Can anyone else remember shouting PAX in the school playground?
I remember during school breaktimes in the playground that the shout of PAX was quite common.
It was accompanied by the caller standing (if they could) and holding up their hands in the air with fingers crossed on both hands. It was generally heard either whilst we were playing a playground game like British Bulldog, or something of that ilk, or if there was a scuffle or fight going on.
As soon as you heard it called, you were expected to immediately cease whatever you were doing in the game or fight. We could use it in a game if we thought that somebody was hurt or down; in a fight it signalled either a pause or an admission of defeat.
I remember once, when I was pinning a friend to the ground in a fight, he shouted PAX because he had caught something in the braces on his teeth. I did the accepted thing and stood away for a second, he sorted out his braces, and then we continued the fight where we had left off. Sometimes PAX was used to just give all involved a chance to get their breath back.
Excessive use of PAX, particularly in fights, was considered as gamesmanship and if you did it too often for no good reason, you would find your call being ignored in fights and you could be frozen out off any games, until you could show you could play fairly.[b][b][/b][/b]
It was accompanied by the caller standing (if they could) and holding up their hands in the air with fingers crossed on both hands. It was generally heard either whilst we were playing a playground game like British Bulldog, or something of that ilk, or if there was a scuffle or fight going on.
As soon as you heard it called, you were expected to immediately cease whatever you were doing in the game or fight. We could use it in a game if we thought that somebody was hurt or down; in a fight it signalled either a pause or an admission of defeat.
I remember once, when I was pinning a friend to the ground in a fight, he shouted PAX because he had caught something in the braces on his teeth. I did the accepted thing and stood away for a second, he sorted out his braces, and then we continued the fight where we had left off. Sometimes PAX was used to just give all involved a chance to get their breath back.
Excessive use of PAX, particularly in fights, was considered as gamesmanship and if you did it too often for no good reason, you would find your call being ignored in fights and you could be frozen out off any games, until you could show you could play fairly.[b][b][/b][/b]
M
