Is it common for children to say “times” when pausing play?
When I was a child on the American west coast, my circle of friends would always say "times!" to suspend play and talk out of character, or otherwise suspend the rules of a game. For example, if we were playing tag, one of us could say "times!" if we got hurt, and the game would stop for a moment.
I assumed that this was a ubiquitous thing, but I was surprised to see just not that neither Merriam-Webster nor Wiktionary documents this usage of the word.
Is this an oversight, or is this a really isolated usage?
american-english slang
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
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Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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show 4 more comments
When I was a child on the American west coast, my circle of friends would always say "times!" to suspend play and talk out of character, or otherwise suspend the rules of a game. For example, if we were playing tag, one of us could say "times!" if we got hurt, and the game would stop for a moment.
I assumed that this was a ubiquitous thing, but I was surprised to see just not that neither Merriam-Webster nor Wiktionary documents this usage of the word.
Is this an oversight, or is this a really isolated usage?
american-english slang
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
New contributor
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
7
It might have to do with "Time-out" as a word for taking a short break in sports, and could be a slang/colloquialism. However, I used it as a child, and so did my circle of friends, too. Curious what the background on this is.
– psosuna
7 hours ago
1
I have never heard of this before.
– Jason Bassford
7 hours ago
5
In Texas in the 1960s (and presumably afterward) it was common for kids to shout "Time!" as a short form of "Time out!" in a game such as tag or baseball so that the applicability of some special rule or some claimed exemption from the normal rules could be hashed out. I believe that "Time!" for "Time out!" is widespread in sports at all levels throughout North America. However, I have not heard "Times!" (plural) used in this sense anywhere I've lived, which includes (for the past 35 years) the San Francisco Bay Area.
– Sven Yargs
6 hours ago
When I was a child in a suburb of London and we played in the road, anyone seeing a vehicle coming would shout “ROTTEN EGGS!, and we would all rush for the pavement (‘sidewalk’). I have no idea where it came from or who thought it up. Probably it was an example of private language.
– Tuffy
6 hours ago
1
@Tuffy Northeast American here, and we used expressions like "last one out is a rotten egg." Suggests to me that your usage wasn't particularly localized.
– user888379
6 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
When I was a child on the American west coast, my circle of friends would always say "times!" to suspend play and talk out of character, or otherwise suspend the rules of a game. For example, if we were playing tag, one of us could say "times!" if we got hurt, and the game would stop for a moment.
I assumed that this was a ubiquitous thing, but I was surprised to see just not that neither Merriam-Webster nor Wiktionary documents this usage of the word.
Is this an oversight, or is this a really isolated usage?
american-english slang
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
New contributor
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
When I was a child on the American west coast, my circle of friends would always say "times!" to suspend play and talk out of character, or otherwise suspend the rules of a game. For example, if we were playing tag, one of us could say "times!" if we got hurt, and the game would stop for a moment.
I assumed that this was a ubiquitous thing, but I was surprised to see just not that neither Merriam-Webster nor Wiktionary documents this usage of the word.
Is this an oversight, or is this a really isolated usage?
american-english slang
american-english slang
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
New contributor
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
New contributor
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
edited 6 hours ago
Mitch
51.4k15103214
51.4k15103214
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
New contributor
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
asked 7 hours ago
NickNick
361
361
New contributor
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Nick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
7
It might have to do with "Time-out" as a word for taking a short break in sports, and could be a slang/colloquialism. However, I used it as a child, and so did my circle of friends, too. Curious what the background on this is.
– psosuna
7 hours ago
1
I have never heard of this before.
– Jason Bassford
7 hours ago
5
In Texas in the 1960s (and presumably afterward) it was common for kids to shout "Time!" as a short form of "Time out!" in a game such as tag or baseball so that the applicability of some special rule or some claimed exemption from the normal rules could be hashed out. I believe that "Time!" for "Time out!" is widespread in sports at all levels throughout North America. However, I have not heard "Times!" (plural) used in this sense anywhere I've lived, which includes (for the past 35 years) the San Francisco Bay Area.
– Sven Yargs
6 hours ago
When I was a child in a suburb of London and we played in the road, anyone seeing a vehicle coming would shout “ROTTEN EGGS!, and we would all rush for the pavement (‘sidewalk’). I have no idea where it came from or who thought it up. Probably it was an example of private language.
– Tuffy
6 hours ago
1
@Tuffy Northeast American here, and we used expressions like "last one out is a rotten egg." Suggests to me that your usage wasn't particularly localized.
– user888379
6 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
7
It might have to do with "Time-out" as a word for taking a short break in sports, and could be a slang/colloquialism. However, I used it as a child, and so did my circle of friends, too. Curious what the background on this is.
– psosuna
7 hours ago
1
I have never heard of this before.
– Jason Bassford
7 hours ago
5
In Texas in the 1960s (and presumably afterward) it was common for kids to shout "Time!" as a short form of "Time out!" in a game such as tag or baseball so that the applicability of some special rule or some claimed exemption from the normal rules could be hashed out. I believe that "Time!" for "Time out!" is widespread in sports at all levels throughout North America. However, I have not heard "Times!" (plural) used in this sense anywhere I've lived, which includes (for the past 35 years) the San Francisco Bay Area.
– Sven Yargs
6 hours ago
When I was a child in a suburb of London and we played in the road, anyone seeing a vehicle coming would shout “ROTTEN EGGS!, and we would all rush for the pavement (‘sidewalk’). I have no idea where it came from or who thought it up. Probably it was an example of private language.
– Tuffy
6 hours ago
1
@Tuffy Northeast American here, and we used expressions like "last one out is a rotten egg." Suggests to me that your usage wasn't particularly localized.
– user888379
6 hours ago
7
7
It might have to do with "Time-out" as a word for taking a short break in sports, and could be a slang/colloquialism. However, I used it as a child, and so did my circle of friends, too. Curious what the background on this is.
– psosuna
7 hours ago
It might have to do with "Time-out" as a word for taking a short break in sports, and could be a slang/colloquialism. However, I used it as a child, and so did my circle of friends, too. Curious what the background on this is.
– psosuna
7 hours ago
1
1
I have never heard of this before.
– Jason Bassford
7 hours ago
I have never heard of this before.
– Jason Bassford
7 hours ago
5
5
In Texas in the 1960s (and presumably afterward) it was common for kids to shout "Time!" as a short form of "Time out!" in a game such as tag or baseball so that the applicability of some special rule or some claimed exemption from the normal rules could be hashed out. I believe that "Time!" for "Time out!" is widespread in sports at all levels throughout North America. However, I have not heard "Times!" (plural) used in this sense anywhere I've lived, which includes (for the past 35 years) the San Francisco Bay Area.
– Sven Yargs
6 hours ago
In Texas in the 1960s (and presumably afterward) it was common for kids to shout "Time!" as a short form of "Time out!" in a game such as tag or baseball so that the applicability of some special rule or some claimed exemption from the normal rules could be hashed out. I believe that "Time!" for "Time out!" is widespread in sports at all levels throughout North America. However, I have not heard "Times!" (plural) used in this sense anywhere I've lived, which includes (for the past 35 years) the San Francisco Bay Area.
– Sven Yargs
6 hours ago
When I was a child in a suburb of London and we played in the road, anyone seeing a vehicle coming would shout “ROTTEN EGGS!, and we would all rush for the pavement (‘sidewalk’). I have no idea where it came from or who thought it up. Probably it was an example of private language.
– Tuffy
6 hours ago
When I was a child in a suburb of London and we played in the road, anyone seeing a vehicle coming would shout “ROTTEN EGGS!, and we would all rush for the pavement (‘sidewalk’). I have no idea where it came from or who thought it up. Probably it was an example of private language.
– Tuffy
6 hours ago
1
1
@Tuffy Northeast American here, and we used expressions like "last one out is a rotten egg." Suggests to me that your usage wasn't particularly localized.
– user888379
6 hours ago
@Tuffy Northeast American here, and we used expressions like "last one out is a rotten egg." Suggests to me that your usage wasn't particularly localized.
– user888379
6 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
As reported in J. Benjamins' 1996 Focus on the USA (results from a 1994 survey), of 296 informants ("younger people") responding to "In a game of tag, if a player wants to rest, what does he call out so that he can’t be tagged?" (DARE Question EE17),
Times was reported 20 times...times has spread as far west as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Minnesota, as well as one response in Arizona.
[As quoted in Dictionary of American Regional English Online; paywalled.]
The simple exclamation 'times!' is one of several variants. DARE supposes the sense is probably "transf[erred] from time out a brief suspension of play in var[ious] organized sports (OED2 time out...)" (op. cit.).
Of the variants time(s), times out, and times ex (rare), DARE observes that ex in the equivalent phrase king's ex
is often assumed to be an abbr[eviation] for excuse, [but] it seems more likely that it, as well as (s)cruce(s) and crosses, refers to the act of crossing the fingers, often an essentail part of claiming a truce or time out.
[From the entry for "king's ex exclam, n", DARE (paywalled).]
In addition to DARE and Benjamins' more 'scientific' data collection, commenters at this site (ELU) attest the use of the exclamation 'times!', sometimes accompanied by a 'T' hand gesture, in the children's game sense of "time out" in California (undated, and 1980s) and Nova Scotia (1990s), etc.
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
We yelled Time! or Time out! or I call time! in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Twelve Mile Circle.
– TRomano
4 hours ago
As far west as Texas? As a Californian, I can say with absolute certainty it made its way all the way.
– Anoplexian
2 hours ago
As a kid in the 90s, I said this in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'd say it's likely fairly widespread.
– Sandy Chapman
1 hour ago
My elementary school friends and I in 1980s Southern California definitely called times to ask for a pause in play, accompanied with a T gesture with our hands to signify a time out, but without prejudice against time out!
– choster
1 hour ago
add a comment |
I used this phrase exactly this way in Texas as a child.
You'll have better luck looking in the Dictionary of American Regional English for phrases like this rather than a standard dictionary like MW.
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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As reported in J. Benjamins' 1996 Focus on the USA (results from a 1994 survey), of 296 informants ("younger people") responding to "In a game of tag, if a player wants to rest, what does he call out so that he can’t be tagged?" (DARE Question EE17),
Times was reported 20 times...times has spread as far west as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Minnesota, as well as one response in Arizona.
[As quoted in Dictionary of American Regional English Online; paywalled.]
The simple exclamation 'times!' is one of several variants. DARE supposes the sense is probably "transf[erred] from time out a brief suspension of play in var[ious] organized sports (OED2 time out...)" (op. cit.).
Of the variants time(s), times out, and times ex (rare), DARE observes that ex in the equivalent phrase king's ex
is often assumed to be an abbr[eviation] for excuse, [but] it seems more likely that it, as well as (s)cruce(s) and crosses, refers to the act of crossing the fingers, often an essentail part of claiming a truce or time out.
[From the entry for "king's ex exclam, n", DARE (paywalled).]
In addition to DARE and Benjamins' more 'scientific' data collection, commenters at this site (ELU) attest the use of the exclamation 'times!', sometimes accompanied by a 'T' hand gesture, in the children's game sense of "time out" in California (undated, and 1980s) and Nova Scotia (1990s), etc.
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
We yelled Time! or Time out! or I call time! in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Twelve Mile Circle.
– TRomano
4 hours ago
As far west as Texas? As a Californian, I can say with absolute certainty it made its way all the way.
– Anoplexian
2 hours ago
As a kid in the 90s, I said this in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'd say it's likely fairly widespread.
– Sandy Chapman
1 hour ago
My elementary school friends and I in 1980s Southern California definitely called times to ask for a pause in play, accompanied with a T gesture with our hands to signify a time out, but without prejudice against time out!
– choster
1 hour ago
add a comment |
As reported in J. Benjamins' 1996 Focus on the USA (results from a 1994 survey), of 296 informants ("younger people") responding to "In a game of tag, if a player wants to rest, what does he call out so that he can’t be tagged?" (DARE Question EE17),
Times was reported 20 times...times has spread as far west as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Minnesota, as well as one response in Arizona.
[As quoted in Dictionary of American Regional English Online; paywalled.]
The simple exclamation 'times!' is one of several variants. DARE supposes the sense is probably "transf[erred] from time out a brief suspension of play in var[ious] organized sports (OED2 time out...)" (op. cit.).
Of the variants time(s), times out, and times ex (rare), DARE observes that ex in the equivalent phrase king's ex
is often assumed to be an abbr[eviation] for excuse, [but] it seems more likely that it, as well as (s)cruce(s) and crosses, refers to the act of crossing the fingers, often an essentail part of claiming a truce or time out.
[From the entry for "king's ex exclam, n", DARE (paywalled).]
In addition to DARE and Benjamins' more 'scientific' data collection, commenters at this site (ELU) attest the use of the exclamation 'times!', sometimes accompanied by a 'T' hand gesture, in the children's game sense of "time out" in California (undated, and 1980s) and Nova Scotia (1990s), etc.
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
We yelled Time! or Time out! or I call time! in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Twelve Mile Circle.
– TRomano
4 hours ago
As far west as Texas? As a Californian, I can say with absolute certainty it made its way all the way.
– Anoplexian
2 hours ago
As a kid in the 90s, I said this in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'd say it's likely fairly widespread.
– Sandy Chapman
1 hour ago
My elementary school friends and I in 1980s Southern California definitely called times to ask for a pause in play, accompanied with a T gesture with our hands to signify a time out, but without prejudice against time out!
– choster
1 hour ago
add a comment |
As reported in J. Benjamins' 1996 Focus on the USA (results from a 1994 survey), of 296 informants ("younger people") responding to "In a game of tag, if a player wants to rest, what does he call out so that he can’t be tagged?" (DARE Question EE17),
Times was reported 20 times...times has spread as far west as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Minnesota, as well as one response in Arizona.
[As quoted in Dictionary of American Regional English Online; paywalled.]
The simple exclamation 'times!' is one of several variants. DARE supposes the sense is probably "transf[erred] from time out a brief suspension of play in var[ious] organized sports (OED2 time out...)" (op. cit.).
Of the variants time(s), times out, and times ex (rare), DARE observes that ex in the equivalent phrase king's ex
is often assumed to be an abbr[eviation] for excuse, [but] it seems more likely that it, as well as (s)cruce(s) and crosses, refers to the act of crossing the fingers, often an essentail part of claiming a truce or time out.
[From the entry for "king's ex exclam, n", DARE (paywalled).]
In addition to DARE and Benjamins' more 'scientific' data collection, commenters at this site (ELU) attest the use of the exclamation 'times!', sometimes accompanied by a 'T' hand gesture, in the children's game sense of "time out" in California (undated, and 1980s) and Nova Scotia (1990s), etc.
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
As reported in J. Benjamins' 1996 Focus on the USA (results from a 1994 survey), of 296 informants ("younger people") responding to "In a game of tag, if a player wants to rest, what does he call out so that he can’t be tagged?" (DARE Question EE17),
Times was reported 20 times...times has spread as far west as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Minnesota, as well as one response in Arizona.
[As quoted in Dictionary of American Regional English Online; paywalled.]
The simple exclamation 'times!' is one of several variants. DARE supposes the sense is probably "transf[erred] from time out a brief suspension of play in var[ious] organized sports (OED2 time out...)" (op. cit.).
Of the variants time(s), times out, and times ex (rare), DARE observes that ex in the equivalent phrase king's ex
is often assumed to be an abbr[eviation] for excuse, [but] it seems more likely that it, as well as (s)cruce(s) and crosses, refers to the act of crossing the fingers, often an essentail part of claiming a truce or time out.
[From the entry for "king's ex exclam, n", DARE (paywalled).]
In addition to DARE and Benjamins' more 'scientific' data collection, commenters at this site (ELU) attest the use of the exclamation 'times!', sometimes accompanied by a 'T' hand gesture, in the children's game sense of "time out" in California (undated, and 1980s) and Nova Scotia (1990s), etc.
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
edited 1 hour ago
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
answered 4 hours ago
JELJEL
27k45190
27k45190
We yelled Time! or Time out! or I call time! in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Twelve Mile Circle.
– TRomano
4 hours ago
As far west as Texas? As a Californian, I can say with absolute certainty it made its way all the way.
– Anoplexian
2 hours ago
As a kid in the 90s, I said this in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'd say it's likely fairly widespread.
– Sandy Chapman
1 hour ago
My elementary school friends and I in 1980s Southern California definitely called times to ask for a pause in play, accompanied with a T gesture with our hands to signify a time out, but without prejudice against time out!
– choster
1 hour ago
add a comment |
We yelled Time! or Time out! or I call time! in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Twelve Mile Circle.
– TRomano
4 hours ago
As far west as Texas? As a Californian, I can say with absolute certainty it made its way all the way.
– Anoplexian
2 hours ago
As a kid in the 90s, I said this in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'd say it's likely fairly widespread.
– Sandy Chapman
1 hour ago
My elementary school friends and I in 1980s Southern California definitely called times to ask for a pause in play, accompanied with a T gesture with our hands to signify a time out, but without prejudice against time out!
– choster
1 hour ago
We yelled Time! or Time out! or I call time! in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Twelve Mile Circle.
– TRomano
4 hours ago
We yelled Time! or Time out! or I call time! in southeastern Pennsylvania, near the Twelve Mile Circle.
– TRomano
4 hours ago
As far west as Texas? As a Californian, I can say with absolute certainty it made its way all the way.
– Anoplexian
2 hours ago
As far west as Texas? As a Californian, I can say with absolute certainty it made its way all the way.
– Anoplexian
2 hours ago
As a kid in the 90s, I said this in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'd say it's likely fairly widespread.
– Sandy Chapman
1 hour ago
As a kid in the 90s, I said this in Nova Scotia, Canada. So I'd say it's likely fairly widespread.
– Sandy Chapman
1 hour ago
My elementary school friends and I in 1980s Southern California definitely called times to ask for a pause in play, accompanied with a T gesture with our hands to signify a time out, but without prejudice against time out!
– choster
1 hour ago
My elementary school friends and I in 1980s Southern California definitely called times to ask for a pause in play, accompanied with a T gesture with our hands to signify a time out, but without prejudice against time out!
– choster
1 hour ago
add a comment |
I used this phrase exactly this way in Texas as a child.
You'll have better luck looking in the Dictionary of American Regional English for phrases like this rather than a standard dictionary like MW.
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
add a comment |
I used this phrase exactly this way in Texas as a child.
You'll have better luck looking in the Dictionary of American Regional English for phrases like this rather than a standard dictionary like MW.
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
add a comment |
I used this phrase exactly this way in Texas as a child.
You'll have better luck looking in the Dictionary of American Regional English for phrases like this rather than a standard dictionary like MW.
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
I used this phrase exactly this way in Texas as a child.
You'll have better luck looking in the Dictionary of American Regional English for phrases like this rather than a standard dictionary like MW.
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
answered 6 hours ago
MarkTOMarkTO
1,05837
1,05837
add a comment |
add a comment |
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Nick is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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7
It might have to do with "Time-out" as a word for taking a short break in sports, and could be a slang/colloquialism. However, I used it as a child, and so did my circle of friends, too. Curious what the background on this is.
– psosuna
7 hours ago
1
I have never heard of this before.
– Jason Bassford
7 hours ago
5
In Texas in the 1960s (and presumably afterward) it was common for kids to shout "Time!" as a short form of "Time out!" in a game such as tag or baseball so that the applicability of some special rule or some claimed exemption from the normal rules could be hashed out. I believe that "Time!" for "Time out!" is widespread in sports at all levels throughout North America. However, I have not heard "Times!" (plural) used in this sense anywhere I've lived, which includes (for the past 35 years) the San Francisco Bay Area.
– Sven Yargs
6 hours ago
When I was a child in a suburb of London and we played in the road, anyone seeing a vehicle coming would shout “ROTTEN EGGS!, and we would all rush for the pavement (‘sidewalk’). I have no idea where it came from or who thought it up. Probably it was an example of private language.
– Tuffy
6 hours ago
1
@Tuffy Northeast American here, and we used expressions like "last one out is a rotten egg." Suggests to me that your usage wasn't particularly localized.
– user888379
6 hours ago