 Counting out is just one way children choose who's going to be it or on or picking up, in other words, helping to choose teams. It's part of a class of choosing games, which are widely known among people of all ages, the most famous of which may be Eenie Meenie Miney Mo or Paper Scissors Stone. One of the most popular counting out rhymes is Black Shoe, Black Shoe, Change or Black Shoe, which involves counting out on feet, as the rhyme suggests. Another is Coconut, Coconut, Coconut Crack or Banana, Banana, Banana Split, which involves counting out first on clasped hands, then fists. Another is it, dip, do, the cat's got the flu, the monkey's got the chicken pox and out goes you, which is played by pointing at each child one by one. These rhymes take longer because they rely on elimination and so have to be finished before the identity of the it is known. Children often substitute nonsense words or words that fit the rhyme and rhythm, either because they're not sure of the words or thanks to sheer inventiveness. They might, for instance, substitute other words in the same rhythmic mould for coconut crack like Camp, Camp, Camp Rock, or they might add words on or take some out or change words and actions. Being it is often less popular than that of being chased, so counting out is needed as a fair way of choosing someone, though they do sometimes just volunteer. Fairness is always relative, however, and part of the culture of all games also involves cheating, so we sometimes see that children intentionally change the way they do the counting out to manipulate the outcome. Although we may not see counting out rhymes in the playground now as often as the opies did, many children, particularly older ones, know several. They inherit these from a long tradition, which was well documented throughout the 19th century in Britain and still flourishes in playgrounds today.