Olly olly oxen free (and variants: olly olly umphrey, olly olly ee, outtie outtie let's be free, olly olly oxen tree, all-y all-y all set free, All-Ye All-Ye In Come Free. olly olly in come free, ally alley ocean free, olly olly ogden free, etc.) is a catchphrase used in children's games such as hide and seek, capture the flag, or kick the can 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. Cassidy and Hall write that the phrase may be derived from 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. Various calls used for such purposes have gone by the collective name of "ollyoxalls" in some places. Tukey and Rowell speculate that the phrase may be a corruption of a hypothetical and ungrammatical German phrase alle, alle, auch sind frei (all, all, are also free). Another possible origin might be the Greek language. Óloi óloi éxo (???? ???? ????) would translate to "everybody everybody out."
This game is also played as a combination of kick the can and hide and seek. A person is picked as "It" and will close their eyes for a specific amount of time as the other players hide. When the time draws to a close "It" may open their eyes and seek for the rest of the players. A player may come out of their hiding spot, run towards the can, and jump over or kick the can whilst yelling the phrase "olly olly oxen free". However, if the person is touched, caught or seen by "It" they must go to "jail" (which is simply a designated area where players who are caught stay until released). This player is now considered free and cannot be jailed. Other players may now come out of hiding if they so choose without being jailed for being seen. Once every player is either jailed or free the game may start anew.
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In popular culture
- Perry Como released a novelty song in 1941 entitled "Ollie Ollie Outs in Free".
- In the Star Trek episode "Miri", the red head boy says, "But they don't see us. We hide. Olly olly oxen free!"; the other children reply, "Olly olly oxen free! Olly olly oxen free! Olly olly oxen free!"
- A 1978 Katharine Hepburn film is titled Olly Olly Oxen Free.
- The band R.E.M. uses this phrase in their 1992 hit song "Drive", where they sing "Ollie ollie ollie ollie ollie, Ollie ollie in come free, baby."
- In the 1995 Seinfeld season 7, episode 8 show "The Pool Guy", Newman yells the phrase as he is running toward the pool to jump in.
- In the 2004 album Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood first disc, track number 2 is named "Olley Oxen Free", from the video game The Neverhood.
- In the 2016 film Lavender, the children play hide and seek and use the term "olly olly oxen free", and Jane as a child repeats the term as she falls asleep.
- Ronnie Radke, of the band Falling in Reverse, sings this phrase in his band's song "Bad Girls Club", released on June 17th, 2013 as track #2 of their album titled "Fashionably Late". The relevant verse is; "Olly Olly Olly Oxen Free, all the bad girls come cheer with me."
- The phrase is frequently featured in the Halo series as a code phrase used between SPARTAN-II Super Soldiers.
- In season 1 episode 12 of Mad Men titled "Nixon vs. Kennedy" Ken Cosgrove yells the phrase to his coworkers indicating the bosses have left the office so they may begin drinking & partying while watching the 1960 presidential election (where they believe Nixon will be the winner).
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References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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