“rooster” was the original term, in the ‘eenie meenie miny moe’ chant.
Those words (eenie meenie minie moe) may have been part of a Celtic counting system (numbers) or used to select things or eliminate things from choices being decided upon.
It is amazing to me that children still use, and make up, such elimination games, jump rope rhymes, jingles, parodies of songs, etc as their ancestors did for hundreds or thousands of years, even without the internet or international communications, Or, that some of the games we played, other children in distant parts of the world may play—or they may not be known even on the other side of town.
And this is not a racist discussion. Some of us who were white kids in the ‘70s and before DO recall times when blacks were considered another type of people, e.g. ‘not us’. They weren’t hated. No one wanted to infringe on their rights. But their antics and other stereotypes were the subject of jokes and ridicule. That is regarded as hate now, but back then, we did not seethe with hate or want to hurt anyone or see them suffer. They were just ‘not us’ and we thought ourselves better, more intelligent, cleaner, whatever.
Cultural and lifestyle differences were more divided then. Today, even in environments where children of one race are greatly outnumbered in a school or neighborhood, everyone considers everyone equal and sees little or no difference in a person who happens to be of another race. Race is still an issue, but we’ve come a long way in our acceptance of each other and our differences,