Hmmm... This is very strange. All references that I have been able to track down to "Fling Flang Flu" or "Fling Flang Floo" returned by a Google search resolve to people from the Youngstown, Ohio area - except for one author from Italy, Andrea Camilleri, who includes the phrase in his book The Paper Moon.

Assuming the ritual originated in Italy and was introduced to the US I am still befuddled.

I believe that the Youngstown area has a significant Italian presence but I have to believe that there are other large pockets of Italian influence in the US - how is it that Fling Flang Flu appears to be isolated to the Youngstown area?

Where did "Fling Flang Flu" originate?

I grew up in Poland, Ohio - just south of Youngstown. When I was a kid, we used the ritual "Fling Flang Flu" (or possibly "Fling Flang Floo") to determine who goes first for various games.

The ritual is between two kids: one kid chooses evens or odds, each holds a hand behind their back, they chant: "fling, flang, flu" and on "flu" they each "fling" their hands out with zero to four fingers (no thumbs). The total, even or odd, determines the winner. I seem to recall that it would be the best out of three flings.

I now live in the Akron (Ohio) area, about 50 miles west of where I grew up. The weird thing is that people my age that grew up in the Akron area don't know this ritual.

If you used "Fling Flang Flu" as a kid, can you please leave a comment regarding where and when you learned it?

Thanks!