Keep Away
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This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (December 2007) |
Keep Away, also called Monkey in the Middle, Piggy in the Middle, Pickle in a Dish, or Pickle in the Middle, is a children's game played primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. Two or more players must pass a ball to one another, while a player in the middle attempts to intercept it. The game could be considered a reverse form of dodgeball, because instead of trying to hit people in the middle with the ball, players attempt to keep the ball away from them.
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[edit] Rules
The basic game is played by drawing a circle on the ground about ten feet in diameter. One person stands in the centre (and is called it, the monkey, the piggy or the pickle) and the rest stand outside the circle. A player outside the circle must then throw the ball through the circle to another person outside the circle with the goal being to prevent the person who is it from getting to the ball. This continues until the person who is it catches the ball or otherwise gains possession due to a failed catch, deflection, etc. Whoever threw the ball last then becomes it, and replaces the person in the middle.
[edit] Variations
Like other children's games, this has game has many variations to shape it in the manner they like to play. Some common variations are:
- Playing with a larger area and the person who is it only has to touch the ball instead of catch it.
- The ball must bounce at least once in the circle on a pass to prevent high lobbing passes which can give taller children an unfair advantage.
- When the person who is it catches the ball, he must get outside the circle with the ball without getting tagged by the thrower to make them it.
- The person outside the circle to last touch the ball becomes it instead of the last thrower. This is often used so that the person who failed to catch the ball is it instead of the thrower.
- The person with the ball outside the circle cannot move until he or she throws it.
- None of the people outside the circle can move around and must throw and catch from a constant position.
- The people outside the circle must throw it within a certain amount of time, usually five seconds. This keeps the pace of the game high and prevents players from hogging the ball.
- Playing with larger areas with multiple people being it and even multiple balls.
Children will also often play the game in swimming pools, using a beach ball. This adds an element of difficulty for the central player, as jumping for the ball is made harder.
[edit] Naming
The name of the game varies with region. In the United States, the descriptive name Keep Away seems to prevail, while Canadian children commonly refer to the game as either Pig in the Middle (Western Canada) or Monkey in the Middle (Eastern Canada and parts of New England). In the UK, the name Piggy in the Middle is used exclusively.
While the name Keep Away is self-explanatory, the origin of some of the other titles are less clear. Monkey in the Middle is likely to have arisen because the middle player jumps and waves their arms around like a monkey or ape. The names Piggy in the Middle and Pickle in a Dish are of unknown derivation.
[edit] Other meanings
In America, the term pig in the middle is sometimes used as slang for being under pressure from both sides of a dispute. The similar term piggy in the middle means the same in the United Kingdom.
[edit] See also
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