Folklore: Pinch and a punch

Subject: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Rowan
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 05:40 PM

Being 2nd April already in Oz I'm a bit late but, yesterday, I thought it'd be unfair of me to take advantage of the International Date Line to beat y'all.

There are a couple of schoolyard traditions around the first day of the month (hence the thread title) and around the 1st of April in particular.

In Oz in the 40s and 50s you could play a joke on someone and claim "April Fool!" only before noon; you defaulted if you tried it after noon. I'm wondering if this aspect was 'alive' elsewhere.

More generally (ie for any month), back in 1999, Bert posted When we were kids, on the first day of the month we'd say (With appropriate actions of course) "A pinch and a punch for the first day of the month" There were a couple responses to this, "A pinch and a kick for being so quick" and "A punch in the eye for being so sly"

This arose in a thread discussion about White Rabbits, which I have no knowledge about, although Joybell (who grew up in almost the same suburb and at the same time) did recall and link to the "pinch and a punch" routine, which she describes as arriving among her acquaintances in the 80s.

This accords with my recollections and I wonder what others recall about it. I suspect there's now a whole routine of 'antiphon/response' sayings connected with "pinch and a punch". Among the kids I see, it's always done in jest and without intention to hurt, although I suspect such restraint isn't universal.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,patty o'dawes
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 06:12 PM

A 'pinch and a punch' is still going strong, heard kids saying it today. But the smarter ones add 'and no returns' at the end - to guarantee immunity from a comeback.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Melissa
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 06:31 PM

we had "pinch, poke..you owe me a Coke"
it was used when you and someone else said the same thing at the same time. The slower one was supposed to pay off with a can of pop.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 07:00 PM

Hey, Rowan!

I learned about that "pinch, punch/first of the month" custom from reading about it on Mudcat. I can't find that White Rabbits thread, but here's a link to a short thread about that custom:

thread.cfm?threadid=47127
BS: Pinch, punch, 1st. of the month

**

"Brick Wall Water Fall" is a very popular contemporary children's taunting rhyme that contains the line "peace punch/captain crunch". This rhyme owes a large part of its popularity to its inclusion in the a 2003 American movie "Dickie Roberts, Former Child Star". Here's the memorable quote from that movie:

Sally Finney: "Brick wall, waterfall. Dickie thinks he got it all but he don't, and I do, so Boom with that attitude. Peace, punch Captain Crunch. I've got something you can't touch. Bang- Bang choo-choo train. Wind me up I do my thing. Reeses Pieces, 7-Up. You mess with me, I'll mess you up."
http://imdb.com/title/tt0325258/quotes "Memorable quotes for Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)"

-snip-

I've collected versions of that rhyme in which that line is given as "peach punch captain crunch". And I've found examples of that rhyme in which that line is given as "pinch punch captain crunch".
I believe that "Captain Crunch" is a reference to a brand name of an American breakfast cereal. But where did the "peace punch" phrase come from?

Could it have come from the "pinch punch/first of the month" saying? I doubt it because I don't think that pinch punch custom is widely known in the USA. But maybe that saying didn't come from the USA. Maybe it came from Great Britain or Australia and somehow found its way into the script of an American movie. Or maybe the original words of that rhyme were "peach punch" and the origin of that saying has nothing at all to do with pinch and a punch/first of the month. Oh! I'm so confused!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 07:32 PM

For what it's worth:

I think it would be great if Mudcat members and guests who remember this custom would include demographical information with their post, particularly when they first remember saying this pinch punch line {such as the year or the decade} and where they live/d when they remember saying this line {such as city/state and nation if outside of the USA}. This is just a suggestion in the interest of arm chair folkloric information sharing.

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 07:33 PM

Perhaps not off-topic:

Here's some examples of that "Brick Wall Water Fall" rhyme that I mentioned in my first post to this thread:

Subject: RE: Water Wallflower & Brickwall Waterfall
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 07 - 06:20 AM

brick wall waterfall
dickie thinks he got it all
but he dont and i do
so boom with that attitude
pinch punch captain crunch
i got something you cant touch
rieces pieces 7up
mess with me i mess you up
bang bang choo choo train
wind me up i domy thing

thread.cfm?threadid=100061&messages=38

**

Birick wall water fall girl u think u got it all u dont i do so POOF with that atitude pinch punch captin crunch bang bang choo choo train wind me up ill do my thing i cant why not cuase i cant why not cuase my back is achen and my bras to tight and my boodys shaken from the left to the right left right right left left right im skinny your fat girl wacha looken at no reeces peices 7up u ill mess u up
-Erin and Taylor ; 4/27/2007; http://cocojams.com/taunting_rhymes.htm

**

That is the way, uh uh, I like it, uh uh, that is the way uh uh, I like it, uh uh, Peace punch. Captain crunch. Break Wall waterfall, girl you think you know it all, but you don't I do, so poof with the attitude don't go there girlfriend. Wait comeback you need a tic tac. Not a tic not a Tac but the whole 6 pick. I don't mean to be mean. But you need some listerine. Not a sip, not a swallow, but the whole dang bottle. Rescies pieces, butter cup, you mess with me, I will mess you up.
-No Need; 11/21/2006; www.cocojams.com

**

Brick Wall Water Fall You think you got it all You dont I do So boom with that attitude Peach Punch Captain Crunch I got something you cant touch Bang Bang Choo Choo train Wind me up I do my thang My Resses Peices My 7 Up You mess with me I jack you u
-Takana A.; 5/20/2006 ; www.cocojams.com

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Bert
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 07:47 PM

Whooee! Azizi, that's going back a long way. Back to the beginnings of time (for me at least). Say East End of London culturally, around 1942 or three. I remember my Aunt Thelma teaching it to me.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Rowan
Date: 01 Apr 08 - 08:33 PM

Thanks for the BS link Azizi; I'll go and check it. When I searched Mudcat for "Pinch and a punch" (before I started this thread) I got only two results. The earlier one was Bert's quoted in my OP.

The other appeared in a thread on White Rabbits, started by Raggytash as follows;
Subject: Folklore: White Rabbits
From: Raggytash - PM
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 06:58 AM

My Mum has just informed me that if you say White Rabbits on the first of December your wish is supposed to come true or good fortune befall you, however she cannot tell me the origin of this superstition.

Any ideas?
Which produced Joybell's We said it in Australia when I was a kid in the 1950s. By the time my kids were in School- 1980s, the "pinch and a punch" had replaced it. Pity! it seems to be just an excuse to hurt people. I always hated that nasty part of childhood post I alluded to in that thread.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine
Date: 02 Apr 08 - 08:06 AM

when I was a kid it was:

"pinch punch first day of the month"
"a punch and a kick for being so quick"
"a poke in the eye for being so sly"
"a thumb on the back for being so slack"

I'm sure there were more but the teacher would usually put a stop to it before it got any further..

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,Dazbo at work
Date: 02 Apr 08 - 08:16 AM

"pinch punch first day of the month"
"a punch and a kick for being so quick"

Was certainly around in NW London in the '60s when I was at primary school.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,ketty
Date: 02 Apr 08 - 08:27 AM

pinch punch first in a mouth slip slap can't do it back a punch and a kick for being so quick a poke in the eye for being so sly pinch poke you owe me a coke a thumb in the back for being so slack

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Rowan
Date: 02 Apr 08 - 06:08 PM

Brilliant! Ta muchly.

I'm waiting for the daughters to return from their respective school camps to catch up with their contributions.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,Laura
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 04:56 AM

I'm a teenager in high school in Australia and on the first day of the month we still use:

"Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month,
A flick and a kick for being so quick"

But that is all. No "poke in the eye for being so sly."

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Leadfingers
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 05:10 AM

When I was a Sprog in Birmingham ,the Pinch and a punch was not common at my school , but the April Fool thing was and continues !
Most Newspapers in UK have at least one 'April Fool' story , and BBC TV did a long piece in a (I Think) Panorama programme on Pasta Orchards a few years ago .
My favourite was The Observer , the year of Thae Roayl Wedding doing a whole series of Spoof articles all stemming from a short item on 'The Control Of The Weather'

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 08:24 AM

"April Fool" tricks, in my native County of Cheshire (UK) could only be 'played' before 12 noon.

Any eejit who tried after this time was told :

"April Fool has been and gone
Th'art the fool , and I am none".

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Howard Jones
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 09:55 AM

When I was growing up in Essex, UK, in the late 1950s and 1960s, we had these traditions:

"A pinch and a punch for the first of the month"
"A punch and a kick for being so quick"

"White rabbits" would be said on the first day of any month, not just December

"April Fool" could only be played before noon.

Pretty close to others' experiences.

As for current April Fools, I received an email this morning from a well-known insurance company offering insurance cover against abduction by aliens!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: RTim
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 10:15 AM

It was a standard for us as children in The New Forest, Hampshire; both "Pinch & Punch" and all the retorts, plus if you said "White Rabbits" as your first spoken words on any 1st of the month, NO One was allowed to Pinch & Punch you.
How they got to know that you said it is another matter?

I still do it as a joke to my wife every 1st of the month. Still an inner child at 63!

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: Acorn4
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 10:29 AM

In Sussex the April Fool only worked before noon.

We had the expression "First of May, Pinch Bum Day" - the accompanying act only being allowed on that one day.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: bubblyrat
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 10:40 AM

Same here at 62 !! We always dreaded the 1st of the month at Easebourne Primary School,near Midhurst,Sussex,as we little ones got hammered by the older boys,and it was often "dead legs" as well as pinches & punches----until we got older & bigger!
We always said "White Rabbits" on the first of every month,before noon of course,and saluted LONE magpies,and said "Good morning,General !". And wouldn't DREAM of walking under a ladder without crossing our fingers, or catching sight of a new moon without bowing to it,and turning over the money in our pockets three times !My Granny was most particular about that last one.
          And,when I was in the Royal Navy ; well, they would sooner surrender to the French & commit mass suicide than leave harbour on Friday the Thirteenth !
          Then there's "The Scottish Play", of course --( I used to work in a theatre !).
       Roger Mills

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: buddhuu
Date: 01 Apr 10 - 10:40 AM

"Pinch / punch" was well known when I was a kid.

That'd be 1960s and I lived in south Bedfordshire, UK.

As for "white rabbits", at around that same time in the 60s my dad always used to tell us that we should yell "rabbits" on the first morning of the month. I think there was a curfew - one had to yell before 8 or 9 am if I recall correctly.

The colours of the rabbits were unspecified as the prescribed yell consisted solely of the plural noun, with no adjective.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,Britt
Date: 01 Jul 10 - 12:52 AM

a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month,
Pull your hair for being un-fair.

or

a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month,
A flick and a kick for being so quick.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 31 Jul 10 - 10:37 AM

I have used the flick and the kick but usually (with teenagers and adults) it is a flick and a kick for being a d*ck. Which in my opinion makes more sense.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,me
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 05:41 AM

pinch punch first of the month
flick kick for being so quick
a poke in the eye for being so sly
pinch poke you owe me a coke
a thumb in the back for being so slack

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 06:05 AM

WHATEVER ~~~

A Happy New Month To All ····

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: GUEST,Davidc
Date: 01 Mar 12 - 03:26 AM

Pinch punch was very common in the Cardiff area, but seems unknown in north Wales , does anyone know about northern England and Scotland?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Pinch and a punch
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Mar 12 - 05:06 AM

I suffer from this odd custom every blooming month. My partner is from Kent, and I am a Scot.
I don't remember it happening when I were a lad.

Subject: RE: Folklore: pinch bum
From: GUEST
Date: 01 May 13 - 12:16 PM