Literal Phrase: Everything will come out in the wash if the soap is strong enough.
Interpretation
Informant’s Interpretation: “Get over it.”
Personal Interpretation: A harsher rendition of “get over it,” implying that the individual can get over anything if they try hard enough. Pinning the success condition on “the soap” implies it’s the individuals’ responsibility to overcome whatever happened. By virtue of this, it encourages self-reliance.
Background
My informant is a practicing speech pathologist in Pasadena, California. She is in her 70s and of European descent (English, Irish, and Welsh). She heard this proverb (and many others) from her mother, who had a “harsh parenting style” and “wasn’t good with words and emotions”–she instead used proverbs like this one to convey sentiment. She used this proverb and others like it as my informant and her siblings were growing up in both California and Kansas. Eventually, my informant notes that she would stop asking for advice in these situations, as she knew the proverb would be the response.
My informant disliked the use of this phrase in her childhood, finding it discounting of her emotions. She and her siblings now use this and their mom’s other proverbs (termed “Mommilies” among them) to tease each other in their adult life. Looking back, my informant can now appreciate the “truth” of the phrase.
Phrase: “Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran. If you can tell me how many r’s are in that, you’ll be a clever man.”
Typical Answer: “7”
Actual / Trick Answer: “0”
Interpretation
This riddle tricks the listener into counting the number of “r’s” in the above phrase, but can literally be interpreted as asking the listener to count the number of “r’s” in the word “that.”
Personal Interpretation: This is an example of a classic variety of children’s riddles that plays with the meaning and pattern of words in order to trick the listener. It’s a “gotcha!” style riddle, as the actual question the riddle is asking isn’t immediately clear. It’s primarily meant to serve and entertain the teller of the riddle, as they know the catch and are waiting for another party (who hasn’t heard it or an oicotypical variation of it before) to walk into it.
Background
My informant is a practicing speech pathologist in Pasadena, California. She is in her 70s and of European descent (English, Irish, and Welsh). She first recalls hearing this proverb while attending elementary school in Kansas. She remembers many schoolchildren there enjoying riddles, and using them frequently as entertainment for themselves and others.
Folk object “autograph books,” recounted by informant as a pastime among Middle American schoolchildren in the 50s. She participated in the creation of these objects around the 3rd and 4th grade.
These were big rectangular books with black covers and a title on the front that said “autographs.” They were bought in dime stores for a quarter, and brought to school for friends to sign. The pages were different colors (first 10 pink, next 10 yellow, next 10 blue, next 10 white), and kids would select a colorful page they liked to write on.
Informant recounts that this was more common among girls than boys, though many students at her school participated. Students would sign their friends’ books with little poems, visual puzzles, or sayings. Image attached of examples drawn by informant.
Interpretation
Personal Interpretation: While similar to the end-of-school yearbook, I find these autograph books to be a more keen example of expressing kids’ presence in one another’s lives. These are not correlated with any particular time, and a way of proving an everyday connection. I also find it interesting to see which of the above mentioned phrases are still used today in similar children’s folklore (like yearbooks), such as the poem ending in “Sugar is sweet / and so are you”–I can recall hearing that phrase in my own experience at elementary school.
Many others are a direct reference to objects of that time–the center top poem about the ocean and rubber pants, for example, is a reference to the fact that diapers used to be made fully out of cloth and could not retain water / fluid. Thus, rubber pants were sometimes pull over them to keep fluid contained. Another phrase used in a different poem, “Heavens to Betsy,” is an “oh my god!” like exclamation, but something I’m not familiar with–some research let me know that this is a more common phrase in the Midwest and South, and largely used in the 1900s. Overall, though, I was surprised at how familiar many of these poems felt–if not exactly similar in practice, they are nearly identical to modern day children’s yearbook poems and sayings in theory / concept. I find that strong correlation endearing and indicative of continuous patterns in children’s folklore.
Background
My informant is a practicing speech pathologist in Pasadena, California. She is in her 70s and of European descent (English, Irish, and Welsh). She was born in California and went to elementary school in Kansas, and returned to California later on.
She fondly recalled autograph books and drew the poems she remembered. She also mentioned that students would ask pretty much anyone in their class to draw something in their books, but would seldom ask older kids. Informant remembers keeping her book in her desk and passing it around for others to sign, and that students would be “excited when a cute person signed it. Like, ‘oh, she signed mine!'”
Literal Phrase: “You got two ears and one mouth, so you can listen twice as much as you talk.”
Interpretation
Informant Interpretation: “Be quiet and pay attention.”
Personal Interpretation: A harsher way of telling someone to quiet down, on par with a more formal version of “shut up.” Also feels intended to provoke the listener towards the importance of listening, and points to a physical obligation to do so. To me, sounds and feels very much like something an adult would teach a kid as part of a manners lesson–an instruction on how to act within the world, with a proverbial explanation as to why.
Background
My informant is a practicing speech pathologist in Pasadena, California. She is in her 70s and of European descent (English, Irish, and Welsh). She recalls hearing this proverb from her mother, who learned it from her father. The informant’s grandfather was a strict man who didn’t like people who talked a lot, and he used it to quiet down his daughters. Her grandfather had six daughters and there was always “lots of drama in the house,” and she recalls it being part of his mannerism instruction. Her mother shared his tendency to use proverbs, but did not use this one herself to the informant’s memory.
Informant’s grandfather worked for the city of Los Angeles as a cartographer, and passed away when the informant was 16.
Informant recounted an occupational superstition among fisherman to never bring a banana with you on a boat, as doing so causes bad luck.
Interpretation
Personal Interpretation: This superstition primarily speaks to an occupational folkloric culture–it is primarily practiced among fishermen. As their primary concern is bringing in as many fish as possible, any tradition resulting in “bad luck” usually correlates with bringing back in a reduced catch. By virtue of its status as occupational folklore, this superstition provides a way for individuals to prove themselves among the “folk” by knowing the “lore”–abiding by it makes one more strongly correlated with being a fisherman.
My informant added additional interpretation that he has heard stories of this superstition originating from individuals contending that bananas did not transport well on boats, which he personally does not believe.
Background
My informant is a video game producer and recreational fisherman in Seattle, Washington. He is in his 50s, of European descent (primarily Italian), and has been fishing locally for nearly twenty years. He recalls first hearing this superstition from his fishing mentor in 2006, when he was just starting out. He maintains the tradition to this day, and I recall hearing this superstition from him when I was in elementary school.
When asked about the degree to which other fisherman maintain this superstition, he mentioned that it is somewhat well known but that he wouldn’t be surprised if he encountered other local fisherman not observing it. He also noted that he believes it to be slightly localized to the Pacific Northwest, and would be surprised to hear it being significantly observed elsewhere.
