Within computer science there are a few phrases that are considered taboo. For example, “this class is easy”, “how bad can the midterm really be”, “Oh my god it works, it really works”, or “it’s all downhill from here”. These taboo phrases probably extend to most majors and life in general. I collected these phrases from a computer science major so the motivation behind the phrases is specific to this major. My friend from whom I collected the phrases informed me that when these phrases are spoken they cast some sort of spell that makes the worst possible thing happen. She told me a story about the time she questioned the difficulty of a midterm. She said, “So I had to take this midterm the next day. I had been studying for a while and felt pretty confident with the material. I was talking to a friend in the class and we were discussing how to study for the midterm and what we needed to study. We both felt rather confident about the material. My friend then uttered the unspeakable phrase, ‘I mean how bad could the midterm really be since we have studied for it.” I immediately responded with ‘Dear god don’t say that. You will make the midterm worse.’ While I know that saying this phrase doesn’t actually change how the professor creates the midterm. But it always seems to make the midterm feel worse when the phrase is uttered just beforehand. My friend did end up doing worse on the midterm than I did. Which just adds credibility to the superstition.” I know that I have often misjudged the difficulty of a midterm. I think that the “truth” behind this taboo phrase is that once uttered the motivation and quality of studying goes down. Once I feel confident about a test I don’t study as hard for it. Over studying is always better than not studying enough. In order to keep the motivation to study for a tough exam one should not utter this phrase or gain too much confidence before the exam.

My friend is a computer science major. As part of the computer science community she collects and forwards a myriad of folklore specific to this unique group. Computer science folklore is unique and reflects the beliefs and the culture of the group. Per my informant, as well as personal experience, computer science majors have a unique sense of humor that develops from the difficult coursework, the long hours spent on the computer coding, and the group dynamic required to get through the major. This humor is often expressed through memes and jokes only members of this group can understand and appreciate.

While hanging out with a few of my friends, procrastinating on homework, one of my friends, Sara, needed to sneeze. She had one of those sneezes that don’t happen right away. My other friend Henry told her, “Look into the sun, well not directly ya know like look into the light it will help you sneeze. Yupp yeah like that.” Then Sara was able to sneeze. Both Sara and I thought the trick was really weird. I have heard that you are supposed to say “watermelon”, wave your hand in front of your face, or jump up and down in order to avoid sneezing. According to Henry, the “looking into the sun” trick is of Irish decent. He learned it from various family members over the years. After Sara sneezed we said “bless you” as everyone usually does. Sara added, “do you guys know why we say ‘bless you’ when people sneeze? It’s like a Christian thing that when you sneeze it’s like the devil is leaving your body and at this point your soul is vulnerable, so people say ‘bless you’ to protect your soul during this time.” My friend, Sara, is a computer science major with a game development emphasis. As part of the computer science community she collects and forwards a myriad of folklore specific to this unique group. Computer science folklore is unique and reflects the beliefs and the culture of the group. Per my informant, as well as personal experience, computer science majors have a unique sense of humor that develops from the difficult coursework, the long hours spent on the computer coding, and the group dynamic required to get through the major. This humor is often expressed through memes and jokes only members of this group can understand and appreciate. My friend, Henry, is also a computer science major. As part of the computer science community he collects and forwards a myriad of folklore specific to this unique group. Computer science folklore is unique and reflects the beliefs and the culture of the group. Per my informant, as well as personal experience, computer science majors have a unique sense of humor that develops from the difficult coursework, the long hours spent on the computer coding, and the group dynamic required to get through the major. This humor is often expressed through memes and jokes only members of this group can understand and appreciate. I found both of these interpretations on sneezing to be interesting. The first one helps you sneeze since the period of time right before a sneeze is rather uncomfortable. I was curious to see how well Henry’s trick of looking into light worked. I took it upon myself to experiment. I noticed that Henry’s trick doesn’t work all of the time. Nor do the other trick mentioned. However, I did notice that all of the tricks succeed in distracting you from the uncomfortable feeling right before sneezing. That might just be the real secret behind this folklore. Maybe the point is not to bring about or avoid a sneeze but rather to distract from the uncomfortable feeling right beforehand. While Sara’s piece of folklore attempts to explain why you sneeze. Here you can clearly see the difference between how people view this biological reaction.

While home for spring break, my sister took the test to obtain her driver’s license. My mom reminded her to pick up her parking pass when she goes back to school. I asked her if she knew where she was going to park. She told me “well I have to find a spot that isn’t already taken. Ya know because everyone who already has a parking pass has claimed their spot. I hope I can find one close to the front so that I don’t have to walk super far every day.” I found this to be an interesting conundrum. While the parking spaces aren’t officially assigned people usually park in the same one every day. That happened at my high school. A similar phenomenon occurs with seats in college lecture halls. Most of my friends including myself often get to class early the first few weeks to stake out our seats. Then we continue to sit in the same seats all semester. It’s really annoying when someone takes your unofficially assigned seat. My sister had this problem with the parking spot. I find it interesting that we as humans have a hard time functioning when we lose our favorite seat or parking spot. My sister says she would hate it if someone took her spot and tries not to take someone else’s spot. I have the same problem. It really ruins my day when someone takes my usual seat in class. I believe that many people like consistency. So when something interferes with our consistent behavior it makes us uncomfortable. I believe that doing something in a particular or familiar spot evokes a sense of familiarity, even if you aren’t where you normally are like if you are on vacation. When my family goes on vacation the bathroom always gets ‘set-up’ the same way. My parents take the left side of the sink for their personal items while my sister and I take the right side of the sink. These actions seek to bring back that sense of familiarity when we are in a new place or situation.

My sister is a political science and economics major. She plays water polo and is a member of many “fandoms”. A “fandom” is a group of people who follow, generally, a television show or a novel. Some of the fandoms that she belongs to follow shows such as Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service(NCIS). The group develops terminology that is only understood by other members of the group. For example, many fandoms “ship” certain characters. This means that the members of the fandom or just fans of the show want two characters to become a couple.

My sister always lifts her feet up in the car when we drive over a bridge and when we go through a tunnel she holds her breath. When I asked her why she did this she responded “so that we make it through safely. If I don’t then the bridge could break and we would fall in the water or the tunnel will collapse on top of us.” Her reasons are fairly common. Many natural disasters are reported on television and many action movies show bridges being destroyed and tunnels being crushed. Many people have a fear of driving over bridges or through tunnels.  I asked her where she learned this superstition from and she responded with “I think I just picked it up. Some of my friends do it when I ride with them. I think mom or grandma may have told me to do it at one point.” As soon as she said this I remembered my mom joking one time about holding my breath while going through a tunnel. My sister is a political science and economics major. She plays water polo and is a member of many “fandoms”. A “fandom” is a group of people who follow, generally, a television show or a novel. Some of the fandoms that she belongs to follow shows such as Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service(NCIS). The group develops terminology that is only understood by other members of the group. For example, many fandoms “ship” certain characters. This means that the members of the fandom or just fans of the show want two characters to become a couple.

Personally, I find driving superstitions to be rather pointless. I think that “lucky” or “good” driving is a matter of ability and how much one is paying attention. If someone chooses to cut you off or hits your car it happens. I have never personally experience a superstition “working” and as a result I don’t believe that they are particularly helpful. At the same time, I don’t mind if my sister wants to partake in the superstition if it makes her feel better.