I've Got Your Nose on:
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I've got your nose is a
Nothin' 2 Do
2008. p.46. The fingers are then withdrawn from the child's face with the thumb of the 'thief' protruding between the index and middle fingers, with the thumb representing the stolen nose. This motion is often accompanied by an exclamation such as, "I've got your nose!" The child may chase the nose thief to retrieve his nose, or, if he understands the game is a farce, may retaliate by "stealing" the first person's (or someone else's) nose. The 'nose' may then be replaced by pressing the thumb to the child's nose and withdrawing the hand, showing the child that the taker no longer possesses the child's nose. The hand position used when stealing a nose is also known as the
Le guide de survie du jeune papa
2013. p.94.
I've got your nose is a children's game
This is a list of games that are played by children. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch or marbles (toys go in List of toys unless the t ...
in which a person pretends to pluck and remove the nose
A nose is a sensory organ and respiratory structure in vertebrates. It consists of a nasal cavity inside the head, and an external nose on the face. The external nose houses the nostrils, or nares, a pair of tubes providing airflow through the ...
from the face of a toddler
A toddler is a child approximately 1 to 3 years old, though definitions vary. The toddler years are a time of great cognitive, emotional and social development. The word is derived from "toddle", which means to walk unsteadily, as children at thi ...
by showing an object supposedly representing the stolen body part. The trick or prank
A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...
is meant as an illusion, since a person cannot easily observe the status of their own nose.
Description
Typically, the performing 'thief' of the act puts the knuckles of the index and middle fingers on either side of a child's nose.Haws, IleenNothin' 2 Do
2008. p.46. The fingers are then withdrawn from the child's face with the thumb of the 'thief' protruding between the index and middle fingers, with the thumb representing the stolen nose. This motion is often accompanied by an exclamation such as, "I've got your nose!" The child may chase the nose thief to retrieve his nose, or, if he understands the game is a farce, may retaliate by "stealing" the first person's (or someone else's) nose. The 'nose' may then be replaced by pressing the thumb to the child's nose and withdrawing the hand, showing the child that the taker no longer possesses the child's nose. The hand position used when stealing a nose is also known as the
fig sign
The fig sign is a mildly obscene gesture that uses a thumb wedged in between two fingers. The gesture is most commonly used to ward off the evil eye, insult someone, or deny a request. It has been used at least since the Ancient Rome, Roman Age i ...
, which can be viewed as an offensive or obscene gesture in certain cultures such as in Japan, where it refers to copulation
Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the erect male penis inside the female vagina and followed by thrusting motions for sexual pleasure, reproduction, or both.Sexual inte ...
, or Turkey, where it is the local version of the Western "middle finger" gesture.
Characteristics
This trick is commonly played by adults or older children (e.g. parents, grandparents, uncles, elder siblings) on their toddler relatives. Young children aged 2 or 3 often find the game amusing, or sometimes mildly distressing if they believe it is real. Cognitively, this is because many two- and three-year-olds have trouble recognizing that a thing may look like one thing yet be another, whereas four-year-olds are twice as likely to have that ability. The game is an example of teaching pro-social lying or playful deception to children. Young children past toddlerhood may also play this with each other as a game of pretend; in this case they are aware that their nose is not actually being stolen. This game is found mainly in theEnglish-speaking world
The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English language, English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the ...
, but also exists elsewhere. For instance in France, it is known as r ('I stole your nose').Moreau, LaurentLe guide de survie du jeune papa
2013. p.94.
See also
*Fig sign
The fig sign is a mildly obscene gesture that uses a thumb wedged in between two fingers. The gesture is most commonly used to ward off the evil eye, insult someone, or deny a request. It has been used at least since the Ancient Rome, Roman Age i ...
, a hand gesture similar to that used in this game, which may be related
* Rhinotomy
Rhinotomy is mutilation, usually amputation, of the Human nose, nose. It was a means of judicial punishment throughout the world, particularly for sexual transgressions, but in the case of adultery often applied only to women.
Ancient usage
Th ...
*" The Nose", 1836 short story by Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin.
Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...
about a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own
References
{{Reflist Children's games Hand games Nose