Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

THOT

Nationality: USA
Age: 13
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 4/09/14
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

THOT

“Thirsty Hoes Out There. It means that they’re really thirsty and that they’re out there cheating on their boyfriends… I first heard this from a friend but I know that people started using THOT after a song came out.”

My informant is a 13 year old boy who is in his final year of middle school. He is of Mexican descent but has been born and lived for all of his life in the US. This then means that even though he still has strong ties to his heritage, his American nationality has been playing a big role to his upbringing as well.

When analyzing this phrase I found that it is actually very common among youngsters. Another thing that I found interesting is that it is most often used to describe females. Being thirsty refers to someone who has a very strong sexual appetite, so for this to be used towards other young females is very alarming. I researched where this phrase originated from and as my informant said, it seems to have come out of a rap song in which the rapper keeps repeating THOT. This then goes to show that music now a days plays a very big role in younger population’s everyday life. For more information, you can check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuB3S6_1omQ&feature=youtu.be

 

San Martin Caballero

Nationality: Mexico
Age: 41
Occupation: Business Owner
Residence: Irwindale, CA
Performance Date: 4/09/14
Primary Language: Spanish

San Martin Caballero

“San Martin Caballero es un Santo que se usa mucho para los que tienen un negocio. Se tiene que tener simepre una imagen de San Martin Caballero para que le de a uno buena suerte en los negosios. Tambien se usa mucho para alejar las envidias y que le hagan a uno alguna brujeria. San Martin Caballero tiene una frase que dice ‘lo que siembras, cosecharas’ que va perfectamente con un negosio propio porque es como aseguransa de que todo el esfuerso que hemos hecho nos traira Buena fortuna… yo tengo esta imagen en mi restaurant porque me dijeron que es Buena suerte y pues todo lo que traiga Buena suerte es bienvenido. Que alcabos, si un bien no me hace, un mal tampoco.”

“San Martin Caballero is a saint that is highly used among those who have a business. One has to always have an image of San Martin Caballero to bring good luck in the business. It is also used to get rid of jealousy and to prevent one from getting any kind of witchcraft. San Martin Caballero has a phrase that says ‘whatever you sow, you shall cultivate’ which goes perfectly with one’s personal business because it serves as insurance that all the efforts that we have made will bring us good fortune… I have this image in my restaurant because I was told that it was a good luck charm and well anything that can bring good luck is welcome. Either way, if it doesn’t do me any good, it can’t harm me either.”

This informant is a 41 year old male who has lived most of his life in the USA. He was born in Mexico and migrated to the US when he was 13. He however has no real educational experience because he never attended school. Most of his knowledge is passed down from his peers. He is now a successful business owner with 3 kids and a wife. His new concerns are teaching his children the cultural customs he grew up with so that they don’t lose touch with their Mexican heritage.

In my opinion, this story of having identities out there helping one in their daily life seems very interesting. The fact that one can rely on another invisible identity to help take some stress out of the ordinary life is incredible which is probably why people use saints as a way to ease some of the concerns they may have. In my opinion, everyone should start having identities they can relive some of their stress onto. Furthermore, something else I find interesting is that this informant was not able to tell me where exactly this belief in the saint came about so I can only infer that this was the case because it is fairly common for people to confide in this saint. Therefore, no one knows exactly where the belief in this saint in particular for businesses came about. Regardless, this story of the Saint is incredible even if one is not a believer.

The Blessing

Nationality: Mexico
Age: 62
Occupation: housewife
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 4/09/14
Primary Language: Spanish

The Blessing

“Darle a alguien la bendicion se usa con todo mundo. Es algo que se usa para despedirse de con alguien y ala ves desearles que todo les salga bien. Pues en si es como pidiendole a dios que llegen bien a cualquier lugar que esa persona tenga que ir… me recuerdo que esta bendicion no la daba mi mama mucho a mi y a todos mis hermanos. Pero mi mama no era la unica, todas las senoras en el rancho tambien les daban la bendicion a todo mundol. No es necesario que una mama le de la bendicion a un hijo, tambien se le puede dar la bendicion a cualquier persona.”

“Giving someone the blessing is used among everyone. It is something that is used to say goodbye to someone and at the same time hope everything goes well. In a way, it is as if one were begging God to let that person get to wherever they have to go and arrive there safely… I remember that my mother used to give her blessing to me and my other brothers often. But my mom was not the only one doing it. Every other woman in the ranch was out giving her children the blessing as well. It is not necessary for a mother to be the one who gives her children the blessing, anyone can give anyone else the blessing.”

The informant is a native Valparaiso, Zacatecas; in the country of Mexico. She was born in the year of 1952 and lived in Mexico until the age of 26 which was when she migrated to the United States of America. As a native Mexican, proverbs, myths and other sorts of folk tales she knows, all have been influenced by her Mexican culture. Furthermore, she learned most of her proverbs from the household setting, from family members, friends and others who she was in direct contact since according to her, she had no recognition of what a TV was; media did not influence her knowledge of folk tales, people who she had contact to were the ones to influence her knowledge of folk tales. She grew up hearing these proverbs and other folk tales constantly on a day to day basis from people all around her. Because of the constant exposure, the proverbs and other folk tales have now become a part of her daily life vocabulary.

I found this story to be interesting because I got the feeling that giving someone a blessing is something that has become like a normal thing in the informant’s society. In other words, giving someone the blessing is a way to interact with one another. It is also a form to hope that the person receiving the blessing stay well so I can only infer that blessings are only given to specific people for whom one cares for. Ultimately this is a really nice way to keep in touch with people because it lets one another know how fond that person is for the other.

Boulder Woman

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 50
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Residence: San Gabriel, CA
Performance Date: 4/28/2014
Primary Language: English

Boulder Woman

Interviewer: When did you first hear it?

Informant- I heard it when I was first there (Camp Ta Ta Pochon) in 1982, but it goes back for years, way before my time. When they would take the kids up on a hike, there is this abandoned cabin. All that is left is this stone chimney and its made out of boulders and it looks like a chair and they would say that Boulder Woman would sit in that chair at night. Sometimes she would come down to the cabin at night and throw little rocks at the cabin and scare the kids in there.

Interviewer: So was she like a real woman or made of boulders?

Informant: She was a real woman and they would they called her Boulder Woman because she lived in some place in the mountain and she would sit in that abandoned cabin that the only thing left is the chimney. They way it was designed is it looks like a chair and its still up there.

Interviewer explains the variations she has heard

Informant– It can either be boulder man or boulder women, you can pick, that’s the thing. Boulder Man or Boulder Woman would come down at night to the cabins and scare the kids or maybe haunt them somehow. . . Just throwing rocks from up above. Not on the “wilderness” side, on the “civilization side” with the A-frame[cabins].

 

Interviewer’s notes: The legend is interesting because the origin seems to be from within the camp itself, due to the unique and specific circumstances of the remnant chimney. The multiplicity and variation has been within only a small community of people which has made for only subtle changes from person to person. Perhaps the most notable variation is whether is indeed Boulder Man or Boulder Woman, an interesting twist, perhaps influenced by feminism, which can create gender polarization. As a passive participant, the informant can only relate motifs, though not a specific narrative or origin story, which in part allows for the gender fluidity.

Bloody Mary Bathroom

Nationality: Caucasian/Hispanic
Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Alhambra, CA
Performance Date: 4/28/2014
Primary Language: English

Bloody Mary Bathroom

Informant: So in my elementary school, in the old building, there is the little kid’s bathroom. So it was really old and gross and the windows are all scratched up and everyone would say, “that’s where Bloody Mary is and if you’re going to do Bloody Mary, you gotta do it in there, she hangs out in there”. So it’s all beat up, and on the last wall, there is a board. Just a board nailed to the wall, this big (hold out hands 1 ft by 1 ft apart). And it’s painted over, okay, just a board painted over, but they would always say, “ You know why there’s a board there? BECAUSE THERE’S A FINGER UNDER IT!” I don’t remember who told me, I assume its is one of the older girls.

interviewer: Who did you tell this story to?

informant: The new kids, or the younger kids and then they redid it . . .

interviewer: So then did it stop being Bloody Mary Bathroom?

Informant: No, it was still Bloody Mary Bathroom to us, but then I think the tradition died.

Interviewer’s notes:

It is interesting to note the evolution of the variation of the legend. Originally, the old, strange, scary bathroom was dubbed “Bloody Mary Bathroom” because it was strange and scary like Bloody Mary herself. The young students assimilated the story of the board in the bathroom into the legend by correlating the two together. The severed-finger board is now part of the Bloody Mary legend due to their unification in the bathroom and the story has a new variation in this community.