Author Archives: ronniyoon

If you eat raw meat, hair will grow on your chest. – Superstition

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Downey, California
Performance Date: December 2006
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“If you eat raw meat, hair will grow on your chest.”

 

David first heard this urban legend from his grandmother who is originally from Mexico.  When he was seven, he was very impatient when it came to supper time that he would take a slab of meat before his grandmother was finished cooking it.  She warned him that if he ate raw meat, hair will grow on his chest like a werewolf.  After hearing that, he became afraid so he stopped picking at the uncooked meat.  Contrarily in high school, David had a friend who desired chest hair badly.  His friend had heard that urban legend, too, so he always ate raw meat as safely as possible.

I believe that this urban legend came about because devouring meat and chest hair are both signs of masculinity.  Hundreds of years ago, men were arduous game hunters.  Even now many of the restaurant ads that target men display huge platters of meat.  Hairiness is also a masculine quality, especially chest hair.  Many young teenage boys are zealous upon spotting their first chest hair because that would signify manliness.  Therefore I can see how some people may link eating raw meat to chest hair.

“Step on a crack, and break your mother’s back.”

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Downey, California
Performance Date: December 2006
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Step on a crack, and break your mother’s back.”

My informant first heard this rhyme while he was walking home with his friend Amy after school.  He was a seventh or eighth grader in middle school that was located in Downey, CA.  To pass the time away and to forget about the fatigue from walking in the blazing sun with their heavy backpacks, they began to play a game.  The game started when Amy noticed that David kept stepping on the cracks of the sidewalk.  She chanted, “Step on a crack, and break your mother’s back.”  They skipped over the lines all the way home.  If one of them would accidentally step on a line, the other would shrug and say, “Oh well.  Your mother just broke her back.”

I have heard this rhyme myself many times from elementary school to middle school.  There is another variation: “Step on a line and break your mother’s spine.”  It would be a fun game to play while walking home from school or when we played hopscotch, a game in which you would have to jump over boxes and not touch the lines, someone would always chant this rhyme.  I believe the rhyme stemmed from how “crack” and “back” rhymes and since the point of the game was to not step on the crack, kids would warn that in doing so you would break your mother’s back.  That would keep you within the rules of the game of not stepping on the crack.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Downey California
Performance Date: December 2006
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

 

My informant who is currently a first-year college student first heard this proverb in his elementary school in Downey, CA from his teacher in third grade.  There had been a problem with certain kids being targets for bullies in class.  The teacher decided to address this issue to the class.  She told everyone to remember that even though physical pain cannot be helped, you can always choose how to take words from others.  The only way words have power is when the person allows them to hurt him or her.

This proverb is not usually used on adults but mostly on children.  I do not think this proverb can apply to adults as well because the circumstances are different.  When children taunt, the taunting consists of silly rhymes, sticking out the tongue and such whereas when adults exchange harsh words with each other, those words are personal and have the ability to hit someone at a vulnerable spot.  Parents and teachers teach young children about not allowing words to hurt them because many children tend to pick on others not for any legitimate reasons of dislike but from mere prejudice.  I believe this proverb can apply very well to children but not to adults.

M A S H = Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House

Nationality: Mexican-American (2nd. Gen)
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Downey, California
Performance Date: January 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

M A S H = Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House

This is a grid for the children's game, MASH

 

My informant first learned how to play this fortune-telling game in her middle school in Downey, CA from one of her girlfriends during lunch time.  In MASH, on each side and corner of the square, you write a list up to four items you desire or absolutely hate.  For example, one side of the square can have four names of potential husbands.  On another side, there could be four names of the cars you may have in the future.  MASH is at the top of the square indicating if you will live in a mansion, apartment, shack, or a house.  The girl whose fortune is being told must close her eyes and at any time says, “Stop!” while the fortune teller would be drawing sticks.  When the fortune teller stops, she counts how many sticks she has drawn.  Then she counts from the “M” on the square around the square counting to however many sticks she had drawn.  Whenever her count ends, she crosses out whatever item she lands on, and continues with her count again until only one item from each category is left.  In the end, the girl will discover who she will marry, what kind of compartment she would reside in, what her job would be, how many kids she’ll have, what the color of her car will be, what her car will be, and where she will live.

I have also played this game several times as the fortune teller and as the person whose fortune is being told.  It can take up a lot of time when needed and is quite entertaining.  It is especially fun for girls because most girls typically like to daydream about who their husbands will be or where they will live in the next ten years and so on.  Favorable results can be exciting and unfavorable results can be funny.

Joke – What’s Black and White and Re(a)d All Over?

Nationality: Mexican-American (2nd. Gen)
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Downey, California
Performance Date: January 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Q: What’s black and white and red all over?

A: A newspaper.

My informant first heard this riddle in third grade during a show and tell in her elementary school in Downey, CA.  Some of her classmates that did not have anything to show could just tell a joke they knew.  One of her classmates gave this riddle, and no one had been able to figure it out in her class.  A newspaper is certainly black and white, and it is “read” all over.  The children persistently thought what object could be the colors black, white, and “red,” so they were stumped.

Riddles like these are handy for entertainment purposes.  I believe that people tell such riddles because they would like to engage a crowd big or small.  When told a riddle, people are naturally inclined to solve it, and if they give up, they are eager to know the answer.  Usually the answer is a very simple one whereas people trying to solve the riddle looked too deeply into it.  That is also very entertaining when the answer turns out to be something that was so obvious, but they never thought it would be that easy.

 

Annotation: This riddle was in the 1995 movie “Batman Forever” in which the villain, the Riddler, played by actor Jim Carey asks this riddle.