Acka-backa, soda cracker

Wilson Gray wilson.gray at RCN.COM
Fri Jan 28 21:02:58 UTC 2005


A version of this is the only instance of anti-Semitism that I recall
from my childhood, ca.1940-1950.

Acka-backa soda cracker
If your daddy chews tobacco
He's a dirty Jew
One two three means
"Out goes you"

The first person out was "it" in a game of hide-and-(go-)seek or
whatever.

Adults who overheard us stopped us children from using such language.
At the time, though, we had no referent for the term "soda cracker,"
let alone for the term "dirty Jew." Hence, we had no idea what the
problem was. So, we simply stopped using this rhyme where adults could
overhear us, just as we stopped using the other usual obscenities in
the presence of adults, though we continued to use them otherwise.
Well, we did stop using "Acka-backa" when we became old enough to lose
interest in playing "it" games.

-Wilson Gray



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