Before I got off on the tangent about the word "Negro", I posted the dramatized movement rhyme "Hey Baby" (How About A Date) that ended with the phrase "Sans Boots". And you may recall that I wondered what that phrase meant. I still don't know what "Sans Boots" means, but I remembered that I had read another children's rhyme that contained that phrase-or at least I thought it did.

It turns out that I was wrong. But the rhyme I was thinking of does have a similar phrase-and its words are similar to some of the sexualized examples of "We are the ___ girls" that are posted on this thread.

Here's that example with the phrase I was thinking of written in italics for emphasis:

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Tianna - PM
Date: 30 Dec 05 - 11:42 AM

Yes we do here is one:


Shame, Shame Shame
Alla bostia
i cant come out today
because of yesterday
these boys were in my way
they gave ne 50 cents
to lay down on a bench
they said it woudnt hurt
they stuck it up my skirt
My daddy was surprised to see my belly rise
My moma was disgusted
My brother hated me
My sister came to the hospial to see my baby boy being born
Shame


-snip-

"Shame Shame Shame" is a frequently used introductory phrase in African American children's partner handclap rhymes. Some of the examples that I've read and/or heard which start with that phrase also end with the word "Shame". Usually, that ending is a signal to try to tap, pinch, or slap your partner before she does the same to you.

In this example, I believe that "Alla Bostia" is also used as part of the introduction to the actual rhyme which begins after that phrase. One movement I've seen a lot that is used for handclap rhymes introductory phrases is the girls stretching their arms out in front of them, holding both of their partner's hands, and swaying their arms from right to left while chanting the introductory phrases. But there is also a movement that involves each partner holding their hands palm up and palm down and clapping that way before moving to the alternate form of handclapping.

I'm not good at explaining these routines. Hopefully, someone else will post a better explanation.

Although I've not heard the phrase "Alla Bostia", I'm guessing that it's pronounced "ah lah BOOS-tee-ay". And for what it's worth, that phrase reminds me of the Sesame Street character, I think he was called (The Amazing) Mumford who would always say "Ah la peanut butter sandwiches!"*. Could that phrase have come from "Alla Bostia?" We'll probably never know.

* Here's the link to a sound clip of Mumford saying "Ah la peanut butter sandwiches":

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:yxyXVZNhRSsJ:members.tripod.com/Tiny_Dancer/sssounds.html+ah+la+peanut+butter+sandwiches&cd

The clip is found far down on that page.