Monthly Archives: April 2012

Folk Rhyme – Star Light, Star Bright

Nationality: American
Age: 35
Occupation: Photographer
Residence: Seattle, Washington
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

“Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.”

 

While waiting for a Fourth of July fireworks show, my informant first heard this rhyme from her mother, who taught it to her and told her to watch for the first star.  My informant recalls being restless and was likely annoying her parents, so her mother probably taught her the rhyme to keep her busy looking for the first star until the show began.  My informant distinctly remembered her mother telling her that you must first see the star, then recite the rhyme, and only then could she make a wish.  If she did not follow that order, the wish would not come true.  When she finally saw a star in the sky, she recited the rhyme and wished that her pets at home would be ok and that the loud fireworks nearby would not scare them.

My informant suggested that this rhyme is simple and is likely to be shared only between children and the parents of those children.  She also believes that many parents likely use this rhyme to quiet their children before they go to bed.  If they’re preoccupied looking out the window for a star, they’re not making a fuss.  It’s interesting to note that this rhyme also operates as a superstition, because it details how one can make a wish.  My informant is not completely sure of whether or not the rhyme or the superstition came first, but imagines that the superstition came first and the originator of the rhyme took the details of the wish and made them rhyme.  My informant tried to remember if an improper recitation of the rhyme has any impact on a wish, but she doesn’t believe one needs to say the rhyme correctly for their wish to come true.  As long as someone sees the first star in the sky, performs the rhyme, and make a wish, in that order, the wish is likely to come true.

There are several interesting aspects of this rhyme that can be analyzed to gain an understanding to why it is still being passed down from generation to generation.  First, wishing this way means you can only wish once per day, and this limit is likely to make a wisher more sincere in their requests.  Also, the lines, “I wish I may, I wish I might,” suggest that the star that is being wished upon is of a higher authority and can permit and deny the wishes it chooses.  This superstition is unique because it suggests that a wish may or may not be granted, while most superstitions indicate exactly what is to occur.  There is no guarantee this wish will be granted, so one must have faith that by performing the rhyme, their wish will be granted more likely than if they had not.

I have lived in Los Angeles County my entire life, and my personal opinion is that it’s considerably difficult to wish upon a star because the first star cannot be seen through the smog.  Also, with all of the planes and satellites in the sky, it can sometimes be tedious to find a star among bright objects in the sky.  For this reason, children may be performing the rhyme less frequently nowadays.  Also, the rhyme says I should wish on, “the first star I see tonight,” but I’ve heard that for the wish to come true, the wish must be made when there is only one visible star in the entire sky.  This prevents you from walking outside at midnight and making any star wishing star.  This version instills patience, and makes your wish mean something, because you have to wait for the perfect moment when there is only one visible star.

Don’t crap where you eat

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Poway, California
Performance Date: January 2007

My informant first heard this proverb in his dormitory at the beginning of his freshman year of college.  His residential advisor recommended that no one on the coed floor date each other, regardless of how good looking they may appear to each other.  Then, the residential advisor reinforced her point with this proverb.  However, the majority of the residents had no idea what she had said.  She laughed and explained the proverb.

My informant understands the proverb to mean not to get involved in situations that will inevitably come back to haunt you.  My informant explained that, with respect to the aforementioned situation, the resident advisor was suggesting that if anyone were to get romantically involved with anyone else who lived down the hall, it would work out fine until the couple realizes the relationship was a mistake.  At this point, there are always hard feelings, and if you have no choice but to live right next to someone you don’t want to see again, you’re in for a bad time.  The couple would have to share elevators, dining areas, and common space, even after their fallout.  My informant then mentioned that all of the residents of the dorm understood this and adhered to the proverb, except for a few drunken nights.

For this example to make sense, the proverb needs to be broken down.  If you, say, crap anywhere you want to, it’ll be worthwhile until you have to return to an area where you’ve already crapped.  This is especially problematic if you took a dump where you eat, because, while enjoyable at the time, the odor and mess is going to make you miserable whenever you dine thereafter. Similarly, being with a girl has its benefits, but the breakup will make you miserable if she’s still going to be everywhere you are.

I have been told this proverb at work several times with the intent to keep me from dating female coworkers.  This makes sense because I’d be forced to work with that coworker after a breakup and would be expected to perform and interact like nothing had happened. In my opinion, I believe this proverb is just a warning to consider the consequences of your choices.

It’s colder than a witch’s tit

Nationality: American
Age: 65
Occupation: Consultant
Residence: Claremont, California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My source was raised on a farm in Nebraska, and during the winter, snowstorms can be frequent and it can get very cold.  He remembered his father coming inside from running an errand.  After removing his outermost coat and hanging up his hat, my source’s father grinned and used this folk metaphor to describe the temperature.  My source found the comment amusing.  He laughed and then left to find his dad a blanket to warm up with.

Many times, my source has described many hardships of being raised on a farm, mainly the chores.  At one point, it was his responsibility to milk, feed, brush, and take care of the cows.  A cow’s utter is not protected by hair, and under winter conditions can become very cold.  It is important that the utter does not get too cold because the cow’s tits will actually become chapped, and the cow will become sick and stop producing milk.  To prevent this, my source would be sent out and would have to rub a protective balm on each cow’s tits.  My source distinctly remembers how cold they felt.  Now, my source made sure to explain this to me, because if he knew a cow’s tits were freezing, it made him wonder how much colder a witch’s tit would be.  And for it to be colder than a witch’s tit, then it must be seriously cold outside.

My source thinks that the metaphor was developed through similar reasoning.  Also, he mentioned that this metaphor is mostly shared by people who live in colder climates, because he has rarely heard it since he moved to California over thirty years ago.  In my opinion, I believe the metaphor was likely developed by a drunk who stepped out into the cold and decided to exclaim the temperature was colder than two completely unrelated words.  Their friends must have found this hilarious and the metaphor would have caught on and spread by word of mouth.

Saudi Hiccup Remedy

Nationality: Saudi
Performance Date: January 2007

Press a wet newspaper against the center of your forehead.

 

Who ever consults a medical textbook when they get a case of the hiccups?  There must be more methods of curing the hiccups (or at least attempting such) than for any other frustration that ails the human body, and it seems everyone has heard and tried at least one of these folk remedies.  I have heard of many supposed hiccup cures myself: scare the person with the hiccups, gulp down water rhythmically (seven times in one particular variant), rub your earlobe with your fingers (this one has actually produced results on me – perhaps there is some real nerve connection there or perhaps it is the placebo effect), drink sugar water, hold your breath.
Recently, my roommate (Lebanese) and I, along with a friend of his from Saudi Arabia (my informant), were driving to buy food, and my roommate began hiccuping quite forcefully.  Predictably, everyone began reciting the hiccup-cure ideas they had learned growing up.  Since my roommate was driving, he unfortunately had to suffer the hiccups (and did for quite some time) until they passed.  I asked the informant how he would cure the hiccups back where he used to live in Arabia, and his method was the most unusual I had ever heard.  He said his mother used to soak a newspaper and press it against his forehead.  The informant did not know why this worked, but claimed it did.  Perhaps the cold, wet sensation triggers a reset button in the nerves and stops the spasms, or again, perhaps it is just the placebo effect – and it is doubtful that any medical guide would ever confirm this for us or would address the effectiveness of these traditional remedies.

Italian Toast

Nationality: Italian-American
Performance Date: February 2007

“This wine is good and clear.
Good health to everyone.
Hope they bring to the cemetery the ones
who wanted to do away with it.”

This saying has been passed down through the paternal side of my family, who are all of Italian heritage.  My father’s grandparents were immigrants in the early twentieth century and were the last to speak Italian fluently in my father’s genealogy.  Some of my older relatives still remember this saying, however, and have said it on occasion though it is obsolete.  My father begins it when toasting to his family, but never gets past the first sentence.  As it involves Prohibition (1920-1933), its terminus post quem is 1920.  As recent immigrants, my great grandparents had left a country where good wine was plentiful and many people drank it daily, and were now faced with an across-the-board ban on every kind of alcoholic beverage.  According to my informant, the Italian men who immigrated near this time would continue to make wine that their families would drink, keeping it hidden in their cellars while brewing.  When the wine was finished and illegally drunk, a toast such as this would be offered.  This particular saying was either created or picked up by one of my father’s grandparents, and as my family has increasingly forgotten Italian (I know essentially none), the saying has remained, whether or not my relatives are aware that it is an anachronism.  Though it is obsolete, it reminds us of our common heritage and of my great-grandparents (now deceased) and their families.