!" What it *really* is supposed to be is "All the, all the - outs in free!"

Well. You learn something new everyday.