Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

ETA Superstition

Nationality: Burmese

Primary Language: Burmese

Other Language(s): English, Chinese

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Performance Date: 02/17/2024

A.N is 19 years old, and is currently a USC student who’s originally from Yangon, Myanmar. She is my current suite mate and has been a friend since middle school, since we are from the same hometown and school. I asked her if she has heard of or is familiar with any tabooistic vocabulary within our culture. 

“One superstition that I remember my mom saying is that we aren’t allowed to say the specific estimated time of arrival, or else we won’t get there on the time mentioned. I first heard that when I was a pre-teen and my family was on a road trip to Ngwe Saung. I asked my mom when we were arriving and she said that she wasn’t allowed to say. She did end up telling me that we can say a more vague description of the ETA, like “evening” but not something as specific as 5 p.m. I remember it clearly because as a kid, I believed it too. Eventually it became a superstition that I try to keep in mind whenever I am answering the same question if someone else were to ask me that.”

As a Burmese person, I can’t say I’ve heard of this tabooistic vocabulary or superstition but I don’t deny its possibility since we have a lot of other superstitions that are just as trivial and non-sensical. A.N states that she is not clear with what the reasoning behind this superstition is but I personally think that it might just be her mom not wanting to give an answer to her child who could start to complain or become impatient. On the other hand, it could be related to our culture of avoiding stating something important, in the chance we might ‘jinx’ ourself. It is our way of holding on to the hope that the outcome, in this situation the ETA, is something that we want it to be.

Snow Day Superstition

Text: “Did you have any snow day traditions or superstitions when you were growing up?”

“I remember when my brother and I were little, I’m not sure where we heard it from, but we believed that if you saw the first snowflake fall, and wished for a snow day, we would get one … I remember one year my brother and I were playing outside over the weekend when it started snowing. We wished for the snow day and it came. I remember we couldn’t wait to tell our parents about it, and that we totally believed it was because of us.”

Context: My informant is a friend of mine who grew up in Michigan. Growing up in a state that gets regular snow, he says snow day traditions were pretty popular, and that he had heard of and tried a bunch of different traditions, but this one was his favorite.

Analysis: My informant’s tradition is pretty different from most snow day superstitions, which mostly involve the person going out of their way to do something, such as wearing pajamas inside out and backwards or flushing ice down the toilet to cause a snow day. My informant’s tradition however is somewhat based on luck, in that if you have to be watching when the snow starts. I think this adds something special to the snow day traditions, in that because you can’t do it every time snow is predicted, if the snow day comes, it’s pretty convincing to a young kid that it was because of them.

Nosebleed Cure

Nationality: Indian, Chinese, American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s): N/A

Age: 19 yrs

Occupation: Student

Residence: Plano, Texas

Performance Date: 2/10/2024

Text:

“Oh yeah, well whenever I had a bloody nose in my house and my mom was around, she would tell me to pinch and squeeze my left pinky and then the blood would stop after a few minutes. She told me this when I was really young and I’ve been doing it since. I mean I’m pretty sure it works, like I feel like the blood kinda stops when I do it. My mom always said it was a sort of acupuncture technique that her mom taught her and so on. So I mean I still do it, it reminds me of childhood.”

Context:

My informant, TF, is a friend of mine from my freshman year at USC, from Plano, Texas who then moved in late childhood to LA. I remember one day in the first semester of freshman year, our friends and I were talking about our families’ backgrounds, a way to get closer to one another, and one of us mentioned the topic of family traditions. I remembered TF mentioning having a sort of folk medicine tradition in his life that he still does. He just simply talked about it but never went into full detail. But once I heard about this project, I thought it would have been perfect to question him further about this topic.

Analysis:

This is a family tradition TF says, but I did some research to see if it’s well known, and apparently, according to Harvard Health’s article: Stopping nosebleeds: a pinch will usually do the trick, this is a rather uncommon but still scientifically acceptable way to stop a nosebleed. According to the author and Dr., Mary Pickett, “Most nosebleeds occur when a blood vessel in the nose’s soft cartilage leaks. These are called anterior nosebleeds. Posterior nosebleeds come from blood vessels higher up in the nose. It makes sense to treat every nosebleed as if it is an anterior one, and to try to stop it at home. You will be right 94% of the time.” She then explains to pinch a finger, a thumb most likely, and hold until it goes away within a few minutes. I find this really interesting. I had no idea that pressure points in your fingers could stop nosebleeds. I also would love to know where TF’s mother’s mother learned this from, maybe it’s a generational thing for TF. I mean this article was published in 2013 and based on TF’s age at the time he says around which his mother told him about this, the article wouldn’t have been made yet. This passed down ‘nosebleed cure’ could be a traditional family technique for TF, maybe one of their family members was a doctor, or got lucky, or was told by another friend, peer, or even anyone with medical ties.

Food God

Nationality: Malaysian

Primary Language: Malay

Other Language(s): English

Age: 21

Residence: Los Angeles

Text

“You’re not supposed to shake your legs while eating because it means you’re not enjoying your food, and instead you’re finding some sort of entertainment by shaking your legs. This angers the food god, and the food god will stop providing you with food.”

Context

This informant was born and raised in Malaysia, and they recently moved to the United States for university. He grew up being told not to shake his legs when at the dinner table.

Analysis

In this informant’s culture, they rely on gods to bring them wealth, health, and happiness, so the informant and his family put effort into pleasing those with authoritative power – which are, in many cases, the gods. In this specific instance, this superstitious taboo is used to keep children from moving around superfluously while they’re eating their meals. Although in some cases the “food god” might actually refer to the “food god”, in many cases, the “food god” is the parents. While it this superstition is spiritual in nature, it also has a utilitarian purpose: the fear of the gods serves a way for parents to discipline their children.

Longevity Noodles

Nationality: Chinese/Russian

Primary Language: Chinese, English

Other Language(s): N/A

Age: 22

Residence: Los Angeles

Text

“For birthdays, we like to celebrate by eating Yee Mein noodles because it’s like wishing someone a long and happy life! Because, y’know, the noodles are long.”

Context

This informant is Chinese/Russian and moved to Los Angeles when she was young. She celebrates family birthdays by eating Yee Mein noodles.

Analysis

This custom is celebrated by the informant and her Chinese family members. Eating long noodles is like wishing someone a long and happy life. In this tradition, there exists a very visual connection between the material and the spiritual. The custom is superstitious in nature. Noodles – a common food in the informant’s culture – are made special when they are physically longer than typical noodles. The difference in the physical constitution of the noodles symbolizes something new, different, and good. By celebrating this tradition on beloved family birthdays and wishing the birthday man or woman good fortune, celebrators are brought closer to one another on a spiritual and cultural level.