Mkulima

Informant Description/ Context of performance: My friend grew up in Tanzania. This was a proverb that was very common from her mom’s village/ tribe. Her mom’s tribe is called Shagha, and her family dialect is Kimachame, which is a clan language. This joke has been told for several generations.

Original Script: Mkulima

Translation: You’re a farmer.

 

Conclusion (written by Interviewer): If a friend or neighbor comes to your house, as soon as you’re done cooking a meal, you call them a farmer because they come to reap your harvest. It suggests that they came just in the knick of time to get food. It is meant to be playful and mocking, sarcastic if anything. My friend says her mom would always say it, and then insist on her guest eating the food. Now, my friend always calls me farmer when I happen to walk into the apartment as she finishes making food. It is a running joke between us as well.