backsie

plural backsies · alternative backsy

1. childishThe back.

   A mimsy, a clapsy, I roll my hands, touch backsie, My right hand, my left hand, High as the sky, low as the sea, I touch my knee, and my heel, and my toe, And over we go.

   1985, Dorothy Einon, Play with a purpose

2. childishin pluraloftenThe act of taking back or going back on a statement, promise, or agreement.

   No backsie no matter what.

   1986, Alice Bach, The Meat in the Sandwich, page 136

   5 more examples

   Frances is the loser when she agrees to no "backsies" or refunds as she buys Thelma's plastic tea dishes with money saved for a china set.

   1987, Carolyn W. Field, Jaqueline Shachter Weiss, Values in selected children's books of fiction and fantasy

   Talk about times when you had a backsie or gave something back to someone.

   1999, Mary Bolte, A Guide for Using Bedtime for Frances in the Classroom, page 48

   Not one to gloat, Thorn did sound amused Monday when asked if he had broken the news to the Mavericks' owner, Mark Cuban: no backsies.

   2008 March 25, Harvey Araton, “For President, Knicks Could Look Nearby”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022

   Then you will be in trouble because it will kill you to have it taken out again but it will betray your deepest inner truth to tell them No Backsies.

   2011, Jenna Katerin Moran, Nobilis: The Essentials, Volume 1, page 11

   Whenever one of us would say something nasty, she'd ask if we wanted a backsie, which meant we could take it back before anyone heard it.

   2012, Kate Hoffmann, The Mighty Quinns: Ronan: The Mighty Quinns: Marcus, page 83

   Synonyms: takesies-backsies

3. childishin pluraloftenA reciprocal action or consequence, such as immediately tagging the player who has tagged one in a game of tag.
4. in pluraloftenjacksThe act of going through a sequence of moves in reverse.

   And then you play Backsies again if you're playing that way.

   1956, Patricia Evans, Jacks, page 9

   2 more examples

   In the eastern part of this country BACKSIES is played by some people after each game, and you're not through with a game until you've played it.

   1961, Patricia Evans, Rimbles: A Book of Children's Classic Games, Rhymes, Songs, and Sayings

   When a player gets through sixies, he then starts on a backsie of the regular game.

   1970, Marta Weigle, Follow my fancy: the book of jacks and jack games, page 12

5. childishin pluraloftenThe act of joining a queue behind a friend rather than at the end of the queue.

   One of his favorites is "No frontsies, no backsies," so there was really no point in trying to butt in.

   2003, Ann M. Martin, The Baby-sitter's Club, page 200

   2 more examples

   To her, the ethical thicket consists of "frontsies and backsies," a phenomenon she noticed in kindergarten.

   1988, William L. Rivers, Cleve Mathews, Ethics for the media, page 45

   Backsies meant you let a kid cut behind you. A complex moral microcosm presented itself in the world of frontsies and backsies, with a wide range of available moral responses.

   2019, Robert K. Bolger, Robert C. Coburn, Religious Language, Meaning, and Use: The God Who is Not There