Author Archives: Joseph Hyslop

“Cracking an Egg” – Childhood Game

Text Transcribed from Informant

“Crack an egg on your head (mimes motion of breaking an egg on partner’s head), let it drizzle down, down, let it drizzle down, down, let it drizzle down, down.”

Context

Just like the “giving one the shivers” game, my informant learned of this custom/game in his elementary school years. Generally a student will say the text above outloud, while using their fingers to act out the actions being described in the text. When asked for his interpretation, my informant replied that this motion and speech based game, and other games like it, are called “giving one the shivers,” even though this specific one he knew simply as “cracking an egg.” He often played this game as a child, either reciting the words to other students and pretending to crack an egg over their head, or having the game recited to him and motions done upon him.

My Analysis

While I never played this specific game myself, I remember partaking in similar games to this as a child. I think the goal of the “game” is to provide the game’s participant an ASMR-like sensation. I think this folk game also speaks to the near universality of ASMR sensations, as well as adolescent inclinations to trying and recreate a head tingling sensation that doesn’t quite have a term for it.

Spiders Crawling Up Your Spine

Text Transcribed from Informant

“Spiders crawling up your spine, spiders crawling down your spine, snakes slithering up your spine, snakes slithering down your spine, scorpions slithering up your spine, scorpions slithering down your spine – gotcha!” (person then pinches partner after reciting rhyme)

Context

Just like the “giving one the shivers” game, my informant learned of this custom/game in his elementary school years. Generally a student will say the text above outloud, while using their fingers to act out the actions being described in the text. When asked for his interpretation, my informant replied that this motion and speech based game, and other games like it, are called “giving one the shivers,” even though this specific one he knew simply as “spiders crawling up your spine.” He often played this game as a child, either reciting the words to other students and pretending to have nefarious creatures crawl up their backs, or having the game recited to him and motions done upon him.

My Analysis

While I never played this specific game myself, I remember partaking in similar games to this as a child. I think the game” is to provide the game’s participant an ASMR-like sensation. I think this folk game also speaks to the near universality of ASMR sensations, as well as adolescent inclinations to trying and recreate a head tingling sensation that doesn’t quite have a term for it.

“X Marks the Spot”

Text Transcribed from Informant

“X marks the spot (He draws an x on his partner’s back), a circle and a dot (he draws a circle on back of his partner and then pokes his finger where he drew the circle), up the river (he runs his fingers up his partner’s back), down the river (and then he runs his fingers down his partner’s back), cootie shot! (he then gently tickles his partner’s back) Cold breeze (he gently blows on his partner’s neck), Tight squeeze (he squeezes partner’s shoulders), egg….(he puts his fist on his partner’s head) Smashing…down your head (he pulls his hands down around his partner’s head)”

Context

Just like the “giving one the shivers” game, my informant learned of this custom/game in his elementary school years. Generally a student will say the text above outloud, while using their fingers to act out the actions being described in the text. When asked for his interpretation, my informant replied that this motion and speech based game, and other games like it, are called “giving one the shivers,” even though this specific one is titled “X Marks the Spot.” He often played this game as a child, either reciting the words to other students and pretending to have nefarious creatures crawl up their backs, or having the game recited to him and motions done upon him. However, when comparing this specific “shivers” game to the three others documented in the archive, my informant says he partook in this one “the least.”

My Analysis

Like the three other shiver games my informant told me off, I believe this game to be a sort of “proto-ASMR” type of experience. While I remember certain shivers games in my own childhood, this particular one was new to me. I find it surprising personally how many of these “shivers” game my informant was aware of, as I only remembered one or three from my own past. I found all of these “shivers” games to be particularly unique forms of folklore, and am genuinely curious about the future of them.

Irish Proverb

Text

“You cannot make a silk purse out of a cow’s ear”

Context

This proverb was told to my informant by his Irish mother when he was a child, in regards to a poor job he did after completing his chores. The proverb itself speaks to how low-quality material cannot present itself to be more than it is, and cannot mask its inferiorities. So when my informant did a poor job doing his chores, his mother reprimanded him using this proverb to express that a half-assed cleaning job won’t make the stove look like a brand new model. With my informant’s parents being Irish, they communicated to my informant that it was an Irish proverb that they had heard growing up as well. My informant spoke of it as being typical of the “even-headedness of the Irish” and their “hard work ethic.”

Analysis

I found this proverb to be quite interesting and humorous, and I agreed with my informant that to my knowledge it seemed very reminiscent of the Irish spirit. When looking for other examples of this proverb in use, I found that nearly everywhere else the word “cow” is actually replaced with “sow.” I found this rather funny, and wondered if it were my informant’s parents erroneously using the wrong word or my father hearing the proverb incorrectly. Either way though, the message of the proverb is quite clear and timeless.

Another reference to this proverb:

“Dictionary.com.” Www.dictionary.com, 2016, www.dictionary.com/browse/can-t-make-a-silk-purse-out-of-a-sow-s-ear#:~:text=Be%20unable%20to%20turn%20something,proverb%20in%20the%20mid%2D1500s.. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.

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Irish Joke

Text Transcribed from Informant

“Alright, there’s a mother and a daughter, and the daughter goes running to her mother going ‘Mom, mom, there’s some strange man at the door! And her mother goes ‘does he have a bill?’ and the daughter goes (informant chuckles) No, he’s just got a regular nose.”

Context

My informant claims that he heard this particular Irish joke from his grandmother when she was babysitting him as a young boy. My informant says that at the time he didn’t entirely understand it, because he didn’t realize that a duck’s nasal passages was referred to as a “bill.” However, his grandmother later told him the joke again when he was older, and he was able to understand it then. He says that this experience made him remember the joke, and that he sometimes tells it as small get-togethers with friends or at parties.

My Analysis

It’s somewhat strange to try and give an analysis to a simple joke – it sorts of feels like “over explaining” the joke and hence stripping the joke of its humor. But I found this to be rather funny. I thought my informant’s personal anecdote of hearing the joke for the first time and not knowing what a “bill” was almost funnier than the original text itself, but that’s most likely due to the personal connection I have with the informant. Overall though, it does remind me of other short Irish jokes I’ve heard told.