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 Sun Jul 20, 2008 22:10 pm he loves me, he loves me not... |
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I think they're called 'counting out' rhymes, and I've also heard the term 'choosing up' rhymes.
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Skrej
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| Sun Jul 20, 2008 22:56 pm he loves me, he loves me not... |
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Hello Cantik,
The process is "anthomancy" (divination by flowers).
You might finish it thus:
1. She sits by the window picking the petals from a flower one by one.
All the best,
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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| Sun Jul 20, 2008 23:44 pm he loves me, he loves me not... |
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| Quote: | | 1. She sits by the window picking the petals from a flower one by one. |
Why did you choose "picking" over "plucking"? |
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Molly
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 0:15 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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| Molly wrote: | Why did you choose "picking" over "plucking"?
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Petals offer little or no resistance.
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 0:23 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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| And maybe it suits a girl or her conduct more, IMHO. |
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Haihao
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:54 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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| Skrej wrote: | | I think they're called 'counting out' rhymes, and I've also heard the term 'choosing up' rhymes. |
So can I say "She sits by the window, picking flowers, counting out rhymes" and people are supposed to understand that she is saying "He loves me, he loves me not"?
| MrPedantic wrote: | The process is "anthomancy" (divination by flowers).
You might finish it thus:
1. She sits by the window picking the petals from a flower one by one. |
I assume that by saying this people would understand that she is doing the process of anthomancy.
| Molly wrote: | | Why did you choose "picking" over "plucking"? |
Good question! Thanks, Molly!
| Haihao wrote: | | And maybe it suits a girl or her conduct more, IMHO. |
Good point!
Thanks again, people! You guys have been very helpful! 
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SiCantikManis
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:32 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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| siCantikManis wrote: | | Skrej wrote: | | I think they're called 'counting out' rhymes, and I've also heard the term 'choosing up' rhymes. |
So can I say "She sits by the window, picking flowers, counting out rhymes" and people are supposed to understand that she is saying "He loves me, he loves me not"? |
No, that would sound like she's doing 2 things, picking flowers, and counting rhymes (as in 1 rhyme, 2 rhymes, 3 rhymes, etc.)
| SiCantikManis wrote: | | MrPedantic wrote: | The process is "anthomancy" (divination by flowers).
You might finish it thus:
1. She sits by the window picking the petals from a flower one by one. |
I assume that by saying this people would understand that she is doing the process of anthomancy. |
Again, very few people would know what the term anthomancy even means, without using a dictionary. Even my spell checker is given me the evil red line under that word. They're not going to associate that word with that rhyme.
I can't think of a neat single word that's going to tell people what she's doing. If you want to make it clear that she's singing that rhyme, then you're going to have to write that rhyme out.
There's no direct relationship between the process of anthomancy and that rhyme. Technically, she's performing anthomancy by doing that act, but there are probably dozens of other methods of performing anthomancy.
It's a rather obscure technical term, and only somebody who is really involved with the paranormal, witchcraft, magic, or a practitioner of related fields would know any of them.
The suffix '-mancy' just means 'divination', and there are dozens if not hundreds of types of '-mancy'. Pick what you want to look at, and there's probably a '-mancy' for it, all of them probably equally as effective as the next. 
For example:
kephalonomancy - Divination in which lighted carbon was poured on the baked head of a goat as the names of those who were accused of crimes were called out. If crackling occurred as a name was called, it was assumed that the accused was guilty. The head of an ass was also used.
ailuromancy - Divination as determined by the way a cat jumps.
cheiromancy -Divination by inspection of people's hands
spatalamancy - Divination by the observation of animal droppings or feces
halomancy - Divination with the use of salt by interpretation of the shapes which are formed after salt is thrown on a surface or by throwing salt into flames and observing the nature of the flames, their color, speed, and direction.
The list goes on and on. In fact, here's another list of 'mancies'
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Skrej
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SiCantikManis
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:16 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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I think both of those are fine sentences. People might even associate the rhyme with those sentences, without being reminded of the rhyme. It would probably boil down to how familiar they are with the rhyme, and whether or not they ever did it as a kid.
You could shorten it a bit by leaving out 'the' before petals. However, I like the sound of 'plucking' versus 'picking' better. It sounds more desperate.
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Skrej
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SiCantikManis
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:24 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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| MrPedantic wrote: | | Molly wrote: | Why did you choose "picking" over "plucking"?
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Petals offer little or no resistance.
MrP |
I see. So "picking" is the more common collocation in that context, is it? |
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Molly
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:09 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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I'd say this:
She sits by the window, flower in hand, caught up in her loves-me-loves-me-not divination. |
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Molly
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:16 am he loves me, he loves me not... |
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That is really good. Once again, thanks Molly.
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SiCantikManis
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| Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:18 pm he loves me, he loves me not... |
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| siCantikManis wrote: | | That is really good. Once again, thanks Molly. |
No problem. |
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Molly
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