Little kids everywhere in America grow up playing the game Rock, Paper, Scissors -- it's like the card game War, but with finger signs denoting the titular rock (a fist), paper (a flat hand presented palm down), and scissors (the index and middle finger extended out like the blades of a pair of scissors.) Rock crushes scissors. Scissors cuts paper. Paper covers rock. A pair of contestants counts to three before simultaneously throwing their signs -- identical signs is a do-over. The first contestant to take two throws out of three is the winner.
This is a game most of you will be familiar with even if you are thrilling at the incredible clarity of description I brought to the breakdown above. This is a game that's played all over the world and it's often called Ro-Sham-Bo for the nonsense syllables that often replace the 1-2-3 countdown in many cultures. The count is crucial because play is dependent upon simultaneous sign throwing, but don't be surprised if you hear a little kid yelling "Ro! Sham! Bo!" the next time you come across a heated bout of this classic kids game.
Lyrics:
Sindy and Sandy was sittin around
Tryin to have some fun when the sun went down
They played a little game from ancient times
If you wanna know the rules listen to my rhymes
We rock paper scissors when we to and fro
We rock paper scissors as we stop and go
We rock paper scissors while we ebb and flow
We rock paper scissors when we ro-sham-bo
Rock crushes scissors
Scissors cut paper
Paper covers rock sayin
Boy I’ll see you later
First throw once
Then twice again
Take two out of three
And then you win
Now you know the game
And you know the song
You know ro-sham-bo
Can go all night long
You think it’s gonna stop
But before it ends
You count back to three
And then you start it up again
Here's the song...
