Monthly Archives: April 2012

Getting Iced

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Getting Iced is a drinking ritual where, if an individual is presented with a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, he (or, sometimes, she) is required to to drop to one knee and chug the entire bottle, no matter what the situation. 

“Icing” is a common prank among college students. It’s generally tradition to “Ice” someone in some kind of unexpected or surprising way, or at an incredibly inconvenient time or place, such as in a public place or at 7 in the morning. It’s usually done amongst young men, specifically “bros”, and a “bro” is honor-bound to drink the Smirnoff when he is Iced. My informant, and myself as a college student, have seen many a bro get iced, and never seen anyone refuse. It would be unthinkable.

My informant told me that, when his best friend, who graduated last year, was taking his last final of college, all of his friends planned a huge Ice for him. Eight of them spread out along the path from his friend’s dorm to where he was taking his final. As he walked to the classroom, one at a time, his friends would spring out along the way and Ice him. Every single time, he dropped and chugged the bottle. By the time he got to the final, he was practically falling over from being drunk.

No one really knows where exactly “Icing” came from, but part of the point is that a Smirnoff Ice is considered a very girly, lame drink, that no self-respecting man should drink. Icing turns the “girliness” of it into a test of manliness. It’s often used by fraternity brothers as a form of hazing. Although girls can Ice others be Iced (and are held to the same Icing standards as everyone else) it’s usually something done to guys by other guys.

Two Twin Ducks

Nationality: American
Age: 11
Occupation: Child
Residence: Frisco, Texas
Performance Date: April 9, 2012
Primary Language: English

Lawson Franklin Echols-Richter

Houston, Texas

April 9, 2012

Folklore Type: Riddle

Informant Bio: Lawson is my youngest cousin. He is eleven years old. He is from Frisco, Texas and has lived there his whole life. Lawson is the younger of two boys, and both of his parents are Methodist Pastors. He enjoys video games and showing off his skills of dancing and flipping a fedora onto his head. I call him The Dude.

Context: I saw Lawson briefly with his father when my grandfather (not ours) passed away. I asked him what were some jokes he had been learning at school. He said he could not remember any jokes, but he knew a few riddles.

Item: So the two twin ducks sitting in a movie theater next to each other they’re both twins, but they are not born on the same day how is this possible? The answer is they are two twins not from the same family.

Informant Analysis: He said it’s just funny.

Analysis: This riddle is pretty intellectual in regards to the answer. It is also pretty intellectual humor that is simply derived from people attempting to figure out the riddle and enjoying the answer. It is not vulgar which could indicate that Lawson is not quite yet at that age of figuring out usual boy topics such as bathroom humor, or his cousin and father were not the ideal people to tell a vulgar joke too. The ducks do however denote a slight sense of innocence because of how much children love animals. Either way the joke demonstrates young boys attempting to play with and twist different scenarios in the world around them.

Alex Williams

Los Angeles, California

University of Southern California

ANTH 333m   Spring 2012

 

To the Breezes (a toast)

Nationality: American
Age: 29
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Here’s to the breezes
That blows through the trees-es
That lifts their skirts above their knees-es…
That shows us the spot
That gets us hot
That teases, pleases and causes diseases…
Oh my god, what a snatch.
…down the motherfuckin’ hatch!

This is a toast my informant learned at the University of Evansville. It’s told among guys while drinking.

Toast for Honor

Nationality: American
Age: 29
Occupation: Engineer
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

Here’s to Honor.
To getting Honor,
To staying Honor.
And if you can’t cum in her…cum Honor.

This is a favorite toast at the University of Evansville, where my informant attended. It’s a toast performed by guys, for other guys, when they’re drinking, and always gets a laugh.

Jewish girls get slapped on their first menstrual cycle

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

When a Jewish girl has her first ever menstrual cycle, every woman in the family (and sometimes, any woman) will slap her across the face. 

My informant recollects getting her period for the first time while she was alone with her younger sister at their grandma’s house. She was panicking because no one was home and her post-menopausal grandmother doesn’t keep the necessary supplies in the house. When her grandma got home that afternoon, she tentatively whispered what had happened. Her grandmother screamed in delight, raised her hand and slapped her across the face with full gusto. My informant started sobbing, and then her sister did too, because they had no idea why grandma was hitting her!

I’ve been on both the receiving and giving end of the slap, and it’s meant as as gesture of love, and a very exciting time. When a girl gets her period for the first time, it’s not unusual for the entire extended family to be informed, and then that girl is subjected to slaps as her aunts and cousins and grandmothers come to congratulate her. It’s part of the rite of passage that comes with “becoming a woman.”

The slap supposedly comes out of ancient times, when a woman getting her period was a sign of her coming into her sexual maturity–and needed to be slapped for being a sinful, sexual being (basically implying that she is a whore.) For most Jews now, though, the slap is a joyous, fun, and slightly painful tradition.