Just wondering...

[azziria]

When you were young, and used to play catch (tag), did you have an off-limits area where you couldn't be caught, where you could go if you needed to catch your breath? And if you did, what did you call it?

We used to call it 'cree', which I'm now thinking might be a local dialect word from the West Country. Anyone else heard it/use it?

Comments

[marquesate.livejournal.com]

Yep, and we used to call it Hoelle (o umlaut) = Hell.

[avalonauggie.livejournal.com]

out-of-bounds? seriously, I don't think we had any real special term for it. aside from maybe "Safe."

[firesignwriter.livejournal.com]

Where I grew up (Alabama and Florida), kids universally called it "safe." A game would be getting ready to start. Some poor panicked young'un who tired easily would jump in and say, with an edge of shrillness to his/her voice, "But where's safe?" And a tree, the side of a barn, the roof of a car or the top of a sandhill would be declared.

Though you were certainly frowned on if you proved wussy enough to stay at safe all the time.

[ihlanya.livejournal.com]

We called it 'home'. But I think 'cree' is a North American Indian word meaning 'tribe'.

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

Our word for it was (in Michigan) and is (in Northern California):

BASE!

If none is called before a game, a tree or porch step or something along those lines may be declared "base" partway through a game, by running to it deliberately and crying "base". This ploy is invariably used by the smallest to evade the largest. However, there is usually a limit of one call of "base" per gaame, and all subsequent use of "base" must be at the site first designated as such.

If one participant is very much smaller than the bulk of the players, a blind eye is cast to the constant re-designation of new bases by that individual, and the small one is considered out-of-bounds whenever the cry of "base" goes up from little lips.

I'm very much enjoying this discussion of children's games.