Author Archives: Claire Birnbaum

Proverb – Tongan

Nationality: Tongan-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Office Employee
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2007
Primary Language: English

“Koi Kulee oko kalo, oku ekai ke kalo”

This Tongan proverb translates in English to the American proverb that “The dog that barks, doesn’t bite.” Joe is a friend of mine who works in my dad’s office. He is 20-years-old and was born and continues to live in Los Angeles. His mom, who was raised in the Tongan Islands, raised him with many proverbs. Joe first heard this proverb when his mother was trying to teach him to be an ambitious and active member of society. “She had told me that simply talking about my goals wasn’t enough until I tried to reach for them. She would remind me that sitting idly was not utilizing my skills to their full potential.” Proverbs as Professor Mieder explained can be very powerful and motivational. Examining the proverb with Joe mom’s intended meaning is evidence for how proverbial speech can be used to accentuate a point and educate.

“The dog that barks, doesn’t bite” can also be interpreted to mean a person who threatens is not going to act on it. Both meanings deal with talking and not acting like the proverb “talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.” The origin of the proverb is uncertain, but it is probably not from the Tongan Islands even though it is used there quite frequently according to Joe. The meaning is the same in America, in Tonga, in Spain etc which shows a general agreement between countries about particular proverbial speech.

Folk Medicine – New York

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Chef
Residence: New York, NY
Performance Date: April 15, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, French

“If you drink a glass of warm water mixed with mustard you will vomit… this drink’s combination is an emetic ”

Neil is a personal chef in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in New York and moved out to California for college. After graduating, Neil remained in the city managing restaurants and then settled into a career as a personal chef. He lives in Hollywood with his dog Jane. Neil explained to be that he had to use this emetic on his dog when she accidentally consumed some aspirin. Neil learned this remedy from his mother who taught it to him before he moved across the country for college in case of an emergency. Neil had researched the emetic before giving it to Jane and learned that is was not harmful to big dogs if given in little doses. Jane recovered well from the incident.

Folk Medicine is a universal thing because everyone gets sick with the same illnesses and tries to find their own relief. Though certain parts of the world may grow a certain plant that is unavailable elsewhere and so their remedy is isolated, the idea that people search for remedies is a frequent thing. There are manufactured and purchasable emetics but the use of a homemade remedy may be less intrusive and toxic. By transferring and sharing folk medicine through horizontal mode of communication, people can learn a lot about other cultures and other culture’s remedies. The notion of folk medicine is sustainable because of the acquisition of new information is beneficial for everyone.

Folk Practice

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: Landscape Architect
Residence: Northridge, CA
Performance Date: January 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Cut flowers last longer if you put sprite or aspirin in the water”

Michael was born and raised in Northridge California. He has three brothers all still living on the West Coast. Michael studied horticulture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and then opened his own business in Beverly Hills. Michael is extremely knowledgeable in regards to plants- he knows all names both common and scientific. He has mastered how to care and maintain plants. Michael taught me how to prolong the life of cut plants in my house like a vase of flowers. The simple procedure  of adding a dash of sprite soda or an aspirin into the water will keep flowers alive longer. Chemicals in the 2 additives keep the flowers healthy. Michael remembered investigating this folk remedy at school, “sometimes people even add a small amount of bleach in the water for the same effect. There are many little tricks to maintaining cut flowers, scientifically I’m not sure which have been proved but I know what works for me and my clients.”

Alan Dundes claimed Americans have always been a society to further advance science and this remedy falls in line with that claim. People tend to invent and experiment with improving their surroundings and this is a popular remedy for quick dying flowers. Michael explained that “he always adds a splash of sprite” when he has some in the refrigerator. He explained his remedy to me as he prepared some flowers for his house, pouring about 1.5ounces of sprite into the vase before he added his freshly cut flowers.

Legend – Beverly Hills, California

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beverly Hills, CA
Performance Date: February 25, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“The Witch’s House”

I grew up in Beverly Hills and it has been a tradition to visit “The Witch’s House” on Walden Drive. The house was built for the movies originally and was then transformed into a private residence. The house is a landmark, it’s a Beverly Hills destination, the only one not consumer driven unlike Rodeo Drive and others. The house itself looks like a stereotypical witch house straight out of a fairy tale. The house has a magical aura. I first learned about the house when my mom and I drove by it when I was a toddler and she explained that it was a magic house with fairies as residents. As a toddler it seemed perfectly logical that fairies would live in a house that looked like that, with this wave-like undulating sides, pointy roof, and moot. As I got older though and learned the reality about the house it still remained somewhat legendary to me and still does (along with all my friends who underwent the same sort of transformation).

My mom remembers that “The Witch’s House was put on the market about 10 years ago and the hired real-estate agent bought it.” The agent bought the house in order to preserve the house so that no one would tear it down- it’s a historic piece of the city. The Witch’s House is a legend of Beverly Hills and all the residents know the house and its story. It is still around and talked about because generations of residents feel a connection to it.

Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: Landscape Architect
Residence: Northridge, CA
Performance Date: April 3, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”

“Since I was a little kid I’ve always heard the saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away… I’m sure my mother or father told it to me at some point. I don’t use the proverb much myself anymore since my kids are older now but I used to and I think the message of eating healthy is valid and important.” The rhyme would be used to convince children to eat their fruits and vegetables by scaring them with a doctor’s visit. The proverbial message is a sort of legend because children do believe it to be true but the rhyme itself is also legendary because it is so well known and used.

Because the proverb rhymes, there is an indication that the main audience for it would be children. Its short, easy to remember and rhyming. In a way, this proverbial scare tactic is folk medicine as well because it is a practical and daily exercise of doing something good for your body to prevent illness. The proverb could say “Eat Vitamins and avoid illness” but that doesn’t even compare to the power of “an apple a day keeps the doctor away!”

Proverbs that teach a lesson or impart wisdom are sustainable because they tend to be passed down because a valuable lesson can be taught very simply and accessibly. Parents can share this proverb with their  children without having to go into detail about vitamins and sugar content because for children this proverb explains it in a straightforward and undemanding way.