Shel Silverstein (author of The Father of a Boy Named Sue and Zebra Question) wrote this lovely poem, based on a play on words, promoting friendship and peace.
I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins
While “Tug O’War” represents overpowering, hurting and not accepting others, the poet exalts pacifism by saying that instead of aggression we should encourage love and peace, in a perfect world where everyone wins and no one loses.
Tug of War is quite a rough game between two teams who haul at the opposite ends of a rope, and try towing over their opponents
The Oxford English Dictionary says that the phrase “tug of war” originally meant “the decisive contest; the real struggle or tussle; a severe contest for supremacy”.
The contest of pulling on the rope originates from ancient ceremonies and rituals documented in very distant countries such as Burma, Borneo, Korea, New Zealand, Congo and the Americas. Testimony of tug-of-war as a sport dates back to an Egyptian inscription from 2500 BC. . In the ancient Olympic Games, tug-of-war was practiced both as an independent sporting activity and as a training practice for other disciplines.
Instead of this violent game the poet suggests replacing tugs with hugs wants people to have fun and to enjoy being with each other without the need to win or lose.
Shel Silverstein (autore di The Father of a Boy Named Sue e Zebra Question) ha scritto questa bella poesia, basata su un gioco di parole, che promuove l’amicizia e la pace
Non voglio giocare al tiro alla fune.
Preferisco tirare abbracci
dove tutti si divertono ad abbracciare
invece di tirare,
dove tutti fan risolini
e rotolano sui materassini
dove tutti si baciano,
e sorridono,
e si stringono
e tutti vincono.
(trad: L.Z.)
Mentre il Tiro alla Fune rappresenta sopraffazione, violenza e rifiuto dell’altro, il poeta esalta il pacifismo dicendo che invece dell’aggressività dovremmo incoraggiare l’amore e la pace, in un mondo perfetto in cui tutti vincono e nessuno perde.
Il Tiro alla Fune è un gioco piuttosto duro tra due squadre che tirano le estremità opposte di una corda e cercano di trascinare i loro avversari
L’Oxford English Dictionary afferma che la frase ” Tug O’War ” originariamente significava “la gara decisiva; la vera lotta o rissa; una dura gara per la supremazia”.
La gara trae origine da antiche cerimonie e rituali documentate in paesi molto lontani come la Birmania, il Borneo, la Corea, la Nuova Zelanda, il Congo e le Americhe. La testimonianza del tiro alla fune come sport risale a un’iscrizione egizia del 2500 a.C. . Negli antichi Giochi Olimpici il tiro alla fune era praticato sia come attività sportiva autonoma, sia come allenamento per altre discipline.
Invece di questo gioco violento il poeta suggerisce di sostituire tugs (che significa letteralmente rimorchiatori) con hugs (abbracci) così che le persone si divertano e si divertano e abbiano piacere a a stare insieme senza la necessità di vincere o perdere.
Image: Race for your life Charlie Brown. Tug a war. – Imgflip
Penso che tutti almeno una volta abbiamo giocato al tiro alla fune, io l’ho fatto diverse volte divertendomi con gli amici, però anche il tiro agli abbracci sarebbe da provare se non ci fossero troppe persone schizzinose nel volerli 🙄
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Trovo anch’io che sarebbe fantastico 🤗🤗🤗
Buon pomeriggio, Adriano
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Grazie Luisa anche a te 🤗🤗🤗
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A good poem to share. Silverstein was a genius. His book the Giving Tree is quite profound.
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I am convinced that Silverstein was really brilliant, too
Thank you Pat! Have a nice day! 🤗
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Wishing you the same, Luisa.
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🙏🤗😘🙏
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Interessante ,molto interessante…intanto io ti invio il mio abbraccio 🤗
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Grazie, Dani cara
Lo acchiappo e lo contraccambio con tanto affetto 🤗
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🙏❤
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Such a cute poem! Love the idea of hug o’ war. I’m not a hugger, but it’s nice for an expression. 😁
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Since Italians are generally expansive, I am a great hugger.
I have to correct myself, I was a hugger, because this pandemic has made us more reluctant to physical contact 🤗
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Italians are some of the warmest people I’ve got to meet 😀 Very nice and friendly.
The exact opposite in India- it’s mostly a socially distanced culture (we even do the “namaste” 🙏 in place of a handshake).
But the pandemic has made us all change. But things are getting better for our world now 😊
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Let’s hope they are! 💜💜💜
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Hug of war ! That quite an expression 👍🤝🥰
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Undeniably!
Sending you hugs and love. 🤗😘🤗
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Thank you ! Hugs to you too 🥰
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Lovely poem 💝 #Spread the love 🤗
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What can I say? Thank you so much, dear Daphny 🤗🤗🤗
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This old Tug O’War should really be brought to an end and more love should be spread instead ❣️
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👍🙏💕
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Da sempre, sin da bambina, non ho mai potuto guardare o partecipare a giochi di competizione. Ti faccio un semplice esempio, spesso mio padre mi invitava a giocare a dama con lui. Lo faceva per mettere alla prova la mia logica. Ma anche a costo di deluderlo, io perdevo volutamente perchè non sopportavo di vederlo perdere! E così è stato sempre. L’unica disciplina in palestra che ho praticato è l’Aikido. Una disciplina di difesa, dove non esiste l’offesa, ma solo la difesa personale.
Quindi un grande plauso a Shel Silverstein che grazie alle sue parole , e alla tua bellissima traduzione, ha promosso ” l’amicizia e la pace ” Un abbraccio carissima!!!!
Anche questa poesia bella e colma di buoni propositi posso prenderla per donarla un giorno alla mia nipotina Giulia? ❤
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Ma certo, Vitty cara… la tua nipotina è fortunata ad avere te 😘😘😘
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Non so se lo saprà mai. Mia nuora non me la fa vedere. E questo è il mio immenso dolore!!!!
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Come mi dispiace! Deve essere una grande sofferenza per te… e voglia Dio che le cose si accomodino! 💕
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Grazie Luisa per questo bellissimo augurio!!!! ❤
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💕 💕 💕
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Neppure io sono competitiva, soprattutto quando per vincere bisogna attaccare 🌹
Adoro la cooperazione, dove ognuno mette a frutto il suo talento
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Anch’io la penso così!!!! 🙂
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🤗💐🤗
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I don’t think it’s possible for a man to give a female a hug nowadays unless he knows her very well.
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In Italy, before the pandemic, I often hugged and was hugged by my male friends
I think I was a bit of a hugger 😇😇😇
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LOL. It’s a shame I don’t live in Italy then 🙂
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Sending you a virtual hug…💜
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LOL I can do better than that 💙💙
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😇😇😇
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The world sure needs more hugs to tugs right now. What a lovely thought.
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Thank you, Maggie, for your heart-warming comment🌹😊🌹😊🌹
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Evvai!!! Finalmente 1uwlcunom8ntell7gente che propone un gioco di abbracci, mi puace molto 🥰. Grazie per averlo postato, mi piace talmente tanto che lo condivido nei miei social posso?
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Ma certo che puoi, carissima Giusy.
E’ un onore per me 👍🤗
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Grazieee 😘
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🙏❤🙏❤🙏❤🙏
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[…] Friendship: “Tug O’War” — words and music and stories […]
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E’ un piacere e un onore apparire sul tuo blog
Abbracciiii 🤗🤗🤗
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How sweet is this in my ears.
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Thanks a lot for your nice feedback!
Really appreciated 🙏🤗🙏
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Hug-o-war. That’s a good one.
“Tiro alla fune”? Made a note. I just can’t remember right now what it’s called en Francese… Hmmm. Am I getting old or mixing up languages…
Buona notte Luisa.
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You are very skilled, with all the languages you know, and it is natural that sometimes they get confused with one another a little
PS I looked up in the dictionary, which suggests ” tir à la corde”
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Skilled? No, just lucky to have wandered around and seen great things and met great people and cultures. Even if it gets a bit muddled in my head. (Can be age too…) It’s all right.
Tir à la corde is correct. Maybe I’m looking for a regional word. I’m thinking Lyon… It will come back… Buona notte Luisa
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I love this, Luisa. Yes, more hugs please. 🤗🙏
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Thanks for your kind feedback, Jeff!
Much appreciated 🙏🤗🙏
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Most welcome, Luisa! 🤗🙏
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Shel Silverstein’s work is a treasure chest of kindness and humor. He was a singular talent.
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Wow, wonderful poem. I love that too. I participated in the annual tug of war when at school and I really hated it. The losing side was upset and the winning side didn’t feel much of a joy and the whole thing is so useless. Worst of all, it didn’t promote any good feelings. Competitions are necessary, but often competitions can bring the worst of human anxiety and jealousy.
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I am truly grateful to you for these beautiful reflections that you shared with me and all our friends 🙏🙏🙏
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Io nel massimo sforzo del tiraggio metterei fine…offrendo un assaggio di prosecco e formaggio!
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Ci sto!!! 🥂🌺🥂
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Ciao Luisa cana scusa la mia lunga assenza che coincide con me le cose fuori dal web.
Tiro alla fune mi ci sono molto divertita mi viene in mente soprattutto in spiaggia l’estate e neppure troppi anni fa con i nostri figli.
Gli abbracci come sai io ne offro (ne tiro) sempre tanti.
Abbraccissimi ❣
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… e io li prendo tutti e li contraccambio con tanto affetto Shera cara🤗🤗🤗
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❤🌻😚
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simpatica poesia. Buona serata
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Sono contenta che anche tu la trovi divertente 🙏🙏🙏
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veramente divertente. Bella serata
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DOPPI complimenti!
Sia per le informazioni sull’origine del tiro alla fune, che per la metafora con gli abbracci!
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Allora… abbracci fortissimi a te 🤗🌺🤗🌺🤗
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❤
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Loved it. Such a sweet poem. Thank you for sharing
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Se tutti applicassero questo semplice gesto… sarebbe sicuramente un mondo migliore.
Buona serata 🙂
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Sì, se la violenza, l’odio e il rancore non prendessero il sopravvento💜🌹💜
Grazie e buon pomeriggio!
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Buona serata a te 🙂
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http://youbehopeful.wordpress.com
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Thanks: a really nice post
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Thankyou
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🙏🙏🙏
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That’s really a cute poem.
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Thank you very much for your nice words.
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Always my pleasure 😊
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