Olly olly oxen free (and variants: ollie ollie umphrey, olly-olly-ee, ally ally in free, ally alley ocean free, etc. ) is a catchphrase used in such children's games as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game, that the position of the sides in a game has changed (as in which side is in the field or which side is at bat or "up" in baseball or kickball), or, alternatively, that the game is entirely over. It is thought to derive from the phrase "All ye, all ye 'outs' in free,","All the outs in free" or possibly "Calling all the 'outs' in free;" in other words: all who are "out" may come in without penalty. However, this may not be the etymology at all--"Olly olly oxen free" is suspiciously close to the German phrase "Alle, alle auch sind frei," meaning "everyone, everyone is also free." Various calls used for such purposes have gone by the collective name of "ollyoxalls" in some places.
The phrase can also be used to coordinate hidden players in the game kick the can, in which a group of people hide within a given radius and a "seeker" is left to guard a can filled with rocks. The seeker has to try to find the "hiders" without allowing them to sneak in and kick the can. In many areas the phrase used is "All-y all-y in come free" which is a way to tell the remainder of hidden players that it is time to regroup in order to restart the game. The phrase is announced by a hider who successfully sneaks in and kicks the can.
An old version of the phrase is "all ye, all ye, all come free."
The phrase was re-invented for the song Ally Ally Oxen Free written by Rod McKuen and Sammy Yates in a critique of aluminium oxide pollution. The song was recorded by The Kingston Trio and featured on their 1963 album Time to Think.
Read more about Olly Olly Oxen Free: Cultural References
Famous quotes containing the words oxen and/or free:
“Our panaceas cure but few ails, our general hospitals are private and exclusive. We must set up another Hygeia than is now worshiped. Do not the quacks even direct small doses for children, larger for adults, and larger still for oxen and horses? Let us remember that we are to prescribe for the globe itself.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The best protection parents can have against the nightmare of a daycare arrangement where someone might hurt their child is to choose a place that encourages parents to drop in at any time and that facilitates communication among parents using the program. If parents are free to drop in and if they exercise this right, it is not likely that adults in that place are behaving in ways that harm children.”
—Gwen Morgan (20th century)