I believe everyone has played the traditional game 'Statue’. But do you know
how other countries called this typical game? And what are the reasons behind
the variation of the name in different countries?
In Hong Kong, the game is called ‘One, two, three, red and green light!’ (123,紅綠燈)
In Mainland China,
it is called ‘One, two, three, chump!’
(123, 木頭人!)
In Japan, it is called ‘The tumbling doll has fallen over’ (だるまさんがころんだ).
In fact, the Daruma
doll (the
tumbling doll) is a Japanese traditional
doll. It is an emblem of perseverance
and good luck in Japan. In Takasaki, the founder of Daruma-dera (Temple
of Daruma) associated the doll with good luck charm, and then the parishioners kept the given meaning by saying the doll ‘brings happiness and prosperity
and wards off accidents and misfortune.’ As a result, the Daruma doll
becomes a popular gift of encourage.
(Fromhttp://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2179-the-pumpkin-an-ancient-mexican-native-la-calabaza-grande)
Last, here comes the table about the names of this game in different countries.
(From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statues_(game))
| England |
Grandmother's Footsteps! /
Grandma's Footsteps!
|
Netherlands/ Belgium
|
One, two, three, piano! ("één,
twee, drie, piano)
|
France
|
One, two, three, sun! (1,
2, 3, soleil)
|
Spain
|
One, two, three, English
hideaway! (1, 2, 3, escondite inglés) / One, two, three, English chick! (1,
2, 3, pollito inglés)
|
Greece
|
Immobile little soldiers!
(στρατιωτακια ακουνηταI)
|
Sweden
|
One, two, three, red lantern stop! (ett, två, tre, röda lyktan stop)
|
Poland
|
One, two three, the hag
is watching! (Raz, dwa trzy, baba jaga patrzy!) / One, two, three, I'm
watching! (Raz, dwa, trzy, patrzę!)
|
Finland
|
Red light flashed! (Punainen
valo vilahti) / Mirror (Peili)
|
In short, i find bilingual feature from the name of game, for example in Sweden, it is called 'ett, två, tre, röda lyktan stop’. It is a mixed code which combining English and Swedish. Most importantly, game’s name reflects identity and culture. Taking Korea and Japan as instances, both countries choose representative items as the name of the game – the Daruma Doll and the rose of Sharon. The latter is a traditional Japanese doll which carries the meaning of good luck. The former is the national flower in Korea stands for the glory of Korean. Both items are emblems of their countries and culture.
