Tag Archives: trick

ICUP

Text:

ICUP

Context: 

This friend explains that “ICUP” is a “word” that children would ask each other. And she has heard her classmates from elementary school ask each other this question, she has been asked this as well. The joke of asking someone to “spell ICUP” is that it phonetically sounds like “I see you pee”. She interprets this as a joke that mainly boys try to trick each other with or to trick girls. She believes it does not have much meaning other than to be cheeky and to potentially embarrass someone.

Analysis: 

The phrase above is a prank and a joke and I also interpret it as children’s folklore with “potty humor”, which is quite common in children’s folklore and humor with obscenity. Jay Mechling states that children’s play can be cruel and this prank overall seems harmless. Although I see it possibly turning into teasing if the joke is not understood by the one being pranked. But as a verbal prank, someone may find it funny and tell the joke themselves and it continues to spread. The phrase is childish, but creative which is most likely why it continues to be told.

From “Look” to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle”

Text:

Context:

R is a USC senior majoring in Computer Science. She is a quick witted, stylish, craft girly with an affinity to push the boundaries of what it means to be a person in stem. She grew up in the Bay Area with two brothers and a dog and a cat. She also grew up acting as a child in San Francisco. When she was younger and at a family gathering she was hanging out with her older cousin who showed her this drawing “trick”. As you can see above, it starts by wiring the word “look” and then by adding on lines to make it into a mask. Then you add a face, a mouth, and the rest of the facial details until Violà! A Ninja Turtle has appeared. R’s older cousin explained to her that this was a drawing he was taught be another kid his age in elementary school. R, then used this drawing and shared it with many of her friends at school

Analysis:

This is an example of a tradition passed on among different age groups and through decades. Though this was most likely invented during the pop culture renaissance of the 90s and during the inevitable rise in popularity of The Ninja Turtles themselves; it lives on past its time through this drawing. This teaching of the “drawing trick” was a clear way for R’s older cousin to connect with her and pass down something he found cool and special when he was her age and that she subsequently did as well.

Jinx! You owe me a __

Text:

Jinx! You owe me a soda

Context: 

My information is from a childhood friend of mine. 

A friend of mine explains this phrase as something that would occur between two people, after saying the same thing at the same time. They mostly heard this phrase during elementary school, and they believe it is something that children mostly say rather than adults. They mention that “jinx” on its own is bad luck, therefore making saying “jinx” to possibly cancel it out.

My interpretation and Analysis:

This phrase above is folk speech and also a game that is not necessarily “started” by anyone in order to play, but rather something known and unspoken. In my interpretation it can also be seen as children’s folklore. Based on Jay Mechling’s writing, from Oring’s book on children’s folklore, they may often form games while hanging out or by being in school settings. Children tend to establish a person in power while playing games, and in this case whoever says “Jinx” first is a “winner”. Although I don’t necessarily think that the “loser” or the “jinxed” has to give the winner a soda. It seems more as satisfaction of winning a simple game instead of getting something in return. I interpret “you owe me a soda” as just a possible consequence that someone could add. I believe this because the simpler version of Jinx is not letting the loser talk for a while, which doesn’t require a physical prize and further emphasizes on the unspoken part of the game of Jinx. But overall, these different variations that could stem from “Jinx” seem to mostly rely on how fast you could say it.

Tale of Two Brothers – Tale

Context:

G is a Korean American freshman studying Computer Science at USC. She has heard this story from her mother, who was born and raised in Korea but moved to Hawaii. That’s where G lived before she came to USC. According to G, her mom has told her this story countless times, and it is a very popular and well-known story.

Text:

There were two brothers, Heungbu and Nolbu, and they were both from a rich family. Nolbu is the older brother, he’s very greedy. The younger brother is Heungbu and he’s very kind. When their father died and it was time to split the fortune he left behind, the older brother takes everything. But, Heungbu is nice, so he doesn’t fight back or anything. He just accepts it.

There was a baby bird, a swallow. There was a snake trying to eat the swallow. Heungbu chased the snake away, saving the swallow. The baby bird had a broken leg, and Heungbu treated it for him. Three days later, the swallow got better, left, and came back with pumpkin seeds. So, Heungbu plants it in his backyard and when it was time to harvest, the pumpkin was full of treasure and gold.

The rumor spread that Heungbu became wealthy. His brother, the greedy one, asks him how he got so wealthy. Heungbu tells his brother. When Nolbu sees a swallow, he purposefully breaks the swallow’s leg and then heals it. The swallow comes back with pumpkin see, and when it was time to harvest, goblins came out of the pumpkin beating up his children and taking his fortune away.

Analysis:

This tale outlines two very stark characters in close contrast to showcase a logical sequence of events that follow their lives. Tales travel along the supernatural and realistically impossible, operating on events and logic that do not apply in the real world. There is no pumpkin seed in the world that can summon treasure and gold, or goblins (goblins do not exist or been questioned to exist like a yeti would be in a legend). There is no animal (real world entity) that is magical enough to differentiate magical pumpkin seeds, like that swallow. The objects of the folktale on which the plot occurs and the characters are propelled are illogical and extraordinary, an irrefutable kind of “not real” that occurs in a world that is not our own. However, though the events and plot devices themselves are not real or rational, what is logical is the actions of the characters caused by the devices. According to Oring, a “tale’s climax is the logical result of an episodic sequence.” Heungbu’s kindness and benevolence is met with Nolbu’s greed and malevolence, earning both of them respective consequences based on the caliber of morality their distinctive personalities the real world’s principles hold them in. These characters are unchanging and idle to exaggerate those social noems. It is accepted that kindness earns respect and good fortune, and as Korean culture is mostly dictated by Confucian values, Heungbu’s loyalty to his family in spite of his brother’s mistakes makes him a template of good character for Korean culture. Nolbu is the opposite; insensitive to family, uncooperative, and endlessly greedy, hence a moral villain for his Korean audience. This tale engineers Korean culture values into a supernatural order of events that follow a logical reasoning, so that the resolution is not only predictable for the audience but inevitable and therefore applicable in metaphor in real life.

The Origin of the Echo

Context: S is a Peruvian man in his early 60s. S spent around the first 13 years living inside of Peru before moving to Germany where he lived until his late 20s when he moved to California. Although having lived in California for most of his life now, he still has a close connection to Peru and Germany through his family. 

S: “While I can’t think of much Peruvian folklore, there is one story that comes to mind about the story of the echo.” 

Intv: “Okay, I don’t think I know this story.” 

S: “Okay, well it goes something like this, There was this Prince, who was always lying. He was always getting in trouble, and lying to everyone until one day the King died. So this Prince becomes the new King. As he became King his behavior just got worse, he would send people away on jobs and when they would come back he would act confused and say he never sent them to do such a thing. But what could the people do? He was the King. Until one day, the King calls upon the high priest. This high priest knew he was going to be set up by the King, so before speaking with him, the priest went to pray to the gods, and the god of the jungle came and asked him about his problem. The jungle god then directs the high priest to a very specific tree deep in the heart of the jungle, and the high priest will cut the tree down and use the wood to make a very special box. After the priest made the box the jungle god told him ‘when you speak to the King, make sure you hold the box open the whole time. And make sure when the order is given to you and when you return it is a huge event in which everyone will be there. So the priest goes to the King, and holds open the box while he receives his mission. Then he was off. When he returned, the high priest gathered the whole town before alerting the King of his return. When the King came to see the commotion he asked ‘what’s going on?’ The high priest responded by telling him about the job that the King sent him on. The King replied saying ‘I never said any such thing, I never told you to go and do such a thing.’ Then the high priest opens the box and the King’s order comes back in the exact same words and in his exact voice. In a fit of rage the King grabbed the box and ran out to the mountains where he threw the box out. When the box landed it splintered in hundreds of directions all across the world and wherever you hear an echo, supposedly that’s where a piece of the box resides.”

Intv: “Oh wow! That’s a great story! Was this told somewhere specifically? Or all across Peru?”

S: “This is a tale from the Amazonians, so it’s probably from Colombia.”

Analysis: A wonderful legend that perhaps originated as an explanation for something that at the time we couldn’t originally understand or fathom. In these moments it’s fascinating to see how for hundreds potentially thousands of years people used folklore as a pseudoscience of sorts. Legends being used to explain earthly phenomena can be seen across different cultures around the world. Another example of one of these that I particularly enjoy is the Origin of the Earthquake from Norse mythology. See All the Mountains Shake: Seismic and Volcanic Imagery in the Old Norse Literature of Þórr. Scripta Islandica, Pg 102-110. For more information on the origin of the earthquake in Norse mythology. Taggart, Declan. “All the mountains shake: Seismic and volcanic imagery in the Old Norse literature of Þórr.” Scripta Islandica: Isländska Sällskapets Årsbok 68 (2017): 102-110.