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Chinese skipping
DCHP-2 (Oct 2012)
n. — Games
a skipping game with an elastic rope (see Image 1 and the video link).
Type: 2. Preservation — This is a preservation from British English that is now most frequent in Canadian English (see Chart 1). Outside of Canada and the UK, the most widely used synonym appears to be Chinese jump rope (see Chart 2). The game involves two players stretching an elastic rope taut at ankle height or higher, while another player performs a series of patterns or steps (see the 2007 quotation). See also the video "Demonstration with only one player" in the References below.
Quotations
1970
[Report on Beijing] Old gentlemen sit on stoops, warming their bones in the sun. They have wispy grey beards and the black clothing and peakless skullcaps still worn by many of the older generation. Young girls have strung their skipping ropes between trees along the avenues and are dancing the rhythmic Chinese skipping game.
1994
Shar says she played a game called "Chinese skipping'' in Calgary in the 1950s. The game involved two players with a long elastic band stretched between their legs, while a third jumped or wrapped the elastic around his or her leg in predetermined patterns.
1995
If you grew up in the '50s or '60s or earlier, chances are you know how to play Kick the Can. You know the difference between an Aggie and a Biggy, and you're all too familiar with the perils -- and pleasures -- of Chinese skipping.
References
- Chinese skipping • Demonstration with only one player
Images
Image 1: Chinese skipping. Source: Wikipedia Commons. Photo: Werner 19:12
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 18 Oct. 2012
