Quaker Meeting, also known as Quaker's meeting or Cracker's Meeting (in the American South), is a child's game which is initiated with a
rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...
and becomes a sort of
quiet game
The quiet game is a children's game where children must stay quiet. Stillness is sometimes a rule but in most cases not. The last child or team to make noise wins the game. It is usually acceptable for players to make sounds they cannot control, ...
where the participants may not
speak,
laugh
Laughter is a Pleasure, pleasant physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, often audible contractions of the Thoracic diaphragm, diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or ...
, or
smile
A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile.
Among humans, a smile expresses ...
, while the player in charge of the "meeting" may tell jokes or act out silly scenarios in an attempt to elicit one of the forbidden responses, and so get the participant who broke the taboo "out." The rhyme has many variations, but is similar to the following:
:Quaker meeting has begun.
:No more laughing, no more fun.
:If you show your teeth or tongue,
:you must pay a forfeit.
Another version is as follows:
:Quaker meeting has begun,
:no more talking, no more fun.
:no more chewing chewing gum.
:starting now...
In the American South, where there are fewer Quakers, the rhyme often goes:
:Cracker's meeting has begun.
:No more laughing, no more fun.
:If you smile or show your teeth,
:you'll be punished for a week.
See also
*
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
References
*
* {{cite book, first=Caroline L., last=Smith, title=The American Home Book of In-door Games, Amusements, and Occupations, publisher=Lee and Shepard, year=1872, page=113, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T3MXAAAAYAAJ
Children's games
Silence