Which one do you say? First is the worst, Second is the best, Third is the one with the… a) wedding dress, b) hairy chest or, c) treasure chest ?
My kids and their friends were debating this one. They disagreed over which answer is the most popular… a, b, or c. Google seems to know b the most. Anyone out there know this rhyme? If so, which ending do you say?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Mama Lisa
PS I asked my friends this question on Facebook and no one answered! Which makes me think it’s a new rhyme that this current generation says. I had never heard it before my kids taught it to me either.
This article was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, English, English Nursery Rhymes, First Is the Worst, Second is the Best, Languages, Mama Lisa, Questions, Schoolyard Chants, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
August 14th, 2013 at 8:33 am
Zeroth the hero
First the worst
Second the best
Third the one with the hairy chest
Fourth the king
Fifth the queen
Sixth the one in the washing machine
Seventh the one in the drying machine
Eighth the one in heaven
Ninth the one in hell
anyone know what tenth is?
August 14th, 2013 at 8:34 am
Zeroth the hero
First the worst
Second the best
Third the one with the hairy chest
Fourth the king
Fifth the queen
Sixth the one in the washing machine
Seventh the one in the drying machine
Eighth the one in heaven
Ninth the one in hell
anyone know what tenth and above is?
September 14th, 2013 at 11:23 am
Rohanna – I think you have mixed up the mag pie rhyme
1 for sorrow, 2 for Joy, 3 for a girl, 4 for a Boy, 5, for silver, 6 for Gold seven for a secret never to be told.
I remember
first the worst
second the best
third the dirty donkey
fourth the one with nothing on
fifth the fairy Queen.
Does any one know this version, was there a sixth?
October 14th, 2013 at 8:25 pm
Zero the hero
First the Worst
Second the best
Third the golden princess
Fourth the horse coverd in sauce
Fifth the golden eagle
Sixth the witch in the ditch
Thats all I know(or at least can remember)
October 14th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
These are great! Would anyone like to record their version for us to post as an mp3?
October 25th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
When i was little we used to say.
Zero the hero
First the worst
Second the best
Third the one with the hairy chest
Fourth the queen of the north
Fifth the myth
I like seeing all the different versions. Its crazy how common this little rhyme is and how many different variations there are.
November 25th, 2013 at 3:43 pm
0 the hero
1st the worst
2nd the best
3rd the one with the hairy chest
4th the lord
5th the king
6th the one wearing golden rings
7th the one who’ll go to heaven
8th the great
9th the one who holds the pine
10th the one with the big fat hen
November 25th, 2013 at 3:50 pm
sorry 9th is either 9th the one who holds the pine or 9th the S.t.
February 9th, 2014 at 1:17 pm
I think it’s with the hairy chest
February 20th, 2014 at 12:49 am
I never heard this until I got married. My husbands family says First the worst, second the best , third the turd.
March 21st, 2014 at 11:44 am
First the worst
Second the best
Third the royal princess
Fourth the King
Fifth the Queen
Sixth the witch of Hallowe’en
Seventh the Executioner
Eighth the Dirty Donkey
Ninth the girl
Tenth the boy
April 18th, 2014 at 3:58 pm
First the worst
Second the best with the hairiest chest in the Cinderella dress
Third the nerd with the golden bird
Fourth the king/queen of the north
Fifth the myth…
April 18th, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Great ones!
May 12th, 2014 at 12:20 pm
First the worst, second the best, third the one with the hairy chest, forth the dwarf, fifth the myth…
June 17th, 2014 at 8:09 pm
First the worst,
Second the best,
Third the one with the hairy chest,
Fourth the dwarf,
Fifth the fairy,
Sixth the one with the long and hairy.
August 2nd, 2014 at 8:52 pm
Minus the highness first the worst second the best third the one with the hairy chest fourth the one with the treasure chest fifth the one with the polka dot dress sixth is the king seven is the queen eight is the one in the washing machine
That’s all I know
2008 – 2014
July 2nd, 2015 at 4:11 pm
Minus the hinus
Zero the hero
First the worst
Second the best
Third the one with hairy chest
Fouth the one with the big fat bum
Fith the one with the golden gun
August 22nd, 2015 at 9:24 pm
Minus the hinus,
Zero the hero,
First the worst,
Second the best,
Third the one with the hairy chest,
Fourth the one with a golden dress.
That’s all I know!
October 27th, 2015 at 2:14 am
I learned it as:
1st: the worst
2nd:the best
3rd: the one with the hairy chest
4th: the one with the golden dress
5th: the one with the treasure chest
December 8th, 2015 at 12:19 am
I learned:
1st the worst
2nd the best
3rd with the golden chest
4th the nerd
can’t remember the rest
January 10th, 2016 at 4:04 pm
i think different countries have different ways of saying it. I’m from the Caribbean and these are the first few lines of what I remember :
1st is the worst
2nd is the best
3rd is the one with the big fat chest
4th is the one with the golden dress
April 12th, 2016 at 3:21 pm
I learned this rhyme from my mother who was born in 1910 and she used it to get the kids out of bed in the morning. Nobody wanted to be third or first and I have forgotten fifth. She taught us like this: First the worst, Second the best, Third the little brown turd, Fourth the sugar loaf and fifth the ?. I’m sure she learned it from her father who was born in 1854. So it goes back a very long time.
May 22nd, 2016 at 11:52 am
This is the version that I learned
First the worst
Second the best
Third the golden princess
Fourth the horse, covered in sauce, running around the golf course
I don’t know the rest
May 22nd, 2016 at 6:39 pm
That’s great!
July 7th, 2016 at 3:47 am
I learnt :
First the worst
Second the best
Third the one with the golden chest
Fourth the dwarf
Fifth the myth
…
And so on. I can’t remember
September 7th, 2016 at 3:37 am
I learned zero the hero, first the worst, second the best, third the nerd in the wedding dress, fourth the golden eagle ( fifth and sixth I don’t exactly remember ) – skipping to seven – seven from heaven and the rest i don’t remember at all.
September 13th, 2016 at 10:34 pm
We sang it as:
First is the worst,
Second is the best,
Third is the one with the hairiest chest,
Fourth is the one with the A+ test.
We went to about 15 or 20 with it, but I cannot remember at all now what we did after fourth. I know we made it all up, though. This was in the mid-80’s in Connecticut.
October 16th, 2016 at 2:53 am
First is the worst
Second is the best
Third is the one in the golden dress
November 9th, 2016 at 5:08 am
First the worst
Second the best
Third the golden princess
December 4th, 2016 at 6:14 pm
I just found this version in a book from 1902 called “Sweet P’s”:
“The first’s the worst,
The second’s the same;
The last the best
Of all the game.”
January 16th, 2017 at 4:52 pm
In the 80’s in Newcastle, UK.
First the worst,
Second the best,
Third the hairy princess!
Haha
February 12th, 2017 at 11:58 am
This is how we used to say it in Nairobi, Kenya (2010) I remember it as: First is the last Second is the best Third is the rotten banana in the bush. That’s all I can remember.
March 20th, 2017 at 10:27 pm
Me and my little sister say,
1. Is the worst
2. is the best
3. Is the one with the hairy chest
4. Is the one with polkadot dress
5. is the one with treasure chest
6. Is the witch of Halloween
7. Is from heaven
8. Is the dirty donkey
9. Gots the height
10. Is the one with the hen.
April 22nd, 2017 at 6:41 pm
The version from Lisa’s 1902 ‘Sweet P’s scans the best. IIRC, it appears in an old Olsen and Johnson movie…
April 22nd, 2017 at 6:46 pm
First, the worst
Second, the same
Last the best
Of all the game!
This version scans best. I heard it in an old Olsen and Johnson movie long, long ago. Nice to know it’s even older (thanks, Lisa).
May 23rd, 2017 at 2:28 am
1st the worst
2nd the best
3rd the golden princess
July 11th, 2017 at 10:52 pm
1st the worst 2nd the best 3rd the nerd 4th the golden bird and 5th the kid with the hairy chest and the A+ test 😂
August 10th, 2017 at 11:51 pm
We knew it as First is the worst, Second is the Best, Third is the nerd with the polka-dot dress!” Interchangeable with “Third is the nerd with a treasure chest.” Depending on if it was a nerd saying it, haha.
November 6th, 2017 at 9:45 pm
I know the one wit the hairy chest but my friends like to say First is the worst Second is the best and Third is the one with the golden chest
December 4th, 2017 at 1:05 am
I used to say:
First is the worst,
Second is the same,
And all the rest goes down the drain.
January 20th, 2018 at 6:30 am
20 years ago I knew it as:
1st the worst
2nd the best
3rd the golden princess!
January 30th, 2018 at 3:15 am
I used to take the walking school bus at my primary and we used to sing. 0 the hero, 1st the worst, second the best, third the golden princess, fourth the horse that sits in the sauce, 5th the golden eagle.
February 26th, 2018 at 9:36 pm
It’s….
first is the worst
second is the best
third is the one with the hairy chest
fourth is the one with the polka dot dress
fifth is the one with the trea-sure chest
sixth is the king
seventh is the queen
eighth is the one in the magazine
May 15th, 2018 at 7:44 am
1st the worst, 2nd the same, 3rd the nerd with a golden bird, 4th the king, 5th The queen and 6th the person in the washing machine…. Boom 💯
June 14th, 2018 at 2:46 am
From 2012, I remember this from my 1st Grade class:
1st is the worst
2nd is the best
3rd is the one with the treasure chest
4th I don’t know (But I made my version 4th I don’t care)
5th is the dare
6th is the one with the underwear!
That’s it. We never went passed that. I did but my added version after 6 was dumb and full of random words.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:46 pm
First is the worst
Second is best
Third is the golden turd
Fourth is the rotten horse
Fifth is the Christmas gift
Sixth is full of tricks
Seventh goes to heaven
Eighth can’t be straight
..but I forget it from there. Learned it from my cousin back in the 1950’s.
August 24th, 2018 at 5:14 pm
I’m only ten and me and my big sis said
1.is da worst secon is da bestest and third is the one with da hairy chest
This was an argument when we said it idk 😐
November 7th, 2018 at 7:59 pm
In the version I knew…
1st was the worst
2nd was the best
3rd was the one with the hairy chest,
4th was the one with the treasure chest,
5th was the one with the driving test
6th was the one who was better than the rest.
I’m sure there’s more, but we never had more than six people playing the same game or racing where we needed this rhyme!
November 10th, 2018 at 2:17 pm
The rhyme I remember from the late 80s in West Sussex was..
1st the worst
2nd the best
3rd the one with the hairy chest
4th the horse all covered in sauce
5th the golden eagle
November 30th, 2018 at 9:50 pm
First the worst,
second the best,
third the golden princess.
That’s the one I always hear at school.