Author Archives: John Barrett

Kubb

Informant:

Elliot Danielsson is a 21 year old man from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Original Script:

Elliot: “So there would be two teams on each side of a field, or…like…a grass area, and there would be 5 sticks or poles on each side with the two teams. Then there would be two throwing sticks per team, and each team would have to try to knock down the other team’s five sticks with their throwing sticks. And then after you, like, knock down all of the other team’s sticks, then you would have to knock down the big stick in the middle, and that stick’s name was the king. And once you knocked down that stick, you killed the king and won the game.

Context: 

This childhood game is, as Elliot states, “an extremely popular game for when you’re bored as a kid.”

My thoughts about the piece:

It is extremely interesting to me just how different childhoods can be from different cultures around the world. Sure, my friends and I used to play with sticks when were younger, but I don’t know of anyone who created a sophisticated game with rules revolving throwing sticks. The only organized games that everyone really knew when I was growing up were actual sports like soccer and baseball. This shows that the games that we all know and love in the U.S. do not necessarily translate to every culture outside America.

Sma Grordorna – Swedish Midsummer Celebration Song

Informant:

Elliot Danielsson is a 21 year old man from Gothenburg, Sweden. This is his favorite folk song from his native Swedish culture. He also says that almost everyone in his town “and probably most of Sweden” knows this song and sings it during their Midsummer Celebration.

Folk Song:

Små grodorna, små grordorna

är lustiga att se.

(Repeat)

Ej öron, ej öron, ej suansar

hava de.

(Repeat)

What the song is about:

Elliot: “It’s…uh…kinda hard to give a straight translation, but it’s basically about…It’s small frogs without tails or ears, which makes their lives very difficult, but they are still full of joy and love dancing around a tree. It basically shows how even though we all may live tough lives, we can still live our lives with happiness and joy.”

Context:

Elliot: “It is most often performed at any celebration that whatever Swedish town is putting on the…uh…celebration. Kids, like, love singing it during the celebration, and adults join in too.”

My thoughts:

Elliot also added that this Midsummer Celebration is comparable to America’s Christmas in regards to popularity, and one of the biggest parts (and probably my favorite part) of our Christmas traditions is Christmas music. Therefore, this song that is connected with a major holiday is very interesting to me because I did not know that other cultures’ holidays also often had music that went along with them.

Hoser

Informant:

Tim Marino is a nineteen year old student at USC from Calgary, Alberta. He currently plays on the USC hockey team.

Original Script:

Hoser.

Background Information: Tim explains that the term “Hoser” comes from “when the Canadian kids would be playing hockey on the ice…or like, on a pond, and the losing team would actually have to hose down the ice for the next teams to play.” Therefore, “Hoser” is a kind of folk insult in Canada, similar to calling someone a loser in the United States.

Thoughts on this piece: I find this term very interesting and funny, for when I used to play sports, I was always known as the trash-talker on my teams. It entertains me to know that people from other cultures have their own methods and terms to use when they are trying to get in their opponents heads while playing sports.

I’ll Hug Your Neck

Informant:

Reid is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, but moved to Los Angeles right before he started high school.

Original Script:

Reid: “In the South, one thing that people would say there but I have never heard anyone say here is the phrase ‘I just hugged her/his neck.'”

Context:

To “hug someone’s neck” means to either say bye to someone or to say hello to someone.

My Thoughts:

When he said the phrase, I initially thought it had some sort of sexual connotation, for hugging or kissing a neck usually has some sort of sensual anterior meaning. It always blows my mind when I hear something that comes from a different part of the United States that I do not understand, for I often forget that there are so many different cultures within the umbrella of the American culture.

La Llorona

Informant:

Mario is from Mexico City, Mexico, who said himself that he is “extremely interested in his Mexican roots and traditions.”

Original Script:

Mario: “The story of La Llorona is one that literally everyone in Mexico knows. Well, like maybe not everyone, like, knows it but most people have definitely at least heard it. It’s about a girl that basically kills her children by drowning them because her husband, like, left her, so every night at 3 or 4 am, she starts screaming ‘Mis hijos!‘ because she regrets killing them so much. And the point of the story is to, like, make sure that we, as kids, do not cry or whine too much because La Llorona could do to us what she, like, did to her kids.”

Context:

Whenever a child is exhibiting bad behavior.

My Thoughts:

I read about this story earlier this semester, but I did not know how relevant it still is today. I find it almost disturbing that parents still use this story as a parenting method because as a child, I think I would be horrified if I thought there was some way that this La Llorona could somehow drown me like she did to her kids. Parenting is practiced in very different ways in different cultures.