Miss Fanelli wrote:
Hello, I’m looking for any help I can find in possibly identifying what I think to be an Italian Nursery rhyme/ paddy cake game my Grandfather used to play with us kids. Our family has long since been uprooted from Italy, but being the eldest granddaughter I have felt responsible for holding onto what traditions we could. Now as I’m about to wed and most of my friends are having babies I realize we’ve lost something here. Anything you can think of would be great, places to look for more information, names of traditional paddy-cake style games that Italians play, anything at all would be much appreciated. The following is what I remember.
When I was younger my Grandfather would play a version of ‘paddy-cake’ with me. He would take my hands into his, and while reciting some poetry (of what might very well have been gibberish), he would move my hands so that I caressed my cheeks, then I would caress his. Back and forth he would move my hands until a part in this ‘poem’ where he would say “Ah no!”, at this part my hands would always land on his face – followed by a line where he would say “Ah gooy gooy gooy gooygooy!” and I would wind up gently patting myself on the cheeks. As a child the delight was that I could never win; if my hands where over his this time, or if we started on his cheeks instead of mine, I was always the one getting my cheeks patted.
My Grandfather was Italian and from what I know his Grandfather was the one to move our family to the states from Italy. As I said above this might just be a poem in gibberish, but my father and members of his generation believe it might have been an Italian nursery rhyme about a little mouse. We have no clue as to the spelling of any of this so for the moment I’ll take my best shot at it phonetically. It sounds like this…
Ah moo-zha-zhill.
Ah-gazhty- a- ta
Ah-goosh-ti-ta.
Ah- ya-tia-ta.
Ah no
ah gooy gooy gooy gooy gooyLike I said this is a rough English phonetic spelling of something that as far as I know was in Italian. Then again Grandpa made it harder still by always changing the words or adding a line or two so that I always wound up clapping my own face. The long and short of it is this is about all I know…. any suggestions?
Thank you for your time
Miss Genevieve C. Fanelli
If anyone can help with this nursery rhyme, or if you have any suggestions to help find it, please comment below.
Thanks!
-Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Games Around the World, Italian, Italian Nursery Rhymes, Italy, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Patty Cake Rhymes, Questions, Readers Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
73 Responses to “Can Anyone Help with an Italian Rhyme Where You Caress the Cheeks (Possibly about a Mouse)?”
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October 29th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I remember my great grandfather telling the same type of story caressing the cheeks as he tells the story he goes faster, says phonetically “mooshamasheel, _______ageal, a few more words and almost slapping our face where our face would be red. My grandmother said it was about a cat. It makes sense like petting a cat and well you know how cats are. I looked this up just now because I have a coworker whose mother-in-law told the same story to her great grandchildren. I almost fell off my chair when she mentioned it because I haven’t heard it since the 60’s. Sorry I can’t help, as I have grandparents from Italy, but I don’t speak Italian.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
It’s funny – because I just posted the question and I didn’t realize it’s probably the one my grandmother did with my kids. (Seeing the way Roslyn wrote it made it occur to me that it might be the same rhyme.) I recorded my grandmother saying it a couple of years ago. It’s called Micio Miagolio – at least in the dialect she spoke – click the link to read it and hear it – and see if it’s the one you’re looking for.
-Mama Lisa
October 29th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
That’s it!! How funny… I just emailed this site to my coworker and one of my sisters.
Thank you!
October 29th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Glad I could help jog those memories!
Does this sound like the one you’re looking for Genevieve?
November 7th, 2007 at 8:18 am
You all made me laugh because I have been trying to remember the rhyme for such a long time. My grandmother and mother would always do this with the little ones and it was about a cat. But the only difference, the last words I remember were pussy cat, pussy cat, pussy cat with a tap on the cheek. Thanks for such a wonderful memory and the words.
November 8th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Thank goodness!
I’ve been going nuts trying to find this over the past ten years. My papa told the same rhyme. thanks!
January 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am
my grandmother used to do this one:
Moosha moosha moosha
duce brute
isabella
January 19th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I am of Italian american descent. My family is from the Abbruzzi region in Italy. My husbands family is also from Abbruzzi and his parents immigrated to the USA in the late 1940’s. When we had our first child, my mother-in-law would hold our daughters hands in hers and stroke the cheeks while reciting mooshalaud, mooshaloud, mooshalaud, and then pat the cheeks quickly reciting poop,poop,poop,poop. I have been looking for this on the internet, not knowing how to spell or even if it was the correct pronounciation. Thanks so much for sharing, great site! My best friend who is Italian and from the same region remembers her grandfather doing this same thing to her as a child.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I have been looking for the SAME thing!
Here’s what I know with a phonetic spelling:
Muzhail, gatta ga-tale
oo pane ou cas’
porta la cas’, porta la cas, porta la cas’
June 9th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
This is brilliant! My Grandfather, and then my Dad used to do this with us, and now I have a daughter, my husband and I do it too!! Although I am sure this is the same rhyme, phonetically, this is how we would say it…
“mooshamashee…
A tu a tee
A tu a toe
A BELLA CHAVEAU” (lots of slapping!)
I know the spelling at the end makes it look of French origin, but that’s just phonetically. How funny, i’ll try and remember the correct version from now on! THANK YOU! xxx
August 12th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Is this it?
Batti batti le manine
che verrà papà
porterà bonbon
e la bimba mangerà.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
This is so bizarre! I guess the regional dialects play a big part in the pronunciation. My Italian grandfather used to do the same thing and somehow I thought it had to do with cheese. He was born and raised in Provinzio Campo Basso. I can only repeat it phonetically:
Moozha moozhail (stroke cheeks)
pon e got tail ” ”
cazhee de got ” ”
too fen a bot (slapping cheeks)
Of course this was when I was a baby and I might not have it right.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I remember my grandmother doing this to me! I think she combined two of them though. Like Susan, I remember it being about cheese. She did it in English for me once and part of it came out to be “I went to my grandmother’s house.” “what did she give you?” “Cheese” …and some other stuff I can’t remember. Through searching I’ve found a similar rhyme on this site but the one she did sounds more like the ones people have suggested, with the cheek patting and her saying “moosha mia”
Maybe she did just combine the two?
January 6th, 2009 at 12:16 am
My father used to play a game with us kids, stroking our cheeking and saying the following. I can’t find the correct italian words but the sounded like this:
Mishamazoole
katamenjot
ponacas
kachew
nindachoo
jutelawat
and ended with
domasot, domasot, domasot
I would love to know what it means and if we have it correct!
January 15th, 2010 at 12:16 am
My grandma used to sing this to us.
Baty Lamanina caveta a’papa
porti ey conguni celesta mangia.
I am sure I was WAY off with the spelling
February 17th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
My parents (now deceased) and my grandparents used to stroke our cheeks and say something like, mushe a muchel, stroke again, pon a cazelle, stroke again, pon a ricotte, then tap tap tap eck in a bot. Spelling is off, but thats what we now sing to our grandchildren and they love it. Mom told us it meant something like smooth as something, while as something- I wish I would have pressed them for the meaning- hindsight.
April 29th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Our family was from Calabria. The rhyme went something like this:
Moosha mia, moosha tu
A dove esta? (where did you go?)
De a Nan (to grandmother’s)
Qui t’a da?(what did she give you?)
I forget this line, but the translation is that “she gave me bread”
May 5th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
My grandmother’s family was from the napoli area and as children we recited: (phonetic)
Moosha Mushel
Vata tel
Moosha Mushone
Vata tone
Bella scepatone
My Nana Philomena taught us to brush her cheeks, then ours and do this back and forth until the last line where you would gently pat her cheeks repeatedly. She is 90 years old this month and has suffered from Alzheimers for years now. Though she doesn’t recognize me, she does recognize the poem from time to time!
June 19th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
My grandmother was from the heel of the boot region. I remember her calling the cat “gatterella”. Is there a different version with that?
August 12th, 2011 at 10:22 am
My grandmother, Clemtine Campiglia said while strocking my cheeks. mushel mushel la doci sta,la cit ta ma ,la ala ca la fuggi fuggi la ca. I know the spelling is not right but I was told that it meant the cat the cat he chase the rat the rat the rat he eats the cheese.
March 4th, 2012 at 10:03 pm
My Nana was from Calabria and Papa from Campobasso. She would take our hands in hers and gently stroke down our cheeks slowly and then the last line of the rhyme she’d say it fast and be quick. Phonetically:
Misha moosheel
bonna kasheel
quanto sei bella
MISHA MOOSHEEL!
July 9th, 2012 at 9:05 pm
Melissa D’Imperio my family is from the same region and your poem sounds the closest. My mom did this when i was little. She held my wrists and my hands did the stroking and slapping (not hard of course!).This is how mine sounds phonetically:
Moojshee moojsheel (little mousy, little mousy) stroke babys face
Pahn ah cahjsheel (some bread, some cheese) stroke your face
Du bauga te (some for you) stroke babys face
Du bauga me (some for me) stroke your face
Du bauga le fil de le roi (and some for the son of the king) say very fast while slapping babys face
October 14th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Translated into English:
With my own hands stroking face being held by Grandma’s.
Pussycat mine,
Where have you been
At Thomas’s
And what did he give you
Bread and Cheese
Will you give me a little?
NO!
Frusta Frusta Da! (with Grandma’s hands over mine slapping my face)
October 16th, 2012 at 5:08 pm
PLEASE REMOVE MY EMAIL ADDRESS FROM YOUR SITE. THANKS
Rose Belfiore
February 23rd, 2013 at 12:35 am
Hello, my family passed down this similar children’s rhyme for many generations!! But it was recited in French! The rhyme is about a pussy cat:
Minou La Chat
A Manage’
Toute Le Creme
Toute, Toute, Toute, Toute!
Meaning: Pussy cat, ate all the cream, all of it, all of it, all of it, all of it!
Please write back if anyone receives my note! I am so excited to finally find someone else’s post about this lovely children’s rhyme that means the world to our family, too! ~ Susie in Ohio
April 6th, 2013 at 11:05 pm
We’ve been trying to figure out a nursey rhyme my nonna used to tell us too. She was from Frosinone. Same idea – rubbing cheeks saying mizela. The story is about a cat hiding cheese in a hole and the mouse steeling it and the cat meow crying with tickling at end. Any ideas???
Thanks,
Teresa
April 19th, 2013 at 12:51 am
I too have been trying to figure out a nursery rhyme my grandmother from Caserta used to do with the infants in the family 50 years ago. I never knew what the words meant. It did not involve stroking the cheeks, just slowly stroking the palm of the hand with hers, and repeating 4 or 5 lines, ending with clapping the infants hand. Best I can remember phonetically something like
Bata moni
Cuta de oni
La bu dace
Tupade gace! (on the clap)
Could this be the same cat rhyme folks are referring to?
May 8th, 2013 at 10:53 am
Can anyone help with this version below? (i.e. The meaning and correct spelling.)
Hi there! I’m still trying to find the meaning of a nursery rhyme that sounds like this ( I have no idea how to spell the words) Moosha machelle, pana cashelle, pana racott, toofula but.
Thanks everyone!
Kathy
June 6th, 2013 at 4:29 pm
Here’s a question about a similar rhyme:
Hello Lisa.
My 60 year old brother and I are trying to find the words to a sing-sing rhyme
our father sang to us while sitting on his lap facing him. He would take the palms
of our hands and rub them downward from his ear to his chin across his unshaven stubble
of his beard.
he would say (spelling? not sure of?)
mushi mushi ahh
mushi mushi ahh (while rubbing our hands down his face)
then he would say
a ketch um a don? (which we think mave ave been? what do you want to eat or taste?)
mangiare il pane (which we are sure was eat the bread)
mangiare il pesce (eat the fish)
again rubbing our hands across his face, children laughing as beard is rough
then end with:
muchi mushi ahh (lightly patting his cheeks with the palms of our hands or our childrens hands etc..)
thank you in advance with any insight or direction you may be able to afford to us.
Michael & Tony
June 10th, 2013 at 12:59 pm
Hello,
I’ve also been trying also to find information on this for a long time. Finally instead of trying to type the words into Google, I finally smartened up and just typed in “Italian song sung to babies while rubbing cheeks” lol
My Mom used to recite something similar this to all the children while caressing their cheeks. She learned it from my Grandparents (not sure which…Grandmom or Grandpop) who were from Venafro Italy (although we were told for years that they were from Abruzzo) …Anyway my Mother’s version was different and longer…I will try to spell the words how they sound to me..she would either have the baby’s hands rubbing her cheeks as she did it or she would have them rubbing their own (I think) ..and she would say..Moozshee Moozshay.. A-Yah-tih… Yah-tay…Un-doozee-stah….Ah-Lee-mee-kah…Kissee-de-fah….Kah-talih-jibo …Sib-it-tah-da- may…..SHEEE…Un-doozi-mase…Un-Gah-pee-squah…..Moozshee Moozshee Moozshee Moozshee Moozshhh <<<when she got to the last part she would rub their cheeks back and forth fast… I have no clue what it means and would LOVE to know!! Thanks to anyone who can help!
June 10th, 2013 at 1:10 pm
This may be easier
Moozshee Moozshay
Ah yahti yahtay
Un doozee stah
Ah leemee ka
Kissa de fah
Ka talih jibo
Sib it tah dah may
SHEE <this was a pause…then the rest would be faster
Un doozee Mase
Un gah pee squah
Moozshee
Moozshee
Moozshee
Moozshee
Moozshhh
July 16th, 2013 at 8:28 pm
My husband’s grandmother used to do a similar ‘game’ only she was Albanian. Anyone know the words in Albanian?
August 21st, 2013 at 12:05 am
The face/hand game I remember started slowly, with my dad holding my hands and brushing my cheeks, then his , then went faster and faster with tickling at the end.
Moosha, mooshella, atta tella, a do si gouda , che sa vacca, frutte di vacca!!
September 3rd, 2013 at 7:54 am
My wife’s family is from Naples, and she will recite it thusly: mooshama je, “quatra de”, bringing her hands gently down the other person’s cheeks, (and then the boop, boop boop, boop, but gently on the tip of the nose, not the cheeks).
October 2nd, 2013 at 1:30 pm
We’re mostly Italian-Polish. This is what we grew up with
Does anybody know the real words and what they mean?
Phonetically Pronouced:
bee-youge
bee-youge
butta butta butta!
Also, the touching of a baby’s head with yours
toot-sa!
Thanks!
Bob
December 7th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Susan Charlton,
My grandmother used to recite the same kind of rhyme. She would take my hand and stroke her cheek with it twice. With each stroke she would say (sp?) Meenush. Then she’d gently slap her cheek with my hand and say, dah dah dah dah. She is French Canadian so I am assuming it is French. She is american born so maybe it is the same rhyme you are talking about but she forgot some of the words. I’ve asked her what it means and she has no idea. I can’t wait to talk to her and tell her about your post!
December 7th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
This “meenush” is “minouche” which means “kitty”. There’s a version on this forum that goes “minouche, minouche (tu prends ses mains et tu caresses ton visage), tape, tape, tape, roule, roule, roule, pique, pique pique.” which translates as “Kitty, kitty (you take the baby’s hands and stroke your face), pat, pat, pat, roll, roll, roll, sting, sting, sting.”
December 7th, 2013 at 3:24 pm
That’s interesting! There are two very similar rhymes: ones Italian and the other is French!
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:10 am
Lol, I looked this up because I wanted an actual translation. All these years and I’ve never bothered, and people tend to make up stuff when you learn phonetically. We still do this, my mum and aunty did this to me as a kid (same with my sister and cousins), now my niece and cousin’s children have it done to them. My niece (8 months) finds it hilarious when mum does it to her, hands or feet.
Trouble is, I forget how fickle some dialects are. My family immigrated in the 50s, nonno was from outside of Naples and nonna’s family were outside of Rome. So I’m not entirely certain where this is from, I suspect from my nonna moreso than nonno.
We do the slap/pat on the cheeks (I could make a joke here about how rough both Rome and Naples are… My mum said that nonna used to do this thing asking “do you want to go to Rome or Naples?”, grab the person’s ears and basically no matter which one was answered, you pull forwards for Rome, backwards for Naples, either way both rough).
Micio miagolio (Stroke your face; loose translation: pussy cat meow)
Gatto gattino (Stroke child’s face; loose translation: kitty cat (lit. cat kitten))
Micio miagolio (Stroke your face; loose translation: pussy cat meow)
A bella [bella] scapaccione (Slap/tap child’s cheek; literal translation: a beautiful, [beautiful] slap).
Loses something in translation but as a kid, hilarious.
Depends who is doing it at the time on how many times bella/bello is said, just going with the flow.
January 2nd, 2014 at 9:14 am
My grandmother’s family was from Naples and they did a version of this rhyme.
April 21st, 2014 at 3:38 pm
My great great grandfather played a game with my great grandfather who played it with my grandfather who played it with my father, who played it with me, who plays it with my children, it is similar to what people are saying however with different words and I have no clue what the translation is. This is how it sounds, not necessary what the actual words.
Moosh-ma-shay (hands run down cheeks)
Pada-ma-shay ” ”
Soulle-va ” ”
Toulea-va toulea-va toulea-va (pat cheeks with each time the word is said)
My 1 year old daughter is obsessed with it, she wakes up in the middle of the night and will start patting her cheeks and laugh. I really want to figure out the game, it seems it was played several ways.
June 14th, 2014 at 9:58 pm
My cousin was asking the same question: This is what he & all of us remember:
Moosha musheel, yahd yahd deel, doeseque,cuttaleeyahd, vooska voose voose vooska:….. i am sur thats not spelled correctly what so ever, but I am sure ya’ll remember that
My grandfather said it and caressed our cheeks as he said it. He immigrated from Puglia in the 1920’s.
October 15th, 2014 at 11:08 pm
Our Italian roots are from Benivento.
Here is an explanation as to why we believe ours to have morphed over the years. From my great grandmother to my children, it hasn’t had the most direct chain of posession so-to-speak.
My paternal Great-Grandmother immigrated in 1908. She did the rhyme with mother in 1950 (presumably also with my grandfather in the 20s) And died in 1955. My Mother doesn’t remember this, but learned it when her mother who was not Italian followed her mother in-law’s-lead, and did it with her younger children. My Mom (who was by then a teenager) picked it up from this, and did it with me. I don’t remember this, so I learned it from my mother doing it with my kids. Funny how it seems to skip a generation that way.
Ours goes:(starting stroking the child’s hands on either side of your face, alternating and ending with their face)
“Mejamazhil,
Yatiatille,
Yatiatone,
BELJCAFONE!”
My mother has since self-editted the last line into “Belissimo” assuming that that is what it must have actually been. So now when I say “Beljcafone” my 3 year old son says “That’s not how it goes!”
I’m actually surprised how similar ours is to some of yours.
Thanks to everyone for posting.
November 13th, 2014 at 3:29 pm
Hey!
I just stumbled upon this, but I figured I’d share my family’s version.
We are Italian-American, my grandfather’s Napolitan, but this game is in my grandmother’s Calabrian dialect:
Mooshi mooshilu (Kitty kitty)
Pan e cazzillu (Bread and croquettes)
Mangia ricotta (Eat ricotta)
Mi na la botta (Now I hit you…)
The whole time, you’re stroking the baby’s face with their own hands until the last line when you make the baby gently slap themselves with their own hands.
I’m sure all regions have their own versions, but that is the one that we grew up with.
Hope this helps!
December 9th, 2014 at 10:18 pm
Same type- while running hands down face- I can’t totally remember it- and the spelling is probably all wrong
a tutto mio,
dove sei stato,
a dove nonna,
che ti a dato,
pane,
formaggio,
e che piu?
e dona schcaffo
December 9th, 2014 at 10:59 pm
Here it goes:
Gattutto mio = my little kitten
dove sei stato? = where did you go?
dalla nonna, = to grandma’s
che ti ha dato? = what did she give you?
pane e formaggio, = bread and cheese
e che piu? = and what else?
mi ha dato uno schiaffo = she game me a slap.
I suppose it’s the kind of rhyme in which you pat the baby’s face at the end of the last line.
January 27th, 2015 at 5:19 am
I too have been searching for years for a rhyme my grandma used to say to me when I was a child. She was italian and the words sounded italian but I do not know for sure. The rhyme I remember involved hands caressing down the cheeks and then tickling undrr the chin at the end. It went something like this…
mishi mishella
mama a bella
papa a bruto
como choo choo choo choo
I am sure this is just a small part of it. While the idea of it is similar to many others, the words are quite different. I am so happy to see so many people searching for the same thing and trying to keep these traditions alive. I just wish I would have learned it better when grandma was still with us.
January 28th, 2015 at 1:11 am
Oh my gosh!!! I am so happy I came across this. I have been looking for this. My no no used to sing this to me all the time. My dad hasn’t been able to remember it lately. I want to teach my husband if so he can do this to our daughter.
March 12th, 2015 at 4:21 pm
Muza Muziella
Dove si stato?
A la casa de Mama.
Che si mangiato?
Pane e caso.
E la parta mia, dove?
Qui qui qui qui qui!
My father used to translate it for us so we would learn some Italian:
Muza Muziella,
Where have you been?
At Mama’s house.
What did you eat?
Bread and cheese.
And my part, where is it?
Here here here here here.
Forgive attempts to render Calabrian dialect.
The qui qui qui was accompanied with tickles under the chin.”
July 2nd, 2015 at 3:54 pm
We used to play this game and I’m writing it phonetically
Mooshi Mooshi
panna ca she
pizza ricott
*slap the face* poof a la bot
September 9th, 2015 at 3:01 am
Correction :
Mesh a Michelle
Cat a catelle
Pana cazelle
Ah May nu merod
Mesha mesha mesha mesha
September 9th, 2015 at 3:04 am
Fix:
Meesha Michelle
Cat a catelle
A May nu merod
Meesha mesha meesha.
( left out a line) lol
December 12th, 2015 at 5:48 am
My grandmother used to say this while stroking our palms (unsure of spelling):
Ma nina beya
Fata peneya
Obidi bengata
Gati, gati, gati (while tickling the hand).
Can anyone help me with this?
December 12th, 2015 at 9:02 pm
I found the rhyme below here. This is Friulan dialect:
Adult: “Manìna bèla, fata pinèla, induà sòtu stàda?”
Child: “Ulà da la nòna”
Adult: “E se ti àia dàt?”
Child: “Polènta e làt”…
Adult: ”Gàti, gàti, gàtiiii”
Translation
Adult: “Beautiful hand, perfectly made, where have you been?”
Child: “At grandma’s”
Adult: “What did she give you?”
Child: “Polenta and milk”…
Adult: ”Gàti, gàti, gàtiiii”
I haven’t the faintest idea of what “obidi bengata” may mean
January 19th, 2016 at 3:03 am
I don’t know the Italian but it sounded like this and involved a cow and it asked the cow where it was going.. Phonetically: Moosha Mushella, atta tella, a do si guda, che sa vaca fruita di vaca!!
January 21st, 2016 at 12:47 am
Mousche ma shell
Pane ca shell
Pane ricott
Tooflabut tooflabut tooflabut
There’s my phonetic version of MamaLena’ s little song
And for the first 3 lines was nice stroking of the face and there’s little pats on the cheeks for those last three words
I was told later by a relative a translation as follows
Nice Kittycat
Bread and cheese
Bread and ricotta
Patticake, Patticake, Patticake.
January 31st, 2016 at 6:11 pm
Back in the 50s my Pop Pop said something like:
Mooshay, mooshay, (rubbed my head) bonna mooshay, rubbed my face) bonna de gut (tickled my tummy)
Spell check hated that!
April 24th, 2016 at 10:52 am
I was born in italy and sang our version with my children….spelling probably incorrect looked it up as i wanted to embroidery it on a blanket for my first grandchild.
Mish mishelle
Gatto gatille
Che te si mangiato sa sera
Pane e chicillo
Mish mish mish mish
– -kitty kitten
Cat catty
What did u eat tonight
Bread and meat
Mish mish mish mish
May 2nd, 2016 at 7:36 pm
I hope this conversation is still active— I’m looking for an Italian children’s song that caresses the checks too, but it begins with the letter P. I don’t have a clue about the spelling, but I remember the n sounding like a spanish n. It was something like Piedeñya. Driving me crazy.
September 17th, 2016 at 4:38 pm
I remember this game well but can’t remember another one. My mother was from Naples region and father from Rome. My dad would take my hand and stroke it while saying “cui c’e una Bella ragazza..” It also had the words “pane” and (phonetically) “cachine”. It ended very similarly to the mooshi endings but there was no tapping of the faces. Does anyone know this? It’s driving me crazy. My parents have both passed and my daughters only remember the first line like I do.
Thanks.
September 19th, 2016 at 12:09 am
Please let me know if you know this. Thanks.
October 9th, 2016 at 9:50 pm
OK – very similar experiences as all of the above but my Mum from near Benevento used to say this ( phonetically) whilst stroking cheeks:
Carits
Mooshits
Watil
Watone
(Then patting cheeks..)
Bechiafony Bechiafony Bechaifony
😂😂😂
October 1st, 2017 at 12:53 pm
This is a shot in the dark but I found this thread trying to decipher something similar my great-grandfather (Italian) did with me, and now my dad does it with my kids.
He slowly strokes their cheeks, saying (and this is how it sounds, phonetically):
moo-zi ah
pan-tay la
kiss-ah mangia (“eat,” I know this part!)
inesette (maybe?)
pan-che pet
frushna frushna cay-nay-na-vey! (this part is faster than the rest)
Any ideas what the translation is in English? Or even what the real Italian words are?
February 24th, 2018 at 5:23 pm
How funny! I was trying to find the translation of an Italian thing my dad would do and his granny cerone would do to him as a child. They were from Calabria/Muro Lucano. My dad would caress my face from forehead to chin saying “michell-a-mia” a few times then lightly slap saying “ah ah ah”. I do it now with my children and they love it and anticipate the ah ah ah tap with tons of laughter! It sounds like it may have been originally something from here but a little changed through generations. Sound similar to anyone? Gracie!
September 3rd, 2018 at 3:12 pm
in the Catanzaro province of Calabria, the kids’ cat song goes like this (phonetically)…while you caress a child’s cheeks slowly and then get faster…
Moosharija
ti mangiasti u’ pescecheju
perchi a mia non me ne dasti?
Brutticheju, Brutticheju, Brutticheju!!!!
translation:
Little cat,
you ate the little fish,
why didn’t you give me any?
Ugly, ugly, ugly!
:-)
October 18th, 2018 at 3:12 pm
I learned it this way
Moosha musheel
Gato gateel
Que hai mangiato
Pan e quesil
E non mi hai dato niente?
Moosha moosha moosha
It’s about a cat who ate bread and cheese and didn’t share it
All said while patting child’s cheeks
January 9th, 2019 at 8:43 am
I just searched for this. My father was from Crucole in Calabria, Italy. He used to do this to me as a small child. I am surprised by so many versions! How wonderful that other experienced this wonderful bonding game. I always think of my father fondly when I remember it. I remember the tune he used but never knew the words. Thank you all for contributing all this information.
February 5th, 2019 at 11:41 am
I’m so thankful I found this site! I have such wonderful memories of sitting on my grandpas lap while he sang that to me. Now I know why he nicknamed me “Pussycat:” I couldn’t be happier right at this moment!
February 25th, 2019 at 4:50 am
My response is totally phonetic! My grandparents were from Cansano, Italy. So here it goes; in English phonetics:
Moo Jhay ott; a pan a chach; a pan a vin, a la cantin, a zay bambene, a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. whoosh!
The Italian spelling is atrocious, yet this is what I remember hearing!
May 24th, 2019 at 9:22 pm
Lisa’s response back in October 2007 is spot on accurate. (Micio Miagolio)
My Grandpa, from Benevento, used to do that with me over 60 years ago.
January 21st, 2020 at 11:53 pm
Hi everyone,
My grandparents are from Abruzzo, Italy and always used to do this rhyme. I saw that everyone has different versions but ours is:
Moosha Moosha Mia
Che cosa mangiavi ieri sera?
Pane e pera
Mooshy Mooshy Mooshy Mooshy
Translated:
My Moosha Moosha
What did you eat last night?
Bread and pears
Mooshy Mooshy Mooshy Mooshy
April 17th, 2020 at 6:27 pm
My Neapolitan nonna would say this nursery rhyme to me and my siblings. Phonetically it sounded like this:
Moosha moosheel ( motions of rubbing our cheeks)
Gatta gatt’deel (cat, little cat)
O mio du sta? (Where are you hiding?)
In the bottaseel (In the little boot)
In the bottaseel
shesh shesh shesh ( Supposedly the cat jumps out of the boot and the motion is scratching our face)
June 3rd, 2020 at 9:42 pm
I remember my father doing this!!
My parents were from Colosimi, Cosenza.
What I remember is a little different.
Of course this phonetically (Sorry) but I thought It started out with,
“Vashoots, vashoots, (cat in dialect?) or maybe it was mashoots
A dove sta? (Where did u go?)
De a nan (to grandma’s?)
Qui t’a da? (What did you do?)
…and I can’t remember the rest!!
Anyone ?