Author Archives: Tiffany Luke

Chinese-English Spider Joke

蜘蛛是什么颜色? 白色. 是白的.
Translated: What color is a spider? White. It is white.

This joke was heard at a Christmas party for a company that was predominantly made up of Chinese people.  This joke requires an understanding of both English and Chinese in order to fully understand the punch line.  At first, the question seems relatively easy as it is just asking the audience what color is a spider.  Audience members tended to yell out colors such as black or brown.  At this point, the informant would yell out “白色” (pronounced “bai se”), which means white in Chinese.  Then after hearing the confusions from the audience members, the informant would say, “是白的” (“It is white” in Engllish), which is pronounced, “Sh bai de.”  As an English speaker can see, that particular phrase sounds like the word “spider.”

My informant told me that he heard this joke first when he was learning English after coming toAmerica.  He told me that he felt a sense of accomplishment when he was able to understand the punch line as it marked his achievement in English comprehension.  For me, this poem is a symbol for the blending of English/American and Chinese culture since the two respective languages are necessary for this joke.

White Elephant – Christmas Game

Rules:
-Each person has to bring in one present that is worth $20
-Once a present has been taken three times, the present can no longer be taken.

Directions:
1) Everybody picks a number out of the hat. That number determines the order for gift picking
2) The first person picks a present from the gift pile and opens it.
3) When it is the second person’s turn, he or she can pick to open another present from the gift pile or pick the gift that the first person opened.
-If person #2 takes the gift from the first person, the first person has to open another present from the gift pile.
4) After that, each subsequent person has the choice of either choosing to open another present from the gift pile or taking one of the opened presents from the previous people.
-If a person’s opened gift is take, then that person then also has the choice between opening another gift or taking another person’s gift.
5) The game ends when the last gift is opened.

My informant told me that White Elephant is a Christmas tradition at her household.  She adopted this tradition after she attended a Christmas party seven years ago at a friend’s house.  She liked the game so much that she decided to incorporate it into her Christmas celebration.  Every Christmas, my informant hosts a Christmas dinner for her entire extended family.  This game was quickly accepted by everyone and has now become a yearly tradition in her household.

I believe that this game must have started as a way for people to save money on buying gifts.  My informant told me that after adopting the tradition, all of the family members have stopped buying gifts for every single relative.  Instead, they have all just focused on finding that one gift for the white elephant game.  At the same time, my informant believes that the game is a great way to bring people together as it is very fun to see what gifts are taken and the reactions of those who gets their gifts taken.

Currently, NBC has ordered a new game show based on this game that will be hosted by Howie Mandel.

Annotation:
Hibberd, James. “NBC Orders New Howie Mandel Game Show: ‘White Elephant'” EW.com. 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/04/17/howie-mandel-white-elephant-nbc/>.

Chinese Proverb

“If you want to live, you have got to keep moving.”

My informant told me this proverb while she was taking me on a tour of an outdoor shopping center.  I had been really tired as we had been out for over two hours already and had asked if her if I could take a quick sitting break.  At this point, she said this proverb to me.  I asked her where she had heard it from and she told me that her friend had told her that phrase when he was trying to inspire her to exercise more.

I further asked her what the phrase meant to her.  She replied that when she first heard it, she just took on a biological interpretation of it.  In her words, she said, “People who exercise do actually live longer.”  However, after further pondering it, she felt like it was good spiritual motto for how to live her life in which she needs to continually go out or “move” in order to truly take advantage of the thrills and excitement in life. I agree with both of her interpretations of this and feel that it must have originated initially as a phrase to inspire an active lifestyle.

Cure for Menstrual Cramps – Bananas

“My mom always told me to eat bananas when I’m cramping”

My informant told me about this cure when I asked her for advice concerning my own menstrual cramps.  She went further on to explain that when she was a young girl, she noticed that her mother was constantly buying bananas even though her mom hated the taste of bananas.  One day, she finally asked her mom why she kept on buying bananas.  she told my informant that her mother, my informant’s grandmother, had told her that the bananas help to remove cramps.

After hearing about this method from my informant, I actually ate a banana, and to my surprise, the cramping stopped.  At first, I believed that this was possibly the result of the placebo effect since my friend had assured me it would work.  However, after conducting research on the matter, it turns out that bananas contain a high amount of potassium, and potassium has been medically known to reduce muscle cramps.  This case is a great example of folklore medicine finding scientific backing and turning into a form of published media.

Car Game – Jello

To play Jello, all you need to do is to let your body naturally sway with the movements of the car.

My informant told me about this game while we were sitting in a car full of people.  She told me she had learned about it from her best friend while they were riding the bus.  After talking about it, we started to play Jello.  I noticed while we were playing that there is a competitive nature to the game; the people in the car would also use the force of the car movements to powerfully shove people really hard to one side of the car.

This game was probably developed as a way to make a car ride more interesting and fun as it gave passengers something to do.  At the same time, a typical car ride is filled with a lot of movement.  From my experience, whenever I sat in a full car, I would be constantly leaning and bumping into the people sitting next to me every time the car turned.  Either, I or the other passengers would be constantly apologizing for invading each others personal spaces.  By playing Jello, this awkwardness is eliminated as it is completely okay to lean on other people in order to participate.