One for the $

One for the money, two for the show is half of a rhyme used as a countdown to begin a task. The entire rhyme is: one for the money, two for the show, three to make ready and four to go. Children have used this little poem since the mid-1800s as a countdown to starting a race or competition. A famous variation of the rhyme is found in the 1955 popular song Blue Suede Shoes written by Carl Perkins: “Well, it’s one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go.”

Feeling the Blue Suede?

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