“If you tell a lie, god will strike black spot on your heart”
My informant was first told this by his father when he thought he was telling a lie. It reflects the strong religious beliefs of his father. I asked my informant what would happen if he had a black spot on his heart, and he wasn’t sure. Despite this, this threat succeeded in scaring my informant into telling the truth.
To the tune of “Jingle Bells”
Jingle bells
Jingle bells
We will hear no more.
We have captured Butterballs
and nailed him to the floor.
Took his boots
and his loot
only left his socks.
We gave him a beach party
and dumped him off the docks
Splishy, splash
Splishy, splash
We will hear forever more
Now the Fat Man’s hauling toys
Across the ocean floor.
My informant learned this version of jingle bells from a friend of his in elementary school. He and the other “no talent brothers” sang a number of these songs throughout elementary school. This song is sung primarily at christmas time, especially in the car after a version of jingle bells is aired on the radio. The song originally demonstrated the children’s rebellion against parental influences as many children’s songs do. However, my father only introduced this song to my brother and I after we had entered high school, past the point that we would sing it ourselves, so now it reflects more his desire to show that he is still a child at heart.
If you take off shoes and leave them upside down, its bad luck because the “soles are pointing at god, which is dirty”
Whenever anyone in my informant’s Syrian family takes off their shoes, if someone leaves them upside down, someone else will flip them over. He claims that this is an old superstition that dates back before Arabic exposure to English so the fact that sole and soul are homophones is a coincidence. This saying emphasizes the need for cleanliness as god is always watching.
The boh boh is the Syrian equivalent of the “boogeyman” it’s some vague scary figure that parents scare their kids with and friends tell stories about. “watch out for the boh boh”
My informant does not remember any particular stories, but his parents did tell him a number of stories to scare him into behaving as he was growing up.
Allah ey adim illy fee al qhar- “God bring what is best closer.”
My informant has known this saying as long as he can remember. His Syrian family uses it frequently. When having a serious conversation with someone about what to do, what is going to happen, etc. the conversation will almost always end with this phrase. This is because if two people are discussing something that is out of their hands, it ends the conversation with a little prayer to God asking for the best-case scenario to play out, whether or not the person knows quite what that is. It also signifies that this scenario may play out bad right now but best overall. You just can’t see it.