[rwfok]

The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson dates the rhyme to the mid-19th century and says that the original version was "insensitive at best." Hendrickson adds that "happily, the second line is much more frequently today `Catch a tiger by the toe.' "

The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes is a compendium of folklore and historical fact behind traditional English nursery rhymes. The vast majority date to the 1700s and 1800s, but about 10% of them are older, and a small handful are medieval or even more ancient. For instance, "Hickory, Dickory Dock" and "eenie, meenie, minie, moe" both retain traces of the British Celtic numbering system which lingered on in remote places after the Anglo-Saxon take-over.

[Mears]

These people want money,period!!!!!!!!

By the way,I remember the old,insulting poem but haven't thought of it in years. All this lawsuit does is tell the younger folks,who never heard of the original,that this is the way it used to be.Some idiots will now start saying it the old way and never would have heard about it without this ridiculous lawsuit.

I'm also for loser pays.People would think twice about filing frivolous,show me the money,lawsuits.

What a country of crybabies,Freepers excluded of course.