I went to a Chinese Restaurant
to buy a loaf of bread bread bread
They asked me what my name was
and this is what I said said said
My name is anion panion
illy willy wanion
Dad’s gone crazy
Mom’s got a baby
My name is e i e i
nic e ni
nic e ni
pom pom poodle
extra cutie
willy willy whiskers
My name is Elvis Presley
boys are messy
sitting in a hot tub
drinking down a Pepsi
I do karate
Punch you in the body
Oops I’m sorry
I’m calling Mommy
Mommy’s mad! I am sad.
Chinese Japanese Chinese freeze!
Another Version
I went to a Chinese Restaurant
to buy a loaf of bread bread bread
they wrapped it up in bubble gum
and this is what I said said said
My name is L I L I
chicka li
chicka li
pom pom cutie
extra cutie
I know karate
punch you in the body
Oops I’m sorry
don’t tell my mommy
Chinese Japanese Indian Chief!
(Stand facing each other with arms crossed staring until someone blinks… the one who blinks loses.)
Another Version
I went to a Chinese restaurant
to buy a loaf of bread bread bread
they asked me what my name was
and this is what I said said said
my name is Choo Choo Charlie
I know karate
punch you in the stomach
oops I’m sorry
I’m not sorry
Mommy called Daddy
Daddy called baby
baby called nurse
nurse call doctor
Chinese Japanese Indian freeze
submitted by, Alisha
One of our readers isn’t happy with us for publishing this game on our site. This game demonstrates a rhyme that was popular in the schoolyard in the 1980s in the USA. No offense is intended to any group of people with this post.
SchoolYardPlay.net loves all of our readers and our aim is simply to record and remember songs that were sung when we were kids – before the internet. Songs that were shared from person to person across the globe.
We want to be transparent about different opinions expressed and how these songs may affect some readers. We welcome you to read the message below:
Hi,
Your website came up in search on the internet for the most offensive handclap ever: I went to a Chinese restaurant.
The rhyme basically teaches children that Asian people say things that aren’t words like L-I L-I and that we only know karate.
And the mention of Chinese, Japanese, Chinese? That line basically lumps together two very different Asian ethnicities so that it “rhymes and sounds fun.”
How convenient for white people.
By sharing this on your website and in other publications, you are perpetuating racism.
I learned these rhymes as a kid and do you know what I learned from it? How much I hated myself for being different, how stupid these Asian people who worked at the Chinese bakery seemed.
You are teaching children that this view of Asian people is okay, you are teaching Asian children that it’s okay for them to hate themselves. And that is most certainly not okay.
In the wake of the horrific mass shooting that targeted Asian women in Atlanta, I ask you to please contribute to ending the racism that we teach to young children and learn from your fellow white women:
https://imaginationsoup.net/innocent-hand-clapping-racist-song/
Jen
