Author Archives: Tayler Somerville

Ren Shan Ren Hai

AW is a 19 year old college student. She is an undergraduate computer science major and is from Los Angeles County. She is Chinese American and has lived in LA all of her life.

Context: AW is a good friend of mine, so we sat down after dinner to discuss folklore she picked up across her life.

Transcript:

AW: There is one saying that my parents say all the time. It goes:

人山人海

Translation: Ren Shan Ren Hai

English Translation: People mountain people see

Literal Translation: There are so many people here.

AW: The words don’t make sense but when you say it it just means, “woah there is a crap ton of people here”. It can vary from place to place though, like how in the US there are phrases for heavy rain and such.

Collector: Is that a phrase you use personally?

AW: Only when I’m speaking Mandarin and am with my parents and family friends.

Thoughts/Analysis: This idiom is a form of folk speech that Chinese people use to reference large crowds. It is similar to “long time no see”. It shows how folklore is directly linked to language in which the structure is similar. It also shows how language is used to connect folklore in different countries like how language is used to link India and Europe. I typically do not notice how people in America use expressions with the same structure and did not realize it was a universal thing because language changes sentence structure. I have found however that it is universal that many expressions use the natural environment as an idiom or use an idiom to express the natural environment (like rain).

For other variations of Chinese Idioms regarding mountains or seas, see:

Rapatan, N. (2013, May 14). Yu gong yi shan idiom. USC Digital Folklore Archives. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from http://uscfolklorearc.wpenginepowered.com/yu-gong-yi-shan-idiom/

Pink Trojan Check Superstition

GM is a 19 year old college student from Miami. She studies communications and is a freshman.

Context: Trojan Check is a symptom check questionnaire that all guests and students who wish to enter the USC campus and dining halls had to complete and pass during the COVID pandemic between January 2021 and April 2022. It was a part of USC’s efforts to manage COVID at the university and help students gradual return to campus.

Transcript:

Collector: Tell me your thoughts about Trojan Check and its colors.

GM: Trojan Check has different colors every day. For example some days are red, purple, yellow, which no one liked, green, blue, and pink. The pink Trojan Check was pretty and my roommates and I realized that whenever the Trojan Check was pink, it would turn out to be a good day. So from then on we used it as a good luck charm. We went on to ask other students about it and they agreed that pink Trojan Check days were the best.

Collector: Did you do anything special on pink Trojan Check days?

GM: Honestly, no. We just had a little extra pep in our step. Even if a pink Trojan Check doesn’t actually make it a great day, I feel like our attitudes towards that day are better if that makes sense? Like as college students things are hard, especially during COVID. So the pink Trojan Check days make them a little better. I think we and everyone we’ve talked to about it are just looking for a little hope.

Analysis: College students and many other folk groups look for signs of good luck among the stress they have from school and the COVID crisis and while some find coins, angel numbers, and certain animals as good luck, many USC Trojans consider a pink trojan check (something that represents a solution to a crisis) day a good one. I think it’s really special that USC students are turning something that is a result of a crisis situation a symbol of faith. Deep down it reflects resilience on their part as a folk group.

Puerto Rican Fish Pun

GM is a college student studying communications. She is Puerto Rican and grew up in Miami. Both of her parents lived in Puerto Rico before moving to the United States and passed on Puerto Rican culture to her and her siblings.

Context: This joke was told over the dining room table while eating lunch. GM said when she was younger her grandmother told her this joke.

Transcript:

GM: This is one my family tells also:

Fish 1: ¿Qué hace tu papá para el trabajo?

Fish 2: Nada

GM: So “nada” in Spanish means nothing but it also means swim. I’m not sure if other Islands or Latin countries use “nada” for swim because it depends, but in Puerto Rico you can honestly just tell by the context of the sentence or conversation. That’s what makes it so funny; The second fish’s answer could go either way.

Thoughts/Analysis: This pun uses double meaning in words and is largely a children’s joke. Different Latin cultures use different words for things, and seeing as jokes are a significant part of cultural life and this is one example of its significance in Puerto Rican life. It is similar to English/American puns, in which homonyms are used.

Puerto Rican Sock Pun

Context: This joke was told over the dining room table while eating lunch. The informants family tells this one.

Transcript:

GM: There are so many Puerto Rican jokes.

Collector: Tell me one.

GM: There was one we [her and her family] were saying on FaceTime the other day. My grandma tells this one.

GM:
There is this Puerto Rican guy who goes into a store, and he is trying to talk to his lady and get some clothes. He doesn’t speak english. so he’s like
¿Tienes cosas que pones debajo de los zapatos?
Lady: “Huh?”
So they keep going back and forth and then the lady is like “socks?”
Hombre: “ah, eso si ques!”
Lady: “God damn it! if you could spell it this whole time, why didn’t you do it the first time?”

Translation:

There is this Puerto Rican guy who goes into a store, and he is trying to talk to his lady and get some clothes. He doesn’t speak english. so he’s like
Do you have those things you put under your shoes?
Lady: “Huh?”
So they keep going back and forth and then the lady is like, “socks?”
Hombre: “Oh yes those!”
Lady: “God damn it! if you could spell it this whole time, why didn’t you do it the first time?”

GM: I love this joke but it only works in Spanish, because “eso si ques” sounds a lot like s-o-c-k-s. I love being bilingual because I am included in this type of joke.

Thoughts/analysis: This joke is one of many that blends two languages to make a fun pun. When GM recited the joke I genuinely thought it was funny because I can understand both English and Spanish. If someone who did not understand any Spanish was told this joke, they likely would not understand it because “s-o-c-k-s” would have been the first thing they heard. Seeing as joking is a huge part of cultural life, this joke and other Spanglish puns show how linguisticly diverse a culture is.

Kai Society Burnings

TG is a 25 year old graduate student and cultural forensic anthropologist. She grew up in Maryland and currently resides in Tennessee. She was an active member at her university.

Context: Kai Society is a secret university society at Longwood University where they encourage university involvement and service. However, it is very exclusive and secretive; no one knows who is in Kai. TG was not a part of this organization and as far as she knows does not know anyone in it either.

Transcript (discussed over the phone):

Collector: What is the connection between the Burnings and senior students?

TG: To start off, the organization started around 1900 and recognize students and faculty that do great things at the university. Kai has burnings where they make a fire and stand around it wearing robes that conceal their identity. At the end of each spring semester, all of the senior members of the Kai have the option to reveal themselves and this is the only time you can do it. You either wait 4 years to reveal yourself or you never do. The society’s purpose and its cult-like characteristics does not make much sense but they are an inherently good group.

Thoughts/Analysis: What makes Kai different from other service and recognition groups outside of its cult-like approach is that they do not want to be identified. This is unlike typical organizations who even have social media accounts to promote themselves and make them seem more open. However, the way that there is a rite of passage ritual for the seniors that is not public is interesting. Senior pranks are public and light-hearted and the Kai burnings are serious and mysterious.