![]() In plain English, this would mean “all who are out can come in free”. So putting it all together, olly olly oxen free translates from childish gibberish to “all of you, all of you, out are free”. ![]() Oxen free would then mean something along the lines of “outs are free”. All ye means “all of you”.īut what does “oxen free” mean? Most likely “oxen” is a youngster’s mispronouncing of “outs in” or better yet “out are”. Think along the lines of the popular Christmas carol O Come, All Ye Faithful. Where did the phrase olly olly oxen free come from anyway? Let’s dig into this a little bit deeper and finally figure out what it really means.Īccording to some language experts, “olly” is a variation of the phonetic spelling “all ye”. But intuitively, this phrase makes little sense. Olly olly oxen free is a phrase most commonly used in children’s games, especially when playing hide and seek, to signal that other players are safe to come out of hiding.
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