View source for Ip dip

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{{Short description|Children's counting-out rhyme}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2010}}
'''Ip dip''' is a rhythmic [[counting-out game]] with many variations, the purpose of which is to select an individual from a group, for instance to choose the starting player of a game. It has been commonly used in [[United Kingdom|British]] [[playground]]s for many years. It also exists as "'''dip, dip, dog shit'''" in Australia.
The speaker of the rhyme points to a different person in order as each stressed [[syllable]] is spoken; the person pointed to as the final syllable is spoken is thereby [[election|elected]].
The aim is to delay and distract from counting the syllables or otherwise fixing the result; the rhyme should be so long that the speaker loses count and cannot predict the chosen person.  Perhaps this [[unpredictability]] is the reason that there are so many variations, including the practice of stringing variations together &mdash; which may be considered [[cheating]].
== Examples ==
=== Australia ===
A common Australian version goes:
:Dip, dip, dog shit /
:Who trod in it? /
:What colour was it? /
:Who saw it? /
:(Say the name of a colour) /
:(Spell the name of that colour) /
:You are not it.
A variation of this version was featured on ''[[Bluey (2018 TV series)|Bluey]]'':
:Ip dip sky blue /
:Who's it not you! /
:Not because you're dirty, /
:Not because you're clean. /
:My mum says you're the fairy queen! /
:Ip dip doo, /
:The cat's got the flu, /
:The dog's got the chickenpox , /
:So out goes you.<ref name="roud">{{cite book|last=Roud|first=Steve|title=The lore of the playground : one hundred years of children's games, rhymes and traditions|year=2010|publisher=Random House Books|location=London|isbn=978-1-905211-51-7}}</ref>
:Ip dip doo /
:Doggy did a poo /
:Went to the cinema at half-past two /
:When the film started /
:Everybody farted /
:Out goes you.<ref name="roud"/>
=== United Kingdom ===
A Welsh version of the rhyme runs:
:Ip dip dip /
:My blue [or little] ship /
:Sailing on the water /
:Like a cup and saucer, /
:But you are not in ''it''.<ref>Olmert, Michael (1996). ''Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser & Curiouser Adventures in History'', p.121. Simon & Schuster, New York. {{ISBN|0-684-80164-7}}.</ref>
Another version, from Northern Ireland, runs:
:Ip dip sky blue, /
:Granny sitting on the loo, /
:Doing farts, playing darts, /
:Out goes you! /
:O-U-T spells Out!
=== Elsewhere ===
Other recorded versions include:
:Ip dip sky blue /
:Who's it, not you!
A version from World War One was recorded by Thomas Ringlestone:
:Ip dip doo /
:The cat's got the flu /
:The cat's got the plague /
:I choose you!
Another version runs:{{cn|date=June 2023}}
:Ip dip dog shit /
:Fucking bastard silly git /
:You are not it /
:You tit.
==See also==
* [[Akka bakka bonka rakka]]
* [[Eeny, meeny, miny, moe]]
* [[En Den Dino]]
* Cumbric counting: [[Yan tan tethera]]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Children's games]]