The children’s game of frozen statues putting players in awkward poses, which they must then hold for a while. This outdoor pastime has many variations and goes by many names, including falling statues, swinging statues, squat-where-you-be, statue makers, and game of statues. A similar game of spinning around together and then releasing each other is called going to Texas. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Swinging Statues”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.
I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette.
Think back to the games that you played as a child outside, all afternoon until dusk came and you got called home to supper. What games were you playing?
A lot of the ones that I played involved running around. And one of them was called Frozen Statues.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you ever play that?
Swinging Statues is what we called that.
Well, it’s interesting that you say that because I was looking in the Dictionary of American Regional English, and there are so many versions of this statue game. Of course, I grew up with frozen statues, and so I thought that was the canonical term.
Of course, yeah, yeah. But there are all kinds of them. Falling statues, slinging statues, squat where you be, statue maker, swinging statues. Did you play this like we played it?
So you grab another child by the wrist. You each grab each other’s wrist, and then you stand in the center, and you swing them around you a couple of times, and then you let go. And however they land, that’s their frozen position.
Yeah, and what is the point of that?
It’s being goofy.
I guess it is. Remember we had a call years ago about somebody who called that going to Texas? Do you remember that? Swimming somebody around like that?
Oh, yeah, going to Texas.
That’s right, yeah. Our version of Frozen Statues was actually kind of like freeze tag.
Yeah, freeze tag. We played that too, but we called it freeze tag. How long did you freeze?
I think there were a couple different versions. Usually it fell apart before the game could have ever finished.
Right. Somebody wasn’t happy standing there while they had to stay frozen because you could punish another child by not unfreezing them. So they had to stand there in a ridiculous position for a long time.
There’s a reference to a game like this in the Dictionary of American Regional English from 1871, and it’s called Game of Statues. And here’s the description. Everybody’s a statue excepting the two who enact a showman and a would-be purchaser. The showman must be the quote-unquote funny one of the family. He describes the statues, turns them around, gives the prices, regrets that this one’s nose was a little injured in packing, and that one got dirty on the voyage and hasn’t had its face washed yet. The statues, meantime, standing perfectly still with immovable faces. Anyone who moves or laughs is punished by a forfeit. So they’re out.
It’s called Game of Statues. They’re out, and the last one standing becomes, what, the new showman or the new it’s?
Yeah, I think I would like to play that as an adult with my friends. But freeze tag was basically you caught people, you froze them into place.
Yeah. And then the last person to still be free after you froze them, they were the next it.
Yeah. But a lot of statues games. I’d love to hear what our listeners played.
Yeah. It’s a perfect dovetail of language and folklore, right? But different names are exactly the same thing.
Right. And you think yours is the only one. And then a kid moves in from another town. They’ve got a new name for Red Rover, Red Rover, St. Martha. Her mother may I. Our mother may. Red light, green light. Simon Says.
Yeah. 877-929-9673. Email words@waywordradio.org.
