beckons wanted

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

beckons wanted

1. A children's game, a variant of prisoners' bars.
   • 1996, "Piper Maru" (episode of The X-Files TV series)

     I remember all the kids used to play a game called beckons wanted, right out there.

   • 2004, Harold L. Weatherby, Walter Sullivan, George Core, Place in American Fiction: Excursions and Explorations, page 161:

     In her recollection he was awkward physically and knew it. Invited to summer outings at the Bigelow home on Manitou Island (in White Bear Lake), he participated in such childhood games as beckons wanted but was regularly beaten in high-jump contests […]