{"id":6707,"date":"2022-07-29T06:27:25","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T06:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=6707"},"modified":"2022-08-01T18:08:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T18:08:07","slug":"ring-around-the-rosie-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/ring-around-the-rosie-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring Around the Rosie \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you listening to a group of kids sing \u2018ring around the rosie\u2019<\/em> at nursery school? Do you know the meaning behind this nursery rhyme? This post unpacks the origin and meaning of this dark nursery rhyme.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The expression \u2018ring around the rosie\u2019<\/em> comes from an English nursery rhyme appearing after the bubonic plague in London in the 1600s.<\/p>\n

Ring around the Rosie<\/em> describes the rash around the sore of a person infected with the plague. Pocket full of posies were flower petals plague doctors showered on their patients, helping ward off the smell of death.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ashes meant the cremated remains of the deceased. We all fall down refers to death.<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\"Ring around the rose, a pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down! I remember that rhyme from nursery school. It's surprising how you don't hear it as much as an adult.\"<\/p>\n

\"Ring around the rosie was a nursery rhyme talking about the impact of the black plague in England. However, some historians think it predates the spread of the black death.\"<\/p>\n

\"Do you remember that nursery rhyme, ring around the rosie, that we sand as kids? Well, it has a pretty dark story behind it.\"<\/p>\n

\"Ring around the rosie was one of my favorite nursery rhymes as a little girl. I remember how we used to all love falling down at the end of the song.\"<\/p>\n

\"I love how people think ring around the rosie is a carefree kids nursery rhyme. Actually, it describes the black death and the plague that spread throughout England.\"<\/p>\n

\"There were so many victims of the black death in England. That song, ring around the rosies, commemorates the people who died in that dreaded pandemic.\"<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

The origin of the expression \u2018ring around the rosie\u2019 comes from the old English nursery rhyme of the same name. Ring around the rosie might seem like an innocent child\u2019s rhyme, but it has a more sinister side to it.<\/p>\n

Some language experts suggest the rhyme arose from \u2018The Great Plague,\u2019 an outbreak of bubonic and pneumonic plague affecting the UK in 1665.<\/p>\n

\u201cRing-a-Ring-a-Roses is all about the Great Plague; the apparent whimsy being a foil for one of London\u2019s most atavistic dreads (thanks to the Black Death).\u201d<\/p>\n

The fatalism involved with the rhyme is quite dramatic when you understand its meaning. The roses are a euphemism for the deadly rash caused by bacterial infection. The posies wear a so-called hoke remedy to prevent the plague from infecting you, and the \u2018a-tishoos\u2019 is the sneezing symptoms caused by the disease.<\/p>\n

When we \u2018all fall down at the end of the rhyme, it means you die.<\/p>\n