etymology of hom-pim-pah

[Waruno Mahdi]

In my youth, it was known simply as hong-ping-pah or hom-pim-pah
without anything further.

In the school where I went in the 1950-s, which was culturally
mixed (with European elements), the three syllabes were recited
when one played a kind of "stone-paper-scissors", i.e. with only
two players. But the three alternative hand shapes were different.
not fist (stone), stretched index and middle finger (scissors),
or flat hand (paper).
Instead, one showed the thumb (elephant), index (human person),
or little finger (ant): elephant beats man, man beats ant, and
ant beats elephant (by crawling into its trunk).
It was also known by the Dutch name "soeten" (read [sut at n]).

As for "hong-ping-pah", it possibly originated from a Chinese
dialect (presumably Southern Fujian). In Indonesia it seems to
have been first known in Betawi (Jakartan Malay) which has a
considerable Sino-Malay adstrate, but this is just a surmise.

I unfortunately do not know the Arabic part of the rhyme.

Waruno

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