Author Archives: Seth Ferraro

Religious Riddles

Main text:
Religious riddles

Background on informant:
My grandmother is a deeply devout Christian whose faith is woven into her everyday life. Much of the folklore she shares is rooted in her faith, whether it’s Christian riddles or her love for worship music.

Informant: Ohh, I have a good one for you.

Interviewer: Ok, let me have it.

Informant: What is more powerful than God, more evil than the devil, all poor people have it, and if rich

people ate it, they would die?

Interviewer: I don’t know, what is more powerful than God?

Informant: NOTHING!

Interviewer: Ok..

Informant: Nothing….

Interviewer: Ohhhh I get it. Dang that’s a good one.

Informant: My congregation liked that one too.

Analysis: This riddle does more than just make you think, it’s a way for my grandma’s faith community to reinforce their belief in their community values centralized around God’s power. In class, we talked about how folklore keeps group values alive, this is something fun that also reminds everyone that nothing tops God. So, through a simple riddle, they’re passing down what they believe, in a clever and engaging way that wont be forgotten.

Ancestral Lucky Bracelet Norse

Main Text:
Material Folklore: Lucky Charm Bracelet

Background on Informant:
My informant is a 40-year-old student from California. I know him from discord and we play video games together. He told me about his lucky family bracelet that his Norwegian grandmother gave him.

Interviewer: What is the object, and what does it look like?

Informant: It’s a bracelet made of round stones on a strip of leather.

Interviewer: Where did you get it?

Informant: It was a gift from my grandmother, passed down from her grandfather.

Interviewer: Who told you it was lucky?

Informant: My grandmother told me it has been passed down for generations, and when I wear it, I have all my ancestors looking out for me.

Interviewer: What ethnicity are you?

Informant: Norwegian

Interviewer:  So like Viking Norse tradition?

Informant:  Yeah, I guess but I don’t like worship Odin or anything.

Interviewer: When did you start believing it brought you luck?

Informant: When I started wearing it. I don’t know if it’s because I became more aware of my luck, or if it actually works.

Interviewer: Why do you think it brings luck?

Informant: I’ve noticed little things out of the ordinary happening consistently, and they usually benefit me.

Interviewer: Do you use it in specific situations?

Informant: No, I wear it every day.

Interviewer: What if it breaks it must be so old?

Informant: It has broken in the past the stones are the significant part, My Grandma said if it ever breaks to collect the stones and put them on a new strip of leather.

Interviewer: Do you feel different when you don’t have it?

Informant: Yeah, I feel kind of naked and vulnerable. I’ve gotten so used to having it I can’t even remember the last time I wasn’t wearing it.

Analysis:
This is an example of material folklore because it’s a physical object that has some meaning and is believed to bring luck and protection. The bracelet isn’t just something he wears, it represents a connection to his family and ancestors tied to Norse traditions. This ties into sympathetic magic, where an item can change outcomes based on its special properties it represents. The bracelet and belief were passed down through vertical transmission, since it was his grandmother who gave it to him. The fact that he says he feels naked or vulnerable without it shows how it functions as a source of comfort and protection.

That’s What She Said

Background on Informant:

My informant is a friend I went to high school with, who would be considered a millennial. He is in his mid-thirties, works as a longshoreman, and spends a lot of his free time playing video games. He is also a fan of The Office. Since high school, he has regularly used a phrase that can turn an ordinary sentence into a sexual one, commonly known as “that’s what she said.”

Text:

Interviewer: Alright,  so you have been saying that’s what she said since high school. Where did you hear it first, and what does it mean?

Informant: *laughs* It’s just when someone says something normal and you turn it into something sexual, like if someone says this is really hard, you just go, that’s what she said.

Interviewer: Where did you hear it first?

Informant: The Office….. or school, but I know that the Office definitely made it stick.

Interviewer: So you heard it a lot in school too?

Informant: Oh yeah in the early 2000’s everyone was saying it.

Interviewer: Do you still use it a lot?

Informant: Yeah, its almost like an addiction now, if I hear anything even remotely sexual, its like a compulsion at this point.

Interviewer: Do you still hear other people say it?

Informant: Yeah, but not nearly as much, now when someone else says it, I get excited, *chuckles* like we are long lost family or something.

Interviewer: So when someone else knows your phrase or joke you get excited?

Informant: Yeah, its like we are on the same team or something.

Analysis:

This joke or phrase is verbal folklore that relies on shared cultural knowledge. The Main group for this phrase is millennials, as it became widely popular through the hit television show The Office, although that is not its origin. The show made it more popular and then it was repeated and shared through peer-to-peer or horizontal transmission. He describes the phrase as a compulsion, like an itch he must scratch, this demonstrates how repeated use of folkloric terms can embed themselves into regular speech. The joke relies on timing and capitalizing on the opportunity to turn a simple sentence into a sexual one. He mentioned that when he hears someone else say it, he gets excited, which shows how the phrase causes a sense of connection or cohesion within the folkloric group. Although it isn’t used as much, it still holds meaning within the groups that still use it. This is a really great example of how something that started mass marketed ended up working its way into a small niche group of people who now use it.

New Years Kiss

Main Text:
New Year’s Kiss

Background on Informant:
My informant is my younger brother, who graduated from UC Davis. While in college, he was part of a fraternity and regularly attended social gatherings and parties. I asked him about any traditions he could think of, and he brought up the New Year’s kiss at midnight. He explained that it is something he first experienced and learned about during his time at UC Davis but he truly believed in it.

Text:

Interviewer: Do you have any traditions you follow on New Year’s Eve?

informant: Yeah, the New Year’s kiss at midnight.

Interviewer: What is that exactly?

informant: When the clock hits midnight, you’re supposed to kiss someone.

Interviewer: Where did you learn that?

informant: The first time I really learned about it was at Davis. Everyone was talking about who’s going to be your New Year’s kiss, and I was like, “what?” Then my friend told me you got to kiss a girl at midnight to start the new year right or you’ll have bad luck with girls next year, like a serious dry spell.

Interviewer: Did you get a kiss that night?

informant: Of course, and let me tell you my freshmen year was outstanding! After that I always made sure to set up my new years kiss.

Interviewer: have you ever not had a new years kiss?

informant: yes, sometimes it just doesn’t work out, and those years I definitely notice a difference.

Interviewer: I wonder how much of that is maybe manifestation from belief?

informant: Hmm, that’s a fair point. I don’t know but I notice a difference for sure.

Analysis:

This is customary folklore due to a certain behavior that seems to repeat during a specific event, New Year’s Eve. It is believed to bring good luck, especially in relationships, which shows symbolic thinking. The tradition is learned through horizontal transmission, since the informant picked it up from friends in a college. He believes in it because of the experiences he has had, such as the difference he noticed in years when he wasn’t able to follow it. It also functions as a way of stimulating social interaction and increasing the bonding between individuals on New Years through shared beliefs.