Author Archives: Reed Moreno

Holiday Tradition – China

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Singapore
Performance Date: April 22, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

In China on New Years, a person is meant to eat something sweet.

The informant, Dominique, reports that Chinese custom dictates that a person should begin the New Year by eating something sweet. Dominique says she learned this from her parents while living in Singapore. The custom is based on the belief that if a person eats something sweet to start the New Year, the rest of the year will be sweet as well. Dominique enjoys the practice and always follows it. She generally has a piece of hard candy as her sweet. She sees the practice as a way to greet the New Year and hope for the best in it. She says she will continue this practice with her own children one day.

Having a specific food to eat for a holiday is not uncommon. The sweet treat symbolizes good things to come in the year ahead. I think the practice is simply a way of welcoming the New Year. People in general seem to have a need to start fresh every so often and this practice is a manifestation of that need.

Ethnic Ritual – India

Nationality: Indian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 7, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

The informant, Manoj describes a ritual he and his family practice before driving in a car. Manoj says in each of the cars his family owns they place a figurine of the Hindu god Ganesh on the right side of the indentation formed where the speedometer is. He says that once the figure is placed their, it should never be moved. Upon entering the car, the driver must touch the figurine and then touch the heads of each person in the car. If the driver cannot reach a particular persons head, they must touch that person’s hands and then that person must touch their own head. The ritual is performed as a way to keep everyone traveling in the car safe.

Manoj learned the practice from his parents and claims that most Indian people observe it. He enjoys the ritual and believes that it does keep the people in his car safe. He explains that Ganesh is seen as the god who removes obstacles. Therefor it make sense that a person would pay homage to Ganesh before going on a journey, where one might encounter obstacles.

Rituals at the beginning of a journey are widespread across many cultures. The beginning of a journey is a stressful time, as a person knows they may well face dangers in the course of their journey. As such it makes sense that various cultures have developed rituals to bring good fortune to travelers. As a parallel some Catholics put a figure of St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, in their cars. In my opinion the touching of the figurine and then of everyone else is on one level a way to spread the safety the deity provides, but on another level is a way to connect to everyone in the car. By touching everyone else in the car, the driver is connecting with them, which is a way for the driver to feel the responsibility he or she has to the safety of the others in the car. I think the ritual is a way for the driver to be reminded of the duty they have to keep themselves and others safe in the car.

Folk Speech

Nationality: Latino
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2008
Primary Language: English

Folk Speech – Pot Smoking

There are many words that carry special meaning to pot smokers. Examples Include: bowl, pack, greens, and deathstar.

The informant DRH, reports that pot smokers have their own terminology as a social subgroup. He say that pot smokers use many terms, some of which are stoner created and some of which are borrowed from popular culture. According to DRH the term bowl is used to refer to the part of a smoking utensil where the marijuana is placed to be lit. When one put marijuana in the bowl that is referred to as packing the bowl. The first hit off of a freshly packed bowl is called greens. DRH says that the term greens is given because the bowl is still green when the person hits it. Greens is considered the best hit because it tastes the best. If a person gets greens and lights the bowl too much, that is to say more than is required to get a hit, they have deathstared the bowl. Deathstaring the bowl is looked down upon because it wastes weed and is considered a novice mistake.

DRH reports that he enjoys using pot smoker lingo. He says it makes him feel connected to a group identity. He says a person’s level of smoking experience is often judged on their knowledge and proper use of the lingo. He would use terms like these exclusively when smoking marijuana or talking to someone about smoking pot. He doesn’t know exactly where he learned the terms. He claims he just sort of picked them up through smoking with friends.

Much like any hobby group, pot smokers have their own terminology. They make use of their terminology while practicing or talking about their hobby. The lingo helps them to identify themselves as a group. The terms used by pot smokers is also a way for smokers to identify another person’s level of smoking experience. Since smoking pot is generally illegal, the terminology could also serve as a way to safeguard smokers from outsiders. The use of a lingo could also allow smoker to talk about smoking in front of non-smokers in a sly manner. The terminology collected hear can be found in man popular movies about smoking marijuana like “How High”, “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”, “Half Baked”, and in marijuana smoker publications like “High Times”.

Folk Speech

Nationality: Mexican, Norwegian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 2008
Primary Language: English

Folk Speech – Videogaming

Woot!

Woot is a word used in popular teenage culture as an expression of happiness or agreement much the way one would use Yay or Woohoo. The word was originally created by online gamers, but quickly found its way into the vocabulary of non-gamers online. People are now even saying it in everyday conversation. A non-gamer friend of mine began using the word in everyday conversation in August 2007 after picking it up on online message boards. Players of the game Doom first created the word woot. It is actually an acronym for “we own the other team”.  Woot was a way of quickly saying that your group was showing dominance in the game. Since it was only used as an expression of victory it became a way to express happiness like the word yay.

The formation of special words and acronyms is not uncommon among a subgroup of a society. In this case the word woot came out of using an acronym to reduce typing. Words such as these allow a group to assess a person’s knowledge of the group. Someone who is a member of a group like this will know the terminology common in the group. I think woot is an acceptable expression for online, but when people use it in everyday face-to-face speech it is annoying. The expression is very informal and kind of nerdy.  I think the jump of woot into popular speech shows the increased influence of the Internet on younger people. Many young people know and can use a plethora of online abbreviations and expressions such as lol, rofl, ttyl, l33t, and gtg. Woot has even become the name of a very well known online retailer. Woot.com is a retailer that sells only one product each day. Usually it is an electronic good, but regardless the product is always sold at a highly discounted price. This website was the first one deal per day type website. Woot.com has been profiled in magazines like Time, PC Magazine, and Motley Fool.

Tradition

Nationality: Indian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 7, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Tradition – Football

Captains: I smell pussy!

Team: What!?

Captains: I smell pussy!

Team: What!?

Everyone: It’s time to bust these hoes! It’s time to bust these hoes! It’s time to bust these hoes! It’s time to bust these hoes!

Captains: What time is it?

Team: Game time!

Captains: What time is it?

Team: Game time!

Captains: Where my dogs at?

Team then jumps up and down making barking noises and runs onto the field.

The informant, Manoj, reports this chant as the way his varsity football team would get pumped up before games. Manoj says the team would all gather in tight group in the end zone before performing it. The captains of the team would then initiate the chant. The pregame ritual chant was practically screamed by the team, so that they would get psyched up for the coming battle. Manoj learned the chant in his junior year of high school from older members of the team. He says the energy with which the team performed the chant could be carried over into the game. When the team really got into the chant, they always came out with a ferocious intensity. While jumping and barking at the end of the chant, the team members would bump into each other as a way of getting physically ready for the game. At the completion of the chant, manoj says the team would run onto the field through a paper banner held up by his school’s cheerleaders. Manoj is unsure of the exact origin of the chant, but says it has been a pregame ritual for many years at his school.

Pregame rituals are not uncommon and occur in many sports in many places all over the world. A chant like this psychologically readies the players to engage the other team. The chant obviously makes the team feel unified and probably is at least on some level intended to intimidate the opposing squad. The barking at the conclusion of the chant seems to be an attempt to get the players to connect with their ferocious, wild animal side. Professional as well as amateur teams have rituals very similar to this, which suggest to me that rituals like this make a team play better. I think sports in general are mock combat and chants like these help ready the chanters for their mock combat. A pre-game chant similar to this one being performed by a football team can be seen in the movies “Remember the Titans” and “Friday Night Lights”.