You know those weird little phrases that just live in the back of your brain for decades? You probably haven't thought about brri brri bicus dicus bombicus in years, but the second you see those words, a specific rhythm starts playing in your head. It’s a linguistic fossil. It’s one of those playground rhymes that somehow traveled across state lines and through generations without the help of the internet or a marketing team.
Language is a funny thing.
We think of communication as this formal tool for trading information, but for kids, it’s a game. It's a way to establish order in the chaos of recess. If you grew up in a certain era, specifically between the late 1960s and the early 1990s, this wasn't just nonsense; it was a ritual.
What exactly is the "Bombicus" rhyme?
Let's be honest. Nobody actually knows what a "bombicus" is. There is no Latin root here that makes sense, and you won't find it in a biology textbook next to the Bombyx mori (the silkworm), though some folks try to make that connection.
Basically, it’s a counting-out rhyme. It’s in the same family as "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo" or "Ink-a-Bink." But while those are common, brri brri bicus dicus bombicus has this strange, pseudo-Latin flair that makes it feel a bit more "occult" or special.
I remember kids standing in a circle, toes touching, as one leader pointed a finger at each sneaker. Every syllable was a beat. Brri-brri-bi-cus-di-cus-bom-bi-cus. If you were the one the finger landed on at "cus," you were out. Or you were "it." The rules shifted depending on who was the loudest that day on the blacktop.
The most common version usually sounds something like this:
Brri brri bicus dicus bombicus
A-robber-nocky, a-sacker-nocky
A-bi, a-bo, a-bum!
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It sounds like gibberish because it is. But it’s "structured" gibberish. Dr. Iona Opie and Peter Opie, the legendary researchers who spent their lives tracking playground lore, noted that children’s rhymes often preserve dead languages or corrupted versions of old counting systems. Think of the "Yan Tan Tethera" sheep-counting systems from Northern England. Somewhere along the line, a real word gets chewed up by a seven-year-old, spat back out, and suddenly you have a "bombicus."
Where did it come from?
Tracing the lineage of a playground rhyme is like trying to trace a single drop of water in the ocean.
There’s no single author. There’s no copyright.
Some linguists point toward the "Hic, Haec, Hoc" of Latin classes. Imagine a bored student in the 1920s mocking their teacher's Latin drills. They start riffing. They add a "bicus" and a "dicus." It catches on because it sounds rhythmic. It’s catchy. It’s got that "plosive" sound—those "B" and "D" sounds that are satisfying to say.
Then there's the "A-robber-nocky" part. This is likely a corruption of "Haber-nacker," which shows up in older English and Scots rhymes. It’s oral tradition in its purest form. It moves from one kid to another. One kid moves to a different town, brings the rhyme with them, and suddenly a suburb in Ohio is using the same nonsense words as a village in Sussex.
It’s actually kind of beautiful when you think about it. Before TikTok trends could go viral in six hours, brri brri bicus dicus bombicus went viral over the course of sixty years, person to person.
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Why nonsense rhymes actually matter for kids
You might think it’s just noise, but there is some heavy-duty developmental stuff happening here.
First, there's the mastery of phonics. Playing with sounds like "bicus" and "dicus" helps kids explore the boundaries of their language. They are learning how to manipulate sounds without the pressure of having to "mean" something.
Then there’s the social aspect.
Rhymes like this are "fairness" tools. They delegate responsibility. If the rhyme says you’re "it," you’re "it." You can’t argue with the rhyme. It’s a neutral third party that prevents fights. It’s the first version of a contract that most kids ever sign.
Interestingly, these rhymes are almost always passed from child to child. Adults are rarely involved. In fact, if a teacher tries to use brri brri bicus dicus bombicus, it immediately loses its cool factor. It’s "street" lore for the under-twelve crowd.
The regional variations are wild
Depending on where you grew up, your version might be totally different. Honestly, that’s the best part.
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In some parts of the UK, the "A-bi, a-bo, a-bum" ending is replaced with "One, two, three, you are OUT."
In the American Midwest, I’ve heard "A-shacker-nacker" instead of "A-sacker-nacker."
There are even versions that merge into the "One-ery, Two-ery, Zickery, Zan" rhyme family. It’s a giant, messy family tree of linguistic nonsense.
How to use this bit of nostalgia today
If you’re a parent or a teacher, don’t just let these rhymes die.
They are great for transition times. Use them to pick who goes first in a board game. It’s a lot more fun than a coin flip.
But more than that, it’s a connection to the past. When you teach a kid brri brri bicus dicus bombicus, you’re handing them a piece of history that wasn't written in a book. You’re giving them a tool for the playground that has worked for a century.
Next Steps for the Nostalgic:
- Test your memory. Can you recite your local version without tripping over your tongue? Write it down before you forget the specific "slang" your neighborhood used.
- Poll your friends. Ask people from different states or countries what their "counting out" rhyme was. You’ll be surprised how many variations of the "Bombicus" exist.
- Listen to the rhythm. Notice the dactylic meter (one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed). It’s the same beat used in classical poetry, which is probably why it’s so hard to get out of your head.
The "Bombicus" isn't just a weird word. It’s a testament to how kids create their own culture, independent of the adult world, one nonsense syllable at a time.