Forget running through fields of wheat, the best way to show your rebellious streak as a child was knocking on a door and running away.

Yes, it probably resulted in some disgruntled people being ripped from their dinner or favourite show to answer a door, but it was harmless fun and provided hours of entertainment.

When chatting in the office about our childhood memories of the game one thing became clear, though. Our memories, while similar, were definitely not the same.

Some of us referred to this game as knock down ginger, while others were set on chap door run, also known as chappy.




A recent thread by Jennifer Savin confirmed that different parts of Britain have wildly differing names for the prank.

huge office debate taking place rn – what do u call it when u knock on someone's door and run away? — Jennifer Savin (@JenniSavin) August 1, 2018

Can we all just take a moment to process the fact that people actually call it knocky knocky nine doors? Clearly Britain has returned to some Dickensian state where youngsters talk like the Artful Dodger and go around pilfering pocket watches and rolling a metal hoop with a stick.

A few other answers felt oddly disturbing in their tweeness.

Knock a dolly! — Jennifer Purcell (@Jenniferpurc) August 1, 2018

I swear as a kid we called it granny knocking 😂🙈 — Laura (@theoxfordpixie) August 1, 2018

Chickenelly — Ruth Mercury (@ruthstrachan) August 1, 2018

Bobby knocking!! Why isn’t this even an option 😱?! — Jessy (@Jessyluciax) August 2, 2018

rattatat ginger! — charli xcx ft toad stan account (@joesuxx) August 1, 2018

Knock down ginger! — Jimmy's Iced Coffee (@jimmyicedcoffee) August 1, 2018

If you’re wondering where the repeated ginger-bashing comes from, it seems to originate from an old song about the game. It went:

Ginger, Ginger broke a winda

Hit the winda – crack!

The baker came out to give ‘im a clout

And landed on his back.

So instead of targeted harassment against redheads, it’s actually a cautionary tale of a kid called Ginger’s fate after getting a bit carried away with the game. Not that that ever seemed to stop any of us from terrorising our neighbours by playing.

Is it illegal to knock a door and run away? It’s pretty unlikely that someone would call the police on some children playing the odd prank. If the police are called, however, you will be breaching a UK act from the 1800s which states it’s illegal to ‘wilfully and wantonly disturb any inhabitant, by pulling or ringing any door bell, or knocking at any door.’ You can apparently be punished with up to 14 days in prison for it, but there are no apparent cases of this happening. The Town Police Clauses Act 1847 does also say you can’t keep swine in the street or shake your rugs before 8am, so it seems somewhat outdated. If you do continue to trespass on someone’s property, this will be a civil matter and you can be taken to court, so be aware of this if you see your kids playing chappy/knock down ginger/knicky knocker nelly/whatever you call it.

Location plays a big part in what you call the game. In the US it’s more likely to be a round of ding dong ditch, while in parts of Wales it’s all about knock out ginger.

There appears to be a north/south divide when it comes to which term to use, and the flowery terms of the south aren’t favoured by Scots.

Given that ‘bobby knocking’ means something very different in Scotland, it’s not too hard to see why.

‘when you knock someone’s door and run away before the person answers’ scotland: it’s just ‘chappy’ england: we call it ‘dingle dongle a shilling on the workmaster’s nickel knocker’ — Butsay (@Butsay_) June 23, 2018

Names for knocking the door and running away Knock down ginger

Knock knock ginger

Knock out ginger

Chappy/chap door run

Bobby knocking

Granny knocking

Ding dong dash

Chickenelly

Chicky melly

Knick knack

Knocky knocky nine doors

Nicky nicky nine doors

Ring and run

Knock and nash

Start a debate in your own office and find out who the real psychos are.

Then vote in our poll to be proven right or very, very wrong (looking at your knocky nine doors advocates).

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