where did the term olly olly oxen free come from
Olly olly oxen free Cassidy and Hall write that the phrase may be derived from all ye, all ye outs in free, all the outs in free, or possibly calling all the "outs" in free; in other words, all who are out may come in without penalty.[2] Various calls used for such purposes have gone by the collective name of "ollyoxalls" in some places.[3] Tukey and Rowell speculate that the phrase may be a corruption of a hypothetical and ungrammatical German phrase alle, alle, auch sind frei (all, all, are also free).[1]
Lawrence Oates On the morning of the 17th of March (or possibly the 16th – Scott was unsure) Oates walked out of the tent into a −40 °F (−40 °C) blizzard to his death. Scott wrote in his diary: "We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman."[14] According to Scott's diary, as Oates left the tent he said, "I am just going outside and may be some time",[15] though Edward Adrian Wilson, who was also present, made no reference to this in his own diary or the letters to Oates' mother.[16]