See-saw

First appears as a word meaning a back and forth motion rather than an up and down one and dates from the early 1600s. It is thought to derive from a jingle or chant used by sawyers when operating a two-man, two-handled saw. ‘See-saw-sacke-downe’ is all that remains today of this chant. See-saws as planks that moved up and down for children to play on were commonplace during the 1700s, but the nursery rhyme See-saw Margery Daw was published later in 1765.