Category Archives: Humor

“Time is money, you’re a big spender”

Leave a reply

Text:
The informant, A, recalls a high school classmate saying, “Time is money, you’re a big spender,” whenever they were working on tedious task such as a project or in-class exercise and felt it was taking too long.

Context:
The classmate would usually say this during group projects or in class work sessions, especially when the work felt repetitive or long.

Analysis:
This saying twists the common phrase “Time is money” by adding humor. Instead of saying they’re wasting time, the classmate plays with the idea that they’re “spending” it freely. Even though they weren’t literally losing money, the comparison made it clear that spending too much time on something unproductive can feel like a loss, similar to a financial loss. The lighthearted delivery might also suggest a coping mechanism for dealing with the frustration of tedious work.

The Tortoise and the Pepper Soup

Leave a reply

Story:

IJ: “Once upon a time, the animals in the forest decided to have a big feast. There was all kinds of food, but the main dish was pepper soup. Oh, that soup! It was so spicy that even the strongest animals couldn’t eat it without feeling it. But they all agreed on a game—whoever makes the sss sound while eating loses the game. You know, that sound when something is so hot that your tongue wants to cool down, and you say sss? Yes, that one.

Now, the Tortoise, he’s very smart, you know. He’s always looking for how to trick others. So, when the challenge started, everybody was eating, and the heat from the soup was too much! But nobody wanted to be the first to make the sss sound. Everyone tried to hold it in, even though their tongues were burning!

But then, the Tortoise, hmm, he’s clever, oh. He turned to them and said, “Remember, oh, nobody should sss!” And every time he said it, he would stretch out the sss sound and use it as his own opportunity to cool his tounge down, but nobody thought twice. They didn’t even realize that he was making the sound too! And so, one by one, the other animals couldn’t hold it anymore. They would make the sss sound, trying to cool their tongues down.

In the end, only Tortoise was left. He was the winner. And do you know what he did? He ate the whole pot of pepper soup by himself! All the other animals had lost because they didn’t think twice about what he was doing!”

Context:

This story was told to the informant by her teacher in school, as part of the oral traditions passed down in the Igbo community. The informant, now a mother, remembers the story vividly because it always made her laugh as a child, and she often retells it to her own children as a way of teaching them about cleverness and the importance of using their minds. In her family, it’s seen as a fun story but also one that reminds them to be mindful of trickery and to always be sharp.

My Interpretation:

This story really highlights the cleverness of the Tortoise, a character who appears often in Igbo folklore. The Tortoise is known for using his intelligence and wit to outsmart others, rather than relying on strength. In this tale, he doesn’t cheat; instead, he plays with the rules of the game. By repeatedly saying, “Nobody should sss,” he himself makes the sound while pretending to remind the others of the rule. The other animals, focused on the heat of the soup, don’t realize what he’s doing and end up losing.

What stands out to me is how this story emphasizes the value of cleverness and quick thinking. It shows that intelligence can be a powerful tool, sometimes even more effective than physical strength. The Tortoise, as a character, isn’t about tricking others maliciously, he simply knows how to navigate a situation with strategy. In Igbo culture, the Tortoise is often seen as a symbol of wisdom, and this story reinforces how using your mind can lead to success, even when others don’t see it coming.

“Clap for yourself!”

Leave a reply

Text:

“Clap for yourself!”

Context:

The informant, I, remembers hearing this phrase a lot in Nigerian culture when someone does something that doesn’t really deserve praise but acts like it does. It’s usually said sarcastically, especially when someone makes a mistake or brags about a small task. For example, when she would boast about doing something simple like cleaning up her room, her mother would often say “Clap for yourself!” to humorously point out that it’s not worth bragging about.

Analysis:

“Clap for yourself” is a funny way to tease someone who thinks they’ve done something great when it’s actually not that impressive. It’s often used to make fun of someone who is overestimating their actions. This phrase is a part of Nigerian culture and is used to joke with friends or family in a lighthearted way. It shows how humor is used to remind people to stay humble and not get carried away with small achievements. Even though it points out someone’s mistake or exaggeration, it’s said in a fun, teasing way to keep the mood relaxed and friendly.

Sausage

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Morris Plains, NJ, USA
Language: English

It is a men-only post-show tradition that was invented at the local high school theater and celebrated between grade meshing as well as the seniors’ final shows. 

“I didn’t join theater till my sophomore year which had [J] and [C] as the ring leaders of the seniors. They introduced me and the freshman to sausage. It was crazy at first, but a ton of fun. There’s the song sausage, but its cool because there are a lot of singers who have their own verses that all end with ‘but I still get sausage’. All the seniors make their own verses and we[all the male members of theater] all jump around and have fun in there. For closing night, both guys and girls come in and all the seniors get a voice. We would also put a freshman in a safe and bang a beat on it as like an initiation. It was a fun thing to look forward to.”

The ritual reminds me of a fraternity initiation(with less danger). They all sing and jump around in an exclusively male space, singing a song that is an allusion to sex. It can also be very inclusive because theaters are a LGBTQ dominated space, and they allow trans men to be included in Sausage. It’s also a fun tradition to pass down to other generations and a good, safe way to celebrate after a show. It creates community between the younger years and celebrates the graduating Senior class.

Gacha Gaming Luck Rituals

The Informant

CM is a long-time gacha player who players multiple different gacha games and stays up to date in the community news of gacha games he doesn’t even play. The informant admits to doing one of the following rituals in the past, having played the game genre since he was 13.

The Text

“Gacha” games are a from of video games that involve a “gacha” element, deriving from the Japanese toy-capsule vending machines of gachapon, in which rewards are drawn through lottery as a monetization system. As a very luck-based system, it lends itself to superstitions and magical rituals, particularly when players are investing their in-game resources into “pulling” for gacha. Most gacha games tend to sell particularly desireable limited characters or equipment, and the lottery mechanic incentivizes players to quite literally perform summoning rituals to “pull” the right character or equipment.

According to the informant, there are two big ways to perform a luck ritual in gacha community. In the past, one method was to change your social media profile picture (Discord, X, etc.) to the target character before you pulled for them. Other people draw summoning circles, placing the phone in the middle of the diagram with merch on the periphery. Some people would assemble entire shrines in dedication of the target character before they roll. The informant recalls an episode where a particular player put their phone into a circle of salt to keep away bad luck before rolling.

In Grand Blue Fantasy, a particular gacha game, the most incentivized way to pull would be to pull 300 pulls at once for an incentivized reward, and you must play a song, like related to the target character, on loop as the game rolls through the 300 pulls. If the player ever repeats a song used for a previous character, the rolls would be atrocious, from an anecdote. The informant also recounts a method where the player would go to a specific location important to the target character or have related characters active in the party while pulling for the character.

Analysis

What I find most interesting about this ritual is the homeopathic nature of summoning for a fictional character, as described by Frazer’s sympathetic magic, despite the target of the homeopathic connection being completely fictional. This operates off the belief that the target character will be bound to other characters, locations, and merchandise that have a connection to them. Setting one’s public profile picture also morphs the player’s cyborg identity to be closer to that of the character, again evoking a homeopathic bond. Because the user’s are invested in the characters and want them to “come home” to their account, they will perform rituals to improve their odds, especially as losing to the lottery odds can be quite costly to an account, forcing the player to either pay for more rolls or miss out on the character. As many gacha games sell their characters through story, the narratives the players experienced with the target character also incentivizes their investment on pulling for the target character, going as far as to perform rituals to better their luck when rolling.