The lyrics to "This Old Man" have been around in some version for at least a century, and Wikipedia says that it is as old as 1870 or so.
The first verse is "This old man He played 1 He played knick knack on my thumb with a knick knack paddywack give a dog a bone this old man came rolling home! "
I see that "paddywack" is a bullying Irishman (later changed to "patty-whack" for political correctness). But what is "knick-knack?" A sort of hand-clapping game?
2009-04-28T03:20:55Z
Yes, I know that a knick-knack is a trinket. But then, how do you PLAY knick-knack? Is it something to do with a knacker (a butcher), and the sound of chopping?
Lexico2009-04-28T03:44:39Z
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My initial guess was that "knack" meant knowledge, wit, or trick, but wiktionary list "knick-knack" as "a small ornament of minor value," which could have meant a small toy or a game.
Let's try parsing the lyrics in lines 4-5.
"He played knick knack on my thumb with a knick knack paddywack give a dog a bone"
A comparison with the 1870's song Jack Jintle collected by Anne Gilcrest (Anne Gilchrist) shows that "the old man", "paddy whack" (back formation from Paddywack?) and "giving the dog a bone" are not essential features of the song.
"And I can play nick-nack upon my own thumb. With my nick-nack and pad-lock and sing a fine song"
Hence the sentence in question can be parsed as follows (SVO/M1/M2):
"He played knick knack / on my thumb / with a knick knack paddywack",
and the corresponding verse in Jack Jintle as follows (SVO/M1/M2):
"I can play nick-nack / upon my own thumb / with my nick-nack and pad-lock"
From the comparison, guessing becomes less uncertain: knick-knack (nick-nack) is a small ornamental object that is being played (spun?) on a tiny, difficult surface such as the child's thumb or shoe.
Paddywack need not be the angry Irishman or even a pad-lock but it can be any small object that requires fine motor control for the child performing the song and the game of knick-knack.
We could also imagine that the song was intended to encourage young children to develop their verbal skills and motor skills akin to the kind of skills that are fostered in today's kindergarteners and younger school children.
knick knacks are two animal bones held between fingers and thumb which when shaken can produce all kinds of tunes after some minimal practise. I played them as a kid. I have also seen them played on stage by professionals. I am 79.
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