Knock Down Ginger
For 1 or more players
Knock Down Ginger and it's alternative named variations has been played since there were front doors to play it on. Usually carried out in the hours of darkness, the aim is to ring a doorbell or knock loudly on a door, as though very urgent, and run away as fast as possible.
To make this game even more exciting you can play variations such as after knocking you hide as close to the door as possible, in shrubs or behind a tree, behind the owners gate or just around the corner.
The test comes when you try a second time on the same door, giving the owner a few moments to settle down in front of their TV, the quicker you do this the more exciting it can be.
See also Knock'N'Run for more...
ALTERNATIVE RULES
Posted by Chris from Surrey - England
Knock on the door. Don't run away. Ask for a glass of water. You can make up stories if the occupant needs convincing. If they give you a galss of water then ask for a biscuit. If you get that ask for more until they get annoyed and close the door on you. The more you get the better your score. You are not allowed to go in and must remain on the doorstep eating and drinking. Years after I used to play it a kid came to the door and did the same thing. I couldn't believe it. We kept it up while his friends watch with disbelief from someones garden across the road. His name was Wayne I think.
Posted by Anon
Knock on the door and stand in the garden as if you were gnomes and stay still, and the first person to run has to knock on the next door
Posted by Anon
Tie fishing line to the knocker run and hide and pull the line and watch the person come out then pull it again if you dare.
You can tie three knockers at a time and hide then pull so three doors knock at the same time.
Posted by David - Essex
And the perpetual motion version where you tie two knockers together and knock on the first door, when they close their door the other knocker knocks ad infinitum.
ALTERNATIVE RULES
Posted by: charlz
Tie cotton or fishing rope to a door knocker and hide behind the car or bush and pull about 15 times and they come to the door like "wtf" and your sitting there laughing your head off. and when they shut the door do it again!
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Cherry Knocking
Ding Dong Ditch (USA)
Doorbell Ditch
Knock and Nash - (Nash is north England slang for run)
Knock'N'Run more...
Knock and Run
knock a door run
Nicky-Knicky Nine-Doors - (From Canada)
Nicky-Knocky Nine-Doors
Nicky Knocky Hide Door
Thunder and Lightning
Knocky ido - Posted by Lee Horsman from Middlesborough
Rat-atat-Ginger - Posted by Andy Moore from Wales
Chap door Runaway - Posted by Phil Dawson from Scotland
knick-knock
klingelputz - Germany
Nick-nack - Cathal from Dublin
Bobby knocking
Belletje trek (Flemish) Posted by: edmee boyen
Cotton knocking Posted by: charlz
Knick Knock Nanny Posted by: Tony
Postman's Knock (Australian) Posted by: Catherine
Knock Knock Ginger
ORIGINS
The origin of knock down ginger came from council estates because all the doors were stained a ginger colour, hence knock down ginger. Posted by: richard hicks
Do you have other ideas regarding the origins of this game? Please post them using the form on the right. Thank you.
Knock Down Ginger and it's alternative named variations has been played since there were front doors to play it on. Usually carried out in the hours of darkness, the aim is to ring a doorbell or knock loudly on a door, as though very urgent, and run away as fast as possible.
To make this game even more exciting you can play variations such as after knocking you hide as close to the door as possible, in shrubs or behind a tree, behind the owners gate or just around the corner.
The test comes when you try a second time on the same door, giving the owner a few moments to settle down in front of their TV, the quicker you do this the more exciting it can be.
See also Knock'N'Run for more...
ALTERNATIVE RULES
Posted by Chris from Surrey - England
Knock on the door. Don't run away. Ask for a glass of water. You can make up stories if the occupant needs convincing. If they give you a galss of water then ask for a biscuit. If you get that ask for more until they get annoyed and close the door on you. The more you get the better your score. You are not allowed to go in and must remain on the doorstep eating and drinking. Years after I used to play it a kid came to the door and did the same thing. I couldn't believe it. We kept it up while his friends watch with disbelief from someones garden across the road. His name was Wayne I think.
Posted by Anon
Knock on the door and stand in the garden as if you were gnomes and stay still, and the first person to run has to knock on the next door
Posted by Anon
Tie fishing line to the knocker run and hide and pull the line and watch the person come out then pull it again if you dare.
You can tie three knockers at a time and hide then pull so three doors knock at the same time.
Posted by David - Essex
And the perpetual motion version where you tie two knockers together and knock on the first door, when they close their door the other knocker knocks ad infinitum.
ALTERNATIVE RULES
Posted by: charlz
Tie cotton or fishing rope to a door knocker and hide behind the car or bush and pull about 15 times and they come to the door like "wtf" and your sitting there laughing your head off. and when they shut the door do it again!
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Cherry Knocking
Ding Dong Ditch (USA)
Doorbell Ditch
Knock and Nash - (Nash is north England slang for run)
Knock'N'Run more...
Knock and Run
knock a door run
Nicky-Knicky Nine-Doors - (From Canada)
Nicky-Knocky Nine-Doors
Nicky Knocky Hide Door
Thunder and Lightning
Knocky ido - Posted by Lee Horsman from Middlesborough
Rat-atat-Ginger - Posted by Andy Moore from Wales
Chap door Runaway - Posted by Phil Dawson from Scotland
knick-knock
klingelputz - Germany
Nick-nack - Cathal from Dublin
Bobby knocking
Belletje trek (Flemish) Posted by: edmee boyen
Cotton knocking Posted by: charlz
Knick Knock Nanny Posted by: Tony
Postman's Knock (Australian) Posted by: Catherine
Knock Knock Ginger
ORIGINS
The origin of knock down ginger came from council estates because all the doors were stained a ginger colour, hence knock down ginger. Posted by: richard hicks
Do you have other ideas regarding the origins of this game? Please post them using the form on the right. Thank you.
COMMENTS
| Cool dude |  |
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| Me and my freind play it lots. We call it knock n nash. We choose doors with door bells because it is louder and then we hide as close to the door as possible. Just dont get caught (or shot) |
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2 JAN 05:41:25 |
Eh Ah Ken | |
| In fife, in scotland we called it simply "Chap, Door, Run". Anyone who would hurt kids for playing this is a muppet. We certainly weren't 'Chavs'. We were just kids. And it's a totally harmless game. |
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23 NOV 18:56:13 |
Jake | |
| Me n my mates were playin last night at like half 8 n my mate calls it gardern noming coz he just lays on the grass wen we nok n the person at the door goes crazy lol 5769 |
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13 OCT 13:57:25 |
Sue from London | |
| Knock Down Ginger was the funniest game ever when I was a kid - I loved it! |
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3 JUN 22:55:04 |
B Hoskins | |
| It's harassment deserving of an asbo. In it's origins there was most likely little grief for all those involved but in todays climate where a bad or or a clip round the ear from the adults can see them end up in prison or variation of confrontations between adults will end up with some police involvement, blow backs etc It should just be banned to allow adults to live their own lives without this harassment pest of low lives with nothing better to do with their time than make a nuisance of themselves causing grief and trouble. With kids older yobs praying on the most vulnerable in society it should just be banned. There is no 'GAME' here, just harrasment and the provocation of a crimal act. A game is where all sides consent to have some fun, not ganging up to bully an invidiudal. |
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11 APR 09:19:26 |
b jones | |
| as a kid we lived in old houses that were close together,we played several versions of knock down ginger ,teddy knock nock was one,white horse kick was another, one person was blindfolded and than led to a front door,of coure you were led to the door of the angriest person you knew,you wer placed in front of the door with your back to it ,then your mates would hide (usually around the corner)and shout white horse kick,you had to kick the door a hard as you could ,rip of the blindfold and run like hell.Another was to tie two knockers to gether and watch them struggle to open the door,the scary bit was to get your strings back as quick as you could because they would be waiting behind the door,as you can guess most of my contemperies were very good athletes in the following years. |
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25 MAR 16:00:39 |
Jeff | |
| People who "play" this are retards. If you tried it on my door - or my elderly parents' door - I will hunt you down and batter you just enough so you won't die, but get permanent brain damage, so you'll have to live your life a retard. I imagine in America they just shoot those who try it. And The bonus being you won't go knocking around doors either. |
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27 FEB 18:44:41 |
Kelly Brandon | |
| My mate almost got done for playing this game when some silly old bag had a heart attack which was probubly not from us anyway. They lifted him and gave him a right hard time about it but they never got the rest of us. Still playing. |
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31 JAN 13:23:32 |
The Font | |
| My grandad (born in 1908) told me he (and his mates) used to tie a thread from one door-knocker to the next in a zigzag pattern down the street. Then they'd knock on the first door. When that was opened it would pull the next knocker, breaking the thread and knocking on the second door. This would continue all the way down the street. |
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21 DEC 22:55:33 |
10yroldgirl | |
| hi im 10, i come from hackney in london, england and me and my friends do knock down ginger all the time sometimes if we get caught we spin some story about a boy called joey and we have to find him desperately then we say have you seen him? and they say no. its really funny i do it with my cosins aswell, then we go to other houses except the houses with old people in them. its great fun and i hope to enjoy many more years of knock down ginger. |
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1 NOV 07:01:22 |
natalia | |
| knock down ginger is so fun. me and a group of friends played it yesterday on Halloween on the houses that didn't have any pumpkins. ha ha |
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24 MAY 07:57:35 |
Adrian Rogers | |
| Loved this game. It's great thinking back on all the things we used to get up to. Although we were probably annoying little pests to the homeowners, at least we weren't hurting anybody or taking drugs. I wish I could go back and do it all over again. |
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2 MAY 09:01:56 |
Ellis | |
| Yeah Ryan, fuck you I play this all the time and hope to one day knock on yours, and anyways If you do shoot a kid then your just wrong. I play this alone so yeah I stand alone as a bastard to you not a Chav. |
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20 APR 21:44:54 |
Elizabeth | |
| We called it 'Knock and Bolt'. 'Bolt' being slang for 'run' I live in Buckinghamshire, England |
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14 APR 10:22:40 |
FOZZuk | |
| I lived in central hull,and we called it knock "off" ginger, just the slight variation. |
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22 MAR 20:30:17 |
Essex gal | |
| knock down ginger was ma fave game eva, i lived and still living on a council estate in essex and we call it "knock-down-ginger" the best game ever, I dont think you people really could tie things to trees nd put jugs on stuff on doors, a bit of an exageration maybe??? i think so. :) xxx |
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24 AUG 22:43:45 |
Andy | |
| Knock down ginger does seem to be the most common known. However, on our estate in the East of England it was known as 'Cherry Knocking' and glad to see it mentioned, but on the neighbouring estate where my uncle lived, it was known as 'tip-it and run.' Was great fun though, whatever it was called :) |
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17 AUG 15:14:19 |
Chris Jubb | |
| We played this prank long before "Ginger doorways on Council Estates" ... my father admitted to playing ... knock down Ginger ... The effort not to laugh when you were hiding close by was side splitting! |
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11 JUL 10:26:18 |
Anon | |
| Ryan sounds a right dick, if we only knew where he lived we would play this game almost every night until he shot himself. When playing this game I would recommend wearing a kevlar jacket in case dicks like this Ryan actually have firearms or knives and can't take a joke. |
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11 JUL 09:45:13 |
Ryan | |
| Anyone doing this stupidity at my door will be shot. Little chavvy bastards. |
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29 MAY 23:09:04 |
jj Koolay | |
| i think knock down ginger is a great game but you shouldn't play that game because its a bad game for people because they mite fall over on there faces. jj Koolay |
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21 APR 10:40:40 |
Andy Sword | |
| I'm from Dundee, Scotland. As a kid, we called this game 'chickenelly.' Maybe because after you chapped the door, you'd run like a spooked chicken! Or perhaps because any child refusing to play was the chickenelly. |
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13 APR 18:21:55 |
james elson | |
| this game is also callede red apple |
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21 MAR 11:28:23 |
chloe | |
| knok down ginger is wicked i played it lots of timesand evryone put a string and tied it on a tree and the other half on the door and get like a jug tie it tiet so when he opend the door whatevr you ut in the jug it go on th people how opend he door . DONT FORGET TO MAKE SURE THERE IN AND DONT CATCH YOU . hi |
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6 FEB 12:09:05 |
belinda | |
| A name to add to your alternative names listing is Ring-a-bell-scoosh (no idea how you spell it though) |
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27 OCT 16:32:12 |
Ben Form Leeds England | |
| I am from Leeds, and am glad to see bobby knocking on the list, i came onto the site to see if it had an explantion why it was so named, but can only imagine as bobby (policeman) always knock hard and loud?? possibly?? |
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15 FEB 03:51:00 |
Laura from Vancouver Canada | |
| I am a Canadian and told my British husband that when I was a kid we used to play Nicky Nicky Nine Door. He said, "you mean Knock Down Ginger." We then bantered back and forth whose mother, Nan, and so on, played which game and what the rightful name is. So we decided to google it, and this is what we found. We were both right! Peace again. My husband loved to see the names of all these British games here. We'll teach them to our kids, eh? =) |
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JAN
22:32:08