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Olly olly oxen free is a phrase used in children's games, which is generally used to indicate that people who are hiding (in a game of hide and seek, for example) can safely come out into the open.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Use 3 References in popular culture 4 Notes 5 References 6 External link

The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but etymologists suspect it is a childish corruption of a phrase that would have made more sense in the Hide-and-seek context; such as "all ye, all ye, oxen free!", "all in free", "out’s in free", "all set free", "All ye all ye outs in free", or "All the, all the outs in free"; or possibly a corruption of the German "Alle, alle auch sind frei", (literally, "Everyone, everyone also is free").

The phrase can also be used to coordinate hidden players in the game "kick the can", where a group of children hide within a given radius and a "seeker" is left to guard a can filled with rocks. The seeker has to try to find the "hiders" without allowing them to sneak in and kick the can.

• Mike says, "I think it's Olley Olley in Free" on page 24 of David Mamet's House of Games
• Olly Olly Oxen Free, a 1978 limited release movie starring Katharine Hepburn
• The song "Hide Go Seek" by The Honeys, 1963. Written by The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson
• The song "Drive" by R.E.M. (band), on the 1992 album Automatic for the People
• The song "Stranger Than Fiction", by Bad Religion, on the 1994 album Stranger Than Fiction
• The song "At the Helm", by Hieroglyphics, on the 1998 album 3rd Eye Vision
• The song "It's OK, But Just This Once!," by Gym Class Heroes, on the 2006 album As Cruel as School Children
• The novel Halo: The Fall of Reach and its sequels (based on the Halo video game series) as a secret call by protagonist John-117's SPARTAN squad
• The song "Hide And Seek", by Park, on the 2006 album Building A Better ______
• The song "Papercut Skin" by The Matches on the 2006 album Decomposer.
• The Xbox game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Russian mafiosos attempt to taunt the player character into revealing themselves.
• The sitcom My Name Is Earl, when the character Joy calls out to the empty streets on New Years Day
• The show Dead Like Me in Series Two, when George reaps Ray as a graveling
• The Kingston Trio recorded a song with this phrase as the title
• The song "Play With Me" by Extreme on the soundtrack to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
• The short story "One Arm" by Tennessee Williams in which the condemned murderer Ollie Olsen is set free on the eve of his execution by surrendering himself to God--or at least God in the form of a young divinity student who has come to visit him in his cell
• The song "Olley Oxen Free" by Terry Scott Taylor on Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood.
• Referenced in the 1987 movie House of Games when "Mike", a con man, is found out by his mark.
• Referenced by Neal Boortz, The Talk Master referring to illegal aliens and the game the Bush Administration is playing with them.
• The sitcom Seinfeld when Newman is running into a pool before doing a cannon ball
• Referenced in the 1983 movie Twilight Zone:The Movie- the children in the "Kick The Can" segment can be heard yelling this call while playing at night.
• On an episode of The Andy Griffith Show (episode #240, "Barney Hosts a Summit Meeting" Air Date 01-29-68), the character Barney Fife (played by Don Knotts), says "run sheep run, early early urchin free, one two three red light". He sings this to the same tune of the childhhod game olly olly oxen free.

Alternative spellings

• Oley Oley Oxen free
• Oly Oly Oxen free
• Ollie Ollie Oxen free

• Questions and Answers: Ollie Ollie Oxenfree — One man's speculation about the phrase