mumblety-peg

mumblety-peg, game of skill played with a knife, usually a jackknife. The game was played as early as the 17th century in the British Isles. The object of the game is for each player to flip or toss the knife in a progression of moves such that, after each one, the knife sticks in the ground and stands erect. Although positions vary, the most common ones are (1) flipping from the palm, (2) flipping from the back of the hand, (3) flipping by a twist of the fist, (4) throwing by holding the blade tip between the thumb and forefinger, (5) flipping from between the teeth, (6) throwing from each shoulder or behind each ear, (7) tossing backward over the head, and (8) throwing around the head from the back.

Each player performs in turn until he misses, resuming after other players miss unless one wins by performing all positions. The name of the game comes from a forfeit required in the early days of the game: a small peg was driven into the ground by a prescribed number of knife blows, and the loser had to pull the peg out (“mumble the peg”) with his teeth.