Rock-paper-scissors redux

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>I'm saying that indeed "rochambeau" is *English* not French like the NYT
>article claims. I don't think it's Japanese, either.
>
>One possibility that occurred to me after writing last night was that
>"rochambeau" could come as a rhyme derivation from "jan-ken-po".
>Rochambeau was a famous character in the War for Independence, so I
>could see American children changing the name from "jan-ken-po".

My best guess following my earlier investigation: French
"Roche-Papier-Ciseaux" (apparently used in Canada) (starts with "rosh",
ends with "o") or some similar form was altered to match the name
Rochambeau: ideally one would like exactly three syllables, I suppose. The
name Rochambeau of course appears/appeared in US history lessons; I suppose
it appears/appeared in French-Canadian history lessons too; whether that's
enough to explain the final form, I don't know.

-- Doug Wilson


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