אנדנדינו (en-den-dino) — Israeli counting-out rhyme ("eeny meeny")

Etymology

The word אנדנדינו is the opening sequence of a Hebrew children's counting-out rhyme — a short nonsense verse used to randomly select one person from a group. The full phrase is the opening syllables of the rhyme: "אֶנְדֶנְדֱינוֹ" (en-den-dino), which gives the game its name.

The words themselves are meaningless. They are syllable chains derived from a pan-European counting-out rhyme of great antiquity and entirely obscure origin. The rhyme appears in many languages with varying words: English has "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe"; Yiddish has "Enge benge shtupe shtenge"; Greek has "Abe bablom tou kithe blom." The common thread is a rhythmic chain of nonsense syllables.

The Israeli version bears the closest resemblance to the Croatian counting-out rhyme: "En den dino sava raka tinu." This geographical correspondence strongly suggests that the Israeli version of the rhyme arrived with immigrants from the Balkans.

The same column discusses other Israeli children's game terminology:

• זוּג אוֹ פֶּרֶד (zug o-fered, "even or odd"): The game was originally "זוג או פרט" (using פֶּרֶט, "individual grape/pomegranate seed," attested once in the Bible, Leviticus 19:10), but "פרד" (mule) displaced "פרט" by at least 1946, likely because "פרד" was a more familiar word. The even/odd game's name itself follows Arabic mathematical terminology (זַוְג' and פַרְד, attested in Ibn Ezra's medieval commentary).
• עֵץ אוֹ פָּלִי (etz o-fali, "tree or Palestine"): The coin-toss call-game, from the British Mandate-era mil and two-mil coins, which had an olive branch on one side and "PALESTINE (E.I.)" on the other.
• אֶנְדֶנְדֱינוֹ: Before choosing, players chant "אֶנְ-דֶ-טְרוּ-אָה" — a corruption of the French un, deux, trois ("one, two, three").
• מִשְּׁלוֹשׁ יוֹצֵא אֶחָד (mishlosha yotze ekhad, "one comes out of three"): The Israeli version of Rock-Paper-Scissors, apparently arrived with Moroccan immigrants (the game is played the same way in Morocco) and appeared in Israel only in the 1970s.

Key Quotes

"אֶנְ-דֶ-טְרוּ-אָה" — countdown before opening fists in the even-or-odd game (corruption of French un, deux, trois)

Timeline

• Unknown antiquity: Counting-out rhymes develop across Eurasia
• Balkan tradition: Croatian form "en den dino sava raka tinu" develops
• Early 20th century: "זוג או פרט" documented in Hebrew (Isaac Alterman's poem, Shtilim newspaper, March 1918)
• 1929: "זוג או פרט" documented in Davar HaYom
• 1946: "זוג או פרד" (with dalet) first documented, in Haifa local paper by David Zakkai
• 1955: Coin-toss name "עץ ופלי" attested in Hebrew
• 1961: "זוג או פרד" (with dalet) documented as the more common form in Bamahane Nahal magazine
• 1970s: "משלוש יוצא אחד" (Rock-Paper-Scissors) arrives in Israel, likely via Moroccan immigration

Related Words

• Eeny meeny miny moe — English equivalent counting rhyme
• en den dino — Croatian cognate (closest to Israeli version)
• זוג או פרד — Israeli game of even-or-odd
• עץ או פלי — Israeli coin toss call