Jump to content

Talk:Tag (game): Difference between revisions

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Line 167: Line 167:
What does that term even mean? I always told people that I'm not an "it"[[User:74.195.5.83|74.195.5.83]] 00:24, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
What does that term even mean? I always told people that I'm not an "it"[[User:74.195.5.83|74.195.5.83]] 00:24, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
:"It" means you are the one who has to tag the other people. Are you kidding me? [[User:Zweifel|Zweifel]] 20:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
:"It" means you are the one who has to tag the other people. Are you kidding me? [[User:Zweifel|Zweifel]] 20:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
::I'd love to know the route of that expression.


== Thorn Tag ==
== Thorn Tag ==

Revision as of 03:57, 10 March 2009


Re:Smear the Queer--I'm not sure the distinction between the Victorian sense and the modern sense is firmly grasped by all of the players.

Meelar 04:27, 19 Mar 2004 (UTC)


Heh, compared to other articles I've started, this one is sure getting a lot of attention. It's great! Perhaps everyone is nostalgic for the days when they played these games as kids? I know I am... being a smaller kid, I could always fit into the best hiding spots in Hide and Seek. :) Thanks, everyone! Garrett Albright 23:14, 23 Mar 2004 (UTC)


Sorry if I am being curmudgeonly in saying so, but in my opinion, this article could use a major overhaul. The "variants" section has numerous redundancies under different names, some variant descriptions are confusing or not even internally consistent, and there is no uniformity of terminology (tag, tig, tug, "it", "on", etc.). I also feel that although related games like Hide and Seek or Dodgeball should be mentioned but not necessarily considered variants of tag as they are well-known distinct games. I realize that because this is a widely varying and constantly evolving childs game it is impossible to cover it all, but as an article, we should strive to be concise even if the game itself is not. I would make the changes myself but I am afraid that in doing so it would be a significant enough change as to get reverted right away unless I brought it up in advance. Does anyone else have thoughts on it? norm77 19:59, 15 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The Opies adopt the name "Touch" for this class of games. A useful term in my view. Francis Davey 12:39, 10 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Local variants

Given that such games very often have local variations, I wonder if there is scope for apage structure to allow people to indicate where particular rules are popular (the 'lifting' variant of British Bulldog was de rigueur in my part of southern England (and is now banned in all schools!). Icundell 13:59, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Sure, why the heck not? Garrett Albright 06:32, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)

According to a study done in New Zealand into Playground Language by Laurie and Winifred Bauer (2002), the word "Tig" is the term mainly used in Scotland. They refer to several sources in their study to back this up. I myself grew up in Scotland and the term "Tig" was always used and I have never heard of the term "Chase". Though, when I used to holiday in Southern England when I was a kid I would often play "Tag" with other kids instead of "Tig", though in London it was always "Tig" as in Scotland and Northern England.

The web address of the New Zealand study: - http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/research/Playground/docs/lip11.pdf

When I was a kid, we played a game called "Vampires" that was a tag variant. "It" tags people and they are frozen. If someone who isn't frozen tagged them back, they were unfrozen and they could run around again. When someone was frozen, they had to count up to a certain number, like 30. And once they reach the determined number, they were "it" along with the original "it." That way, eventually everyone became a "Vampire" and the last person left who wasn't "it", ie wasn't a Vampire, became the new "it" for the next round. Good fun. It's probably not suitable for this article unless other people played a similar game. I think we might have made up the exact variant ourselves. ---Peter 03:52, 6 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That very similar to "Freeze Tag" where I grew up. In Freeze Tag, however, people stay frozen "forever", or until everyone is frozen (at which point "It" is the winner); if one person is frozen and unfrozen three times, they become "It". 69.202.64.25 —Preceding signed but undated comment was added at 22:47, 2 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]


I see you have a snub for every game, why are they not coalated on one page under a viaent title. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.238.252.2 (talk) 22:37, 14 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]


freeze tag

I recall paying this variant of the game many times as a child an not once did I hear anything about crawling in between someones legs to unfreeze them. I recall a none it player had to merely touch the frozen player. This is an example of how this article is more speculation than anything. It should be stressed more in the article that there are no definite rules and that they change from playground to playground. Salted Dragon (talk) 06:16, 22 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

History

It might be a bit difficult, but I feel that tag should have some kind of history section. How much is known about the origins of tag? Did it exist in some form in all cultures? Is it as old as human society? Has it ever been celebrated as more than just a game for kids? I think there's a lot of material that could be added to a history section, if someone's willing to do the research. It isn't an easy google, though. -- Oarih 17:20, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I think the trouble is that much of it comes from oral history. I would imagine that more recently, many of these games would be written down in elementary school phys-ed manuals, since my PE teachers were the first ones I ever learned some of these games from. Sharks and minnows, for example, I first learned as a game we would play at the end of swim class. Other variants I would imagine come as natural adaptations of the original game suited to the enviroment, with rule changes happening every five minutes, or as soon as someone shouts "that's not fair!" --Trevheg 14:14, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I belive that the game will have its origins in many cultures and will be played by kids as a form of copying their parents on the hunt for pray. This game mimics very well the act of hunter and hunted much like a gazel running from a lion. This therey could date it back to the earlest of free thinking and playing men. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.238.252.2 (talk) 22:22, 14 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Name of the game

  • Changed "Kill the guy who's got it" in the 'Smear the Queer' section to "Kill the guy with the ball" which is a much more common name. The later returns thousands of hits on Google.com, whereas the former returns none.

--Whimper 07:56, Feb 17, 2005 (UTC)

this is plain silly: "(the word is used in the Victorian sense of "strange person" rather than the modern definition of "homosexual", though contemporary players may interpret it in the latter sense)" -- what is the source of the author's psychic power regarding this matter? Anyway, another version of the name I've heard is "kill the pig". The hostility in the non-pc meaning of "queer" is I am sure well understand by anyone still using the term. When I played as a kid, I assumed we just called it that because it rhymed.


When I played, we always called it "Kill the Cow". I actually never heard of "Smeer the Queer" until now. It might have just been a local thing, though, but it might be worth mentioning as an alternate name.


I grew up knowing the game as smear the queer and I lived in Ann Arbor Michigan

--Slump 00:55, 2 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

i grew up in pittsburgh, PA and "it" was always smear the queer or murder ball, and jimmy cunningham was always the best at "it". --Greg Alan Zimmerman 02:54, 16 June 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gregz08 (talkcontribs)

Manhunt

When I read the rules for this game they seemed vastly different than how I remembered playing it, and sure enough Wikipedia has a seperate article on the game Manhunt which describes it how I remember it. I believe the Manhunt article should be merged with the current description of this tag variant.

--Jonathan Munz 01:36, 29 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I've done my best to fix this: the entry is linked to, and is closer fitting, with Manhunt (people game), and IRA has been moved to it's own subcategory (although this is somewhat unsatisfactory.)Threedeeglasses 18:08, 23 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Flashlight Tag

I removed the following:

Another variation of this game is when you have the same principle but the "it" player is called your mom. The goal is to kill "your mom". To accomplish this you must chase down "your mom", tie them up, and shine a flashlight in their eyes until they are blinded by the light. Once "your mom" is blinded the first player to catch them becomes the new "your mom".

Unless someone has a reference, I'm assuming this is a joke. Maybe I had an unusual childhood, but I don't remember playing any variants of tag that involved serial blinding, bondage, and killing your mom. --Clay Collier 10:00, 4 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]


In new zealand we have a viaent called spotlight tag, this is mostly played by scouts. The 'it' person is equipt with a flashlight and waits eyes closed for everyone to hide outside in the dead of night, in long grass, between trashcans, etc. Then they go and try to tag them with a flashlight. The hiders are free to move but risk being found, theres one version were if the seeker is having trubble they can call for the hiders to run to new locations where he can try to track them to find them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.238.252.2 (talk) 22:28, 14 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Flashlight tag was played in Canada as described above when I was growing up in the 80's.Kea2 (talk) 06:46, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]


Also another version popular in New Zealand (I dont know how to make new titles) is freeze tag, where the seekers upon tagging a runner freeze them where they have to stand in place untill a runner tags them again. When all runners are frozen the game begins again. This is usually played in teams with on seeker to every 3-6 runners. There is also a mod for quake 3 arena based on this game. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.238.252.2 (talk) 22:34, 14 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dub-dub-in

Did anyone every play this game but it was called "Go Home Stay Home" and you had to say that when you. returned to base? I think it might just be a New Zealand thing. --202.154.128.150 07:05, 9 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Prisoners in the Pit

Back at school (Swanbourne House, Buckinghamshire, UK) we used to play a game called 'Prisoners in the Pit.' It shows some similarities to 'Alien Tag,' except it is played in two equal teams; the "hunters" spread out to find the "runners." When a hunter tags a runner, they escort them back to the 'pit' (the 'base' in Alien Tag - our school had a sunken lawn with fairly steep edges so the 'pit' literally was a pit) and the runner must stay within the pit (can sit/stand/pace/whatever). Other runners can try and make it back to the pit untagged, and if a runner manages to run down into the pit without being tagged, they free all the runners in the pit, who are given a short period of immunity in which to get away. The fact that the game is played in teams allows for much more strategic action - it was common for hunters to travel in pairs, or for two or three hunters to remain at the pit as guards. The game also differs from Alien Tag in that a scoring system is in place; the hunters earn one point for each runner brought back to the pit, plus two points for each runner left in the pit at the end of the game; the runners earn (two + number of people in pit) points whenever they manage to free the pit.

However, I'm afraid I can't find anywhere to verify the info; I'm just going off what I remember (which may be innacurate). Anyone seen this game played, or seen any reference to it elsewhere?


- We play a game similar to this in New Hampshire, but we call it relevo, and when someone is caught they have to say "1, 2, 3, caught by me" while holding onto the caught player. If they can't do that, the player gets to go free. When people are trying to release the prisoners in "jail" they have to say "1, 2, 3, relevo" without getting caught, otherwise they just get added to the jail. The jail can only have 1 guard. I haven't been able to find anything on relevo, so that's why I looked on the wiki. (Relevo is pronounced relieve-o)

This sounds like a game that I played at church called "Romans and Christians." It was played in the church building with all the lights off, and the Romans tried to catch all of the Christians and put them in a designated jail. Meanwhile, one of the Romans was secretly a Christian, and would designate a secret church, which all of the Christians tried to get to. If a decided number of Christians were arrested, the Romans won, and likewise, if that number of Christians got to the secret church, they won. I browsed Google for it, and I found only a few references to it, but one was in Connecticut, and I've lived in Missouri all my life, so it seems to cover a large area, at least. Ghostofgauss 02:14, 5 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I already added that game under "Teams". I grew up in Ireland, and we used an area underneath a water tank as "Jail". We always had a girls team v. a boys team. We just called it "chasing", and the hunters were "On" while the runners were "Not On". EamonnPKeane 19:13, 31 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]


What is the name of this tag?

As a kid we played a version I don't know the name of. The point of this game is that everyone gathers in pairs linked arm-in-arm, usually boy/girl, with two or more people odd out. One is "it" and the other is the one they chase. The "chasee" gains safety by linking arms with a member of one of the pairs. The person they did not link arms with is then the chasee, who has to run and join to another pair and so on. For example, John and Mary are linked, Steve runs up and links arms with Mary, so John has to run from "it". If a person gets tagged, they are "it". Some variations have the players standing up or lying down. I know I have played this game in school, but I can't remember the actual name is, which is why I haven't added to the actual article. If someone played this variant and remembers the actual name can you let me know so I can add it to the article? Or you can add it if you want. --Trevheg 11:23, 5 January 2007 (UTC)--Trevheg 14:13, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sources

Where are the sources on this article? How am I to tell if any of these variants actually exist? How much of this is original research? Gsham 00:12, 17 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

People just add the games they played as kids, i suppose. EamonnPKeane 13:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yah, I think asking for sources is absurd. --Emplynx 04:04, 31 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not necessarily... what about Children's Games in Street and Playground by Iona and Peter Opie, for example? Loganberry (Talk) 01:58, 5 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Sources ought to be mandatory for facts such as the one that says that tag was banned from New Jersey schools. A source, perhaps one linking to a newspaper article or something, would be nice. Something like that isn't common knowledge and Wikipedia contributors need to cite the sources! --Brandon Dilbeck 22:11, 15 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There is a very thorough (and in my view authoritative) account of the names given to the game of Touch in the United Kingdom in "Children's Games in Street and Playground" by Iona and Peter Opie. This article reads like it was written by someone who had not read the Opie's work and knew next to nothing of the scholarship on the subject - they are just writing down all they know. Why call the article Tag for instance? That is POV since it is only one term of many. Francis Davey 14:55, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Does anyone ever wonder how some of these games ended up so wide-spread? Do they spread by kids sharing them with their cousins, kids moving and bringing these games? I seem to remember many of these games either taught to us by our PE teachers or by our parents. I agree that much of this has to come with our memories of childhood. Has anyone asked children today what versions they play? --Trevheg 14:14, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Ghost in the Graveyard

I just wanted to point out I've often heard this game called green ghost.

Smiteable

Tag is not, nor will it ever be, a "smiteable" game.

Whatever does this mean? Marnanel 13:19, 24 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, this sentence doesn't make a lot of sense. The best I can figure from the context of following commentary on the game being banned in some schools is that the statement is trying to say no one could ever completely prevent kids from playing tag. This seems like it is obvious enough that it doesn't merit inclusion, however, and should probably be removed or at least restated. I'll remove it unless someone objects. norm77 17:56, 15 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Strategy

Can anyone justify the strategy depth of "high" in the information box? What possible strategies could there be, apart from "Don't get caught" or "Target the slow people"? "Strategy" is only mentioned once again in the article, and only in an informal sense. 134.58.253.113 09:41, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sure I can justify anything, here goes...you try to stay as far away as the person who is it, randomise your paths, when being pursued you run towards other people and try to get them being chased instead of you, do not run when you don't need to (save energy), , target the slow people when it, be sneaky and not make much noise, catch people as they're walking around corners, chase people away into the path of the person who is actually it and I ran out of ideas. --WikiSlasher 06:56, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what is called original research.
Tag doesn't have any strategies, you just try to tag the one nearest to you, and if he is too fast for you, you either change your target to the next person nearer to you or you persist and keep trying to tag him. Well, in freeze tag (the only variant that I played by the way), there would be more room for strategies, as most of those games have more than one 'it's unless the number of players is really small. In other words, if there is only one 'it', there is no so-called strategy. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 220.255.16.189 (talk) 08:12, 16 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

I'm tempted to blank this article to a stub if it doesn't get some sources soon. There's way too much here that people just pulled off the top of their heads. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 02:49, 2 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Phone/Telephone Tag

You have both phone and telephone tag listed. I don't know which one people want to keep, but I personally thing the 'telephone tag' listing is better.


Article Size

I attempted to track down some references, although this ideally should be split into smaller named articles referencing the specific games and variations of such games. For example, the Freeze Tag page currently is a redirect page; it could be turned into an actual article, and this page could link to it in some way without having an entire section unto itself. Suvian 19:49, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I say that the number of varients by cut down by half if not a third. We can't list every variation of tag that's every been thought up on the playground. Technically, only variants that can be referenced with a source should be kept. --In Defense of the Artist 16:40, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

IT

What does that term even mean? I always told people that I'm not an "it"74.195.5.83 00:24, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"It" means you are the one who has to tag the other people. Are you kidding me? Zweifel 20:35, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'd love to know the route of that expression.

Thorn Tag

I've never heard of this one being mentioned anywhere else before, but I've included it because it seems to be entirely missing. DeepSkyFrontier 21:10, 9 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ball Tag

I've played a game with my friends that we call "Ball Tag", where we have to hit each other in the testicles. I don't think this deserves it's own section, so I'm not sure if I should add it or not. It has basically the same rules as the normal Tag game at the top of the article. Jesse 06:56, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Roundup/Manhunt/Maniac

Roundup, Maniac, and Manhunt sound like the exact same game. I'd say that Manhunt is the most popular name for the game. Im.a.lumberjack 02:33, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Tag World Champion

Rahbi won the 2007 Arizona Tag competition and now holds the title of World Champion —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cba team1 (talkcontribs) 18:44, 6 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cops and Robbers Redirect

Why would Cops and Robbers redirect to Tag? Not only is it not a variant but even if it was it's never mentioned as a variant in this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.238.12.6 (talk) 08:27, 21 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

When I played "it" as a child in London in the seventies, the word we used to claim immunity while crossing our fingers was "fainites". Years later, in a book on English dialects whose title I can't recall, I saw an isogloss map of similar terms used elsewhere in the UK. I remember seeing a variant "fains", as well as various words such as "crosses" and "cruces". Perhaps someone could track down this research.

As a start, a Google search of this word turns up the following:

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fai1.htm

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fainites

The article seems to want to unify all the variations in the rules and terminology of tag in a single account. This is a hopeless task - there are obviously dozens of regional variants, each with its own language and rules, and each played in ignorance of other variants (I personally have never heard of tig-off or most of the other rules and phrases cited). I think the text would be more informative, and more easily organised and maintained, if it gave an introduction explaining the basic principle of tag, and then let users contribute specific accounts of the rules and terminology of the game as played in different locations. As it stands, it reads like a mish-mash of different versions of the game with no information about where each is played.

Desperatedad (talk) 03:23, 1 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]


List

Could someone re add the list of variants? -- Al™ 23:06, 11 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think that is a better idea to create an entry "list of tag variants". What do you think?--194.65.151.249 (talk) 13:56, 19 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Naming

Isn't this game known as "add" over here on the UK? 86.151.108.81 (talk) 07:00, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Tag, you're it"

Can anyone explain the meaning of this expression (as in "being the Tag", perhaps), and should we add this kind of expressions (things you say when you catch someone and so on) to the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.132.68.169 (talk) 16:18, 23 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Zombie & Maniac too similar

The 2nd zombie-tag variant is described the same as maniac-tag. Perhaps they ought to merge? Saying Zombie tag was played in Montana & Jersey is the 80's is weird... why name a couple places? It was played all over under a variety of names - it was all-around-the-school-tag when I was a kid.Kea2 (talk) 06:53, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Onigokko redirection?

I came to this article looking for information on "onigokko" and only found one reference to the word on the entire page. Right at the top where it said "redirected from Onigokko". Is it too much to ask that when something is redirected that the article at least make mention of it? Normally it's not so bad, but this article is about a godzillion different and often unrelated childrens games. My confusion is that I've seen two references in the past month to "onigokko" that seems to imply running around either aimlessly or in circles. Neither of those impressions seem to fit a "game of tag", for neither is the running around in "tag" aimless, nor is it always in circles. Running around in circles can be a tactic in Tag, but it's never the point to it. Please, someone, explain in the article what onigokko is. I'm confused as heck about it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.254.163.150 (talk) 20:22, 16 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sticky Toffee

This is the most enjoyable form of tag! It's the one where the tagger holds hands with whoever they tag, and you end up with long chains of taggers! --79.65.23.145 (talk) 18:49, 21 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Dodgeball!?

Just wondering, how on earth is dodgeball a variant of tag?!? --Drahcir my talk 21:28, 7 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]