Author Archives: Hazel Gao

Hair Of the Dog

Background:

Informant is an Australian student who has lived in Australia for most of her life.

“I’d drink a beer the morning after. Y’know—hair of the dog, when you drink to cure a hangover?’

Context:

Informant and I were discussing the option of beer as a beverage at a restaurant. She mentioned she would want to order one sometime in the future.

Analysis:

“Hair of the dog” is a colloquial expression that is a folk remedy. As a colloquialism, it is completely separate from alcohol and drinking, therefore creating an in and out group of drinkers and non-drinkers who may not understand the usage of this phrase and thus potentially lessening any shame or judgment that may be given if admitting to drinking alcohol. As a folk remedy, this uses the logic of homeopathic magic—a desired result, which is relieving the side effects of consuming alcohol, is achieved through mimicking it, drinking alcohol. The actual proof of this belief may or may not exist, but since such a remedy is popular enough as alcohol is widely-consumed globally (and as hangovers don’t necessarily have actual cures), the belief in this remedy is able to continue.

Knocking on Wood and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

Background:

Informant (L) is studying at UC Berkeley and has lived in the US his whole life.

L: Well, I’m a big believer in knocking on wood.

I: Is there a reason you have a whole knocking on wood belief?

L: Yeah, because like, let’s say hypothetically, it’s not real. But if there’s a chance it’s real, wouldn’t you rather absolve yourself from spiritual anguish? It’s the same as like being agnostic, and your whatever beliefs on religion, it’s like if there’s a chance it’s real, you might as well. So like are you familiar with Einstein’s theory of relativity? When you like you say something, you kinda put it out to the universe, so if you put it out into the universe, “Oh, well I hope I don’t get into a car crash” then it’s out in the universe, so like you influence yourself subliminally to get into a car crash and you can undo that by knocking on wood three times. Or if there’s no wood available, you can do it on your head.

I: On your head?

L: Yeah, ‘cus it’s your head, your noggin. It’s like made out of wood, it’s funny.

Context:

I asked my informant about any beliefs or superstitions he had over a phone call. This was the first one he gave, so I asked for further elaboration. 

Analysis:

Knocking on wood is perhaps one of the most common pieces of Western folklore in modern times. I found my informant’s sincere belief (which was further confirmed by his partner) in such a custom interesting, as my previous experiences with this piece of folklore have mostly been done in a joking manner. My informant rationalizes this Law of Contact with a scientific theory as support, which demonstrates the effect of empirical evidence on a belief in a custom. He argues that the physical act of touching something (either wood or one’s head) can undo an action, which is also an example of a conversion superstition. Knocking on wood undos the subliminal influence of what’s been put “out in the universe”, as my informant notes. The immense popularity of knocking on wood is a main factor as to why it still persists to this day, and because of how easy it is to do, people may do it as an extra safety precaution.

C-47

Background:

The informant is a sophomore studying Film Production at USC.

Main Piece:

“Yeah, we usually call things by like, their names, but I guess it’s not technically their names either… like how those fresnels are ‘tweenies’ or ‘baby baby’ or something. Oh, you know what’s the stupidest one? C-47s. Like, I just want to know who came up with that one, it’s so dumb.”

Context:

I asked my informant about any specific terms they’ve heard on film sets. The “C-47s” that the informant mentions is jargon for clothespins on film sets. Fresnels are a specific type of light.

Analysis:

This is an example of occupational folklore. To an outsider, using these terms may be confusing, but within film sets, this jargon is generally standard knowledge, though there are variations depending on regions. In usage, one would generally hear jargon in a conversational setting (eg. “Can you hand me a C-47?” “Can you set up a tweenie?”) There are a variety of stories and reasons why the word “C-47” is used for clothespins, probably the biggest one is that it’s much shorter and more informal to use. Personally, I think the word itself is a bit pretentious (and the informant also mentions that), but people will generally still throw around the term because it’s more in use.

Berkeley Seal

Background:

Informant studies at USC and has a boyfriend who attends UC Berkeley.

Main Piece:

“So basically there’s seals on the floor there, and you’re not supposed to step on it until you graduate, ‘cus if you do step on it it’s like bad luck or whatever, um, so when he was talking about it I was like ‘man, fuck that’ and I stepped on it and he [the boyfriend] was like ‘no!’ and I was like ‘bro I don’t even go here’ like this shit doesn’t even apply to me.”

Context:

My informant and I were discussing school customs, as we didn’t really know any that pertained to USC. They brought up something they heard at Berkeley.

Analysis:

This is a classic example of a college superstition using sympathetic magic, specifically the Law of Contact, that fails the student if they step on the seal (which is an important symbol to the university). There are probably countless stories of people who stepped on these seals and couldn’t graduate. While my informant specifically didn’t say anything about counteracting the bad luck (usually a method of conversion exists so it’s not completely doomed for the student), such superstitions surrounding graduation are commonly found across many colleges with many different variations. Interestingly, my informant raises a question of who this Law of Contact is able to be applied to—they are a student at USC who came into contact with a Berkeley custom, so they believe the “curse” wouldn’t be applied to them.

For more more information on this superstition, see Chen, Kaylie. “Traditions at Berkeley.” UC Berkeley, 12 April 2021. https://life.berkeley.edu/traditions-superstitions/