Author Archives: Katherine Cowdrey

A Goat Rope – A Southwestern Metaphor

Nationality: American
Age: 47
Occupation: RBC Branch Manager
Residence: Phoenix, Arizona
Performance Date: March 17, 2017
Primary Language: English

“That’s a goat rope”

Folk metaphors are comparisons made between two unlike things for effect, in this case a folk metaphor from my father who spends a lot of time on cattle ranches in rural Arizona. He has lived in Arizona all his life, and is an amateur cowboy.

Me: When you say something’s a goat rope what does that mean?

TC: It means that something not right, that it’s a mess or it’s too difficult to be bothered with. Something that you cannot change, but is something annoying to deal with. Something that is difficult and not easy and not quite right.

Me: When would you use it?

TC: When I saw something that wasn’t right or was a mess or a situation that is irritating. For example the parking lot at Costco today was a goat rope, because it was crowded and disorganized and people were driving stupid.

Me: Where did you learn it?

TC: I don’t know where I learned it from. I mean, have you ever tried to rope a goat? It’s hard and they are smelly and irritating. Therefore, a goat rope. Maybe I learned it on the ranch, I don’t know.

Analysis:

Folk similes are usually connected to tabooistic vocabulary, that is words we arrant supposed to talk about, however in this case it is most certainly not. It is almost an occupational or niche simile as it has to do with ranching. The average person has never had to rope a goat (referring to the practice of tying a goat’s legs together either for competition or transportation) and therefore would not understand the difficulty of roping one, and therefore the meaning of the simile would be lost on them. Therefore, it almost becomes an identity simile, those who have worked on ranches would understand its meaning,, but an outsider would not. The simile is applied to non-ranching circumstances like an irritating parking lot or a busy airport, this fact is interesting as it is the person using their ranching identity outside the ranch and most likely to a person who would understand.

 

“Snowbirds” flock to Arizona in the Spring

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Phoenix, Arizona
Performance Date: March 14, 2017
Primary Language: English

Living in Arizona in the spring, we are flocked with what are colloquially know by Arizonans as “snowbirds”. These are tourists from areas who have terrible winters that bleed into spring, so they escape their snow for a few months (march to may) and live in Phoenix. I was in the car with a friend on a visit home, she was driving behind a car driving particularly slow and she turned to me and complained about “snowbirds”.

Me: “Explain what a snowbird is, and why they are called that?”

KC: “Snowbirds are tourists that come to Arizona in our spring, their winter and just live here, they are usually older couples. They are called snowbirds because they like, migrate here in the winter for the warmer weather.”

Me: “Why do you complain about them?”

KC: “Because they are so annoying haha. They are the single worst drivers ever, driving behind this one now is an example, Minnesota plates, they just crawl along because they usually don’t know where they are going or don’t know the speed limit. The sad thing is, is Arizona is so easy to drive in, I mean we are on a grid system, so east to navigate. Also they just cram up the streets, I mean usually Phoenix is so spread out that you don’t see to many cars, but come this time a year the traffic is awful because all you see are the Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas or like Illinois plates mixed in around with the Arizona ones. It’s really just driving that it’s annoying, I mean old town gets crowded, but it’s not bad, and they only go to the tourist place in the day, which are like far out of town anyway.”

Me: “Where did you learn this term from”

KC:”Hmm. I don’t know really, just heard it around growing up, probably my parents complaining about their driving too or something.”

Analysis:

This term is one local to the Arizona or perhaps even the southwest region of the United States, one used only by the locals to describe the tourists. This term is one where the locals perform their identity with one another by creating the “other” of the snowbirds. It brings the people together under a common annoyance of these tourists and those who know and understand the term in this context would be deemed as part of the group. It is creating the locals as a group, as ones who know how to drive properly in their home and instantly can recognize when someone is not simply because of their driving.

Southwestern Simile

Nationality: American
Age: 47
Occupation: RBC Branch Manager
Residence: Phoenix, Arizona
Performance Date: April 15, 2017
Primary Language: English

“It’s hotter than a snack’s ass in a wagon rut.”

I first heard this simile at a gathering of cattle ranchers in my home town of Phoenix, Arizona when I was quite young. I didn’t understand at the time and it had to be explained. I asked my father to explain what it meant again, and when he would use it.

Me: “Explain what this means, it’s quite a weird saying.”

TC:  “When it rains in the desert, the wagons or cars make ruts in a dirt road, and in a desert those ruts dry and crack and the bottom of those ruts gets really hot, hotter than the road and snakes like to sleep in them because they like hot surfaces and their belly’s are their ass and that is what lays in the wagon rut so, it’s hotter than a snake’s ass in a wagon rut.”

Me: “When would you use it?”

TC: “I would use it when it is really, really hot outside. Not just an average hot day, like an August day in the desert at one hundred and fifteen degrees dry heat.”

Analysis:

Similes are used to compare two unlike things and therefore, this folk simile is comparing the underbelly of a snake in a wagon rut to the extreme heat of a desert. The informant being from a desert is important here as truly only desert dwellers would understand or speak about the extreme heat to one another, therefore this becomes performing one’s identity of being from or living in a desert. Additionally not everywhere has snakes so again, part of the desert dweller identity of speaking of desert occurrences. It is a clever and fun way to speak about the horribly uncomfortable heat and create community by expressing disdain for the heat in a group. Additionally, this phrase was heard among cattle ranchers and other outdoorsmen and therefore again could have stemmed from people spending time out in the desert and then passed on to people in the city.

Annotation: This simile can be heard in the film Good Morning Vietnam, by Robin William’s character Adrain Cronauer when giving a weather report for his radio show.

A Baseball Pre-Season Tradition – Burying a Fish

Nationality: American
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Residence: Phoenix, Arizona
Performance Date: April 15, 2017
Primary Language: English

My informant is currently on his high school baseball team and I remember him telling me about this strange legend that morphed into a tradition for every season thereafter, here is what he said.

“Once year, these few guys on our baseball team, like one night they were really drunk and had gone fishing at the lake near school, and had caught a fight. They thought it would be funny if they buried under the visitor’s bullpen and it would smell or something. Then they snuck into the Camelback Inn Hotel for fun and because they were drunk, and hung out in the hot tub. The season before had been a loosing season, and yet somehow that season we nearly got to state and they all thought it was the fish. So every then out, as a team we catch or buy a fish, bury under the visitor’s bullpen and then sneak in to the hotel and hang out in the hot tub. It’s for good luck, we call it team bonding, they told me we have always just done it. And every year there are new, funny things for the new player to do. Everyone does it, one scoop of dirt at a time per person, a team effort, no special attention.”

Analysis:

Sports, especially baseball have quite a lot of superstitions, legends and taboos because of the uncertainty of the game. A lot of the game and the season is out of complete control so these superstitions and traditions have a lot to do of putting control back into the player’s hands. In this case, the control is of the whole season. They continue this tradition in the interest of having a good season and if they do not do this strange tradition, they will not have a good season. It is not merely good luck, but defining the whole season based on this occurrence. Baseball players are truly creatures of habit who don’t stray from routines, traditions or habits unless they are in a slump then, they will venture a change, but in this case it is a long-standing tradition. This not only bonds the team together, but it is also performing identity as part of a team. Only the varsity team at this school performs this and thus only they would get to know and appreciate this experience.

Pre-Game Water Polo ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/15/2017
Primary Language: English

My informant is my roommate and she was a high school and college athlete and has had many years of sports-related rituals. She was recounting to me a high school experience.

Me: “So, being a college athlete, you are pretty intense, do you have any rituals or superstitions before a game?”
CB: “Before a water polo game we would all huddled together and the shower inside of the locker room we all hold hands and say the Lords prayer, then the captains would give a small little speech about what we are looking to do in the upcoming game after the speech we would put our arms around each other shoulders and we would do this cheer three times, louder each time that  would go “oh I feel so good, like I knew I would do, I feel so good a little bit louder now.”
Then after we would do the cheer three times we were basically screaming like all the parents could hear us outside the locker room then we would say SFA just go fight win on three and then we would all run out of the locker room super pumped for the game.

Sports has an incredible about of rituals, especially in team sports, because there is a lot of the game which is out of the player’s immediate control and which they desire to take back control through ritual. Pre-game rituals like this are designed to bring good-luck to the team and to promote confidence for the game as pre-games are rife with anxiety and fear of the unknown outcome of the game. In this case, the ritual was for an entire team, creating good luck through ritual. Additionally, the team prayed the Our Father before, this is a common occurrence in many sports pre-game. This may be a case of putting the game’s outcome in heavenly hands or asking for God’s help in the upcoming game. This can be attributed to again the uncertainty of a sports game, and many occurrences may seem like divine intervention. This ritual’s purpose is to boost confidence, unite the team and to dissipate any uneasiness about the upcoming game.

Sports rituals such as these are learned through participation on a team, outsiders usually don’t participate in them, therefore it is restrictive to a particular team. Knowing such rituals and their purpose is a part of their identity as athletes, performing them solidifies their team identity and loyalty.