What Do Britons Call The Game Where You Knock On Someone’s Door & Run Away

Map created from Matthew Smith & Adam McDonnell at YouGovThe map above shows the results of a new YouGov survey of more than 12,000 Britons on what they call the game. (Which is still technically illegal)

And despite having lived in the UK for 15 years I’ve never heard of the top 2 results: “knock down ginger” at 25%, and “knock a door run” at 21%.

Here are the results broken down by age, region and class.

Overall Results

Option	Total %	Male %	Female %
Knock down ginger	25	24	26
Knock a door run	21	20	22
Knock and run	13	14	13
Ding dong ditch	6	7	5
Knock knock ginger	4	3	4
Chap door run	3	2	3
Cherry knocking	3	3	3
Knocky nine doors	3	3	4
Chappie	2	2	2
Knock Knock run	2	1	2
Bobby knocking	1	1	1
Knick knock	1	1	1
Knock a door ginger	1	1	1
Knock out ginger	1	1	1
Post man's knock	1	1	1
Rat a tat ginger	1	1	1
Chicken Mellie	1	1	1
Knock up ginger	1	1	1
Knock on ginger	1	1	0
Ginger knocking	0	0	0
Knock off ginger	0	0	0
Thunder and lightning	0	1	0
Knock knock	0	0	0
Belfast	0	0	0
Other	8	10	7

Results By Age

Option	18-29 (%)	30-39 (%)	40-49 (%)	50-59 (%)	60-69 (%)	70+ (%)
Knock down ginger	15	20	22	31	33	41
Knock a door run	23	30	25	18	11	8
Knock and run	10	12	16	15	15	12
Ding dong ditch	25	5	2	1	1	0
Knock knock ginger	7	6	3	2	1	1
Chap door run	1	2	3	4	4	2
Cherry knocking	2	3	4	4	3	2
Knocky nine doors	1	3	4	3	4	5
Chappie	3	4	2	1	1	0
Knock Knock run	3	2	1	1	1	0
Bobby knocking	0	1	2	0	1	1
Knick knock	1	1	1	1	1	1
Knock a door ginger	0	1	2	1	1	1
Knock out ginger	0	0	1	1	2	3
Post man's knock	0	0	2	1	3	1
Rat a tat ginger	0	1	1	1	2	3
Chicken Mellie	0	1	1	1	1	1
Knock up ginger	0	0	0	1	1	2
Knock on ginger	0	0	1	1	1	1
Ginger knocking	0	0	0	0	0	1
Knock off ginger	0	1	0	1	1	0
Thunder and lightning	0	0	0	1	2	0
Knock knock	0	0	0	0	0	0
Belfast	0	1	0	0	0	0
Other	8	6	8	8	11	13

Results By Region

Option	North East (%)	North West (%)	Yorkshire and the Humber (%)	East Midlands (%)	West Midlands (%)	East of England (%)	London (%)	South East (%)	South West (%)	Wales (%)	Scotland (%)	Northern Ireland (%)
Knock down ginger	6	4	7	11	8	56	63	55	21	10	4	6
Knock a door run	14	47	53	43	38	4	4	7	7	8	9	13
Knock and run	2	31	17	13	24	12	5	10	11	10	4	6
Ding dong ditch	4	2	3	4	4	8	13	7	4	6	10	10
Knock knock ginger	0	0	1	1	1	4	2	4	16	16	1	1
Chap door run	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	0
Cherry knocking	0	1	0	13	3	1	1	1	13	4	0	0
Knocky nine doors	56	1	1	0	0	1	2	1	1	0	1	1
Chappie	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	0
Knock Knock run	1	1	0	1	2	2	1	3	3	3	1	5
Bobby knocking	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0	0
Knick knock	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	14
Knock a door ginger	3	0	1	3	1	2	0	1	1	2	1	0
Knock out ginger	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	8	2	0	0
Post man's knock	1	1	1	0	3	1	0	1	1	1	1	3
Rat a tat ginger	0	0	0	1	5	0	1	0	1	11	0	1
Chicken Mellie	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	0
Knock up ginger	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	1	0	0	0
Knock on ginger	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0
Ginger knocking	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
Knock off ginger	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Thunder and lightning	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9
Knock knock	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Belfast	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11
Other	13	9	6	6	7	5	8	7	8	13	10	21

Results By Class

Option	ABC1 (%)	C2DE (%)
Knock down ginger	26	24
Knock a door run	20	21
Knock and run	13	13
Ding dong ditch	7	5
Knock knock ginger	4	4
Chap door run	2	3
Cherry knocking	3	3
Knocky nine doors	3	3
Chappie	2	2
Knock Knock run	2	2
Bobby knocking	1	1
Knick knock	1	1
Knock a door ginger	1	1
Knock out ginger	1	1
Post man's knock	1	1
Rat a tat ginger	1	1
Chicken Mellie	1	1
Knock up ginger	1	1
Knock on ginger	1	0
Ginger knocking	0	0
Knock off ginger	0	0
Thunder and lightning	0	1
Knock knock	0	0
Belfast	0	0
Other	8	9

Note: UK Social Grades: ABC1 and C2DE

In the UK, “ABC1” and “C2DE” are groupings from the NRS (National Readership Survey) social grades, a demographic classification system often used in market research and media.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

ABC1

• A – Higher managerial, administrative, or professional
• B – Intermediate managerial, administrative, or professional
• C1 – Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial, administrative, or professional

Together, ABC1 is often considered the “middle‐class and above” bracket.

C2DE

• C2 – Skilled manual workers
• D – Semi‐skilled and unskilled manual workers
• E – State pensioners, casual or lowest‐grade workers, unemployed (relying on state benefits)

C2DE typically refers to “working‐class and below” households.

What do you call the game where you live?