Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

School Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 18, 2011
Primary Language: English

“So in high school, um, I went to Phillips Academy Andover, which is like this, you know, hoity-toity prep school and um, so they do this really cruel thing to um, the students for um, for the, what’s it called, finals.  Where they put all the students into this one gym for like, everybody’s that’s in that um, in that class, like chem. 300 or whatever. You know they put everyone in the same room and they make everybody take the test at the same time. So like, its kinda like SAT time, when you all in a gym and like, everybody’s like nervous and like the energy is just nervousness. So you like sitting in their and you’re like, ahh this is crazy.  It’s kind of torturous actually. Um, anyways, above the door, um, where we would all like congregate in this little lobby and right above the door before the thing it says um, oh god, what did it say.  Um, “beware all yee who enter here.” It’s like wow, okay, as if that wasn’t disheartening enough. I think it was there, I was at the school for three years and I think it was there the first two years.  When it wasn’t there the last year everybody was really upset. It was like, come on, it’s like, part of the experience. Have to have it.”

Like any group of people, the communities at high schools often have their own traditions.  As schools are primarily places of teaching, learning and tested knowledge, a tradition  based aroumd the fear of tests is understandable.  Final exams can often be so stressfull that warnings such as “beware all yee who enter here,” may not be completly outlandish to a student.  What makes the phrase amusing in addition to a bit frightening, is the diction of the phrase.  When read, it reminds one of a sign that pirates would use to warn their enemies.  Consequently, the phrase above the door under which the students pass to enter the exam serves to warn and amuse.

Free Entry on St. Andrew’s Day

Nationality: Jewish
Age: 22
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4-14-2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew, Spanish

“On St Andrew’s Day, everything is free in Scotland.  St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and entry to everything is free. Government buildings, bars, and museums are open and free. Shows and movies are free. They just want everyone to be out and celebrating.”

My friend Sarah studied abroad in Scotland for two years.  On November 30th, Scotland celebrates St. Andrew’s day, honoring the patron saint of the country.  Not only is school cancelled for the day, but all entry fees are waived at various places such as museums, movies, historic sites, castles, and bars.  She says it is to allow the country to celebrate their patron saint and not have any reason (including money) not to enjoy the day.

I find this an exciting and generous tradition of St. Andrew’s Day.  Crowds tend to build up at historic sites and allow groups to gather and celebrate their nation-state.  It is interesting that government owned buildings or sites are free which seems to solidify not only the honoring of the Saint but also the nation-state of Scotland.  This folk tradition works for the government and nation-state model of identity and self-belonging to Scotland.  People celebrate St. Andrew’s day to honor not only a saint but their identity as Scots.

New Years + Grapes Spain

Nationality: Italian American
Age: 56
Occupation: Spanish teacher
Residence: Troy, MI
Performance Date: 1-1-2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“In Spain, at midnight of New Year’s Eve, eat one grape each time the clock strikes the 12 chimes.”

My aunt, a high school Spanish teacher who has traveled to Spain tens of times, observed this tradition when she was in Spain this past new year.

According to her, every time the clock strikes a chime at 12, midnight at the turn of the year one eats a grape.  12 grapes in 12 seconds. She says that the grapes are for good luck and good fortune in the new year.  She describes that some peel the skin or remove seed ahead of time, while others just eat the grapes skin and seeds included.  My aunt heard that this began when a grape company had excess grapes and crafted this ploy to rid them of their excess about 100 years ago.  The grape eating continued the year after and the rest is history.  I am not sure if this is the true origin, but the metafolklore is intriguing nonetheless.

I find this tradition interesting because their is folklore surrounding the origin of the folk tradition.  I agree that the grapes represent good luck and prosperity in the new year, although it is a lot of grape eating in a short amount of time!

Style of Dress – American

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 33
Occupation: IT Manager
Residence: Westlake, Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 19, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Conversational French

Some American men wear very baggy pants and let them sag to show their boxers. The informant learned the following folk explanation as to the origin of the style “maybe right around high school, or, um, when [she] was just past high school and [her] little brother was doing it when he was in high school. She doesn’t remember from whom she first heard the explanation, but she recalls first seeing the style in high school: “Um, it seemed to be something that, uh, a lot of the African-American guys would do in high school. Uh, but now I see a lot of people do it and it’s just . . . it’s not good [laughter].”

The informant heard that the style originated in prison, where the low man on the sexual totem pole would wear saggy pants: “Basically, uh, young boys and even grown men tend to wear baggy pants or pants that they sag down past their boxer shorts, showing almost all of their boxer shorts, wearing pants that are, you know, a good ten sizes too bit for them. What they don’t realize is the true meaning of the sagging jeans, sagging pants. Uh, it actually stems from prison. Uh, the man who would wear the saggy pants, um, that were sagging past his butt actually indicated that he was the man that men would go to, uh, for, uh, for intercourse. And it showed that he was basically the bitch of the cellblock. So, uh, basically indicated that he was the one who would, uh, take it in the rear, for lack of better terms.”

The informant regards the style itself with a mixture of rue and amusement: “This nugget of knowledge is something that I wish more younger men would understand . . . Um . . . but I don’t think most men get that today who sag their pants. They think it looks cool but they don’t really see that is indicated that they are the, the prison bitch. So I think that that’s interesting. Um, if they do know this they don’t seem to care. Uh, but I think it’s just something that most people who sag their pants aren’t familiar with. So they are, um, unassumingly, uh, displaying their wares, as it were.

The informant shared the explanation with her nephew, “who actually seemed to have gotten the hint once it was explained to him.” She says that she would share it with anyone she felt comfortable with and wanted to have more respect for him- or herself: “If I was comfortable with approaching the individual, egh, like if it was my nephew. Or my brother, or somebody who, um, who is younger than me who I would be an authority—kind of an authority figure to, who would respect my, uh, input. I’m not just going to stop a random guy on the street and say, ‘Hey, you know that means you’re a prison bitch?’ ’cause that’s just not cool. But I think I would if it was somebody that I cared about, like a relative or a workmate or somebody that I, y’know, had a little bit more respect for and wanted them to respect themselves more, I would share that information with them.”

The folk explanation could be true, although it does seem like a story that might be dispensed by parents and other adults to discourage children from wearing a style their relatives find distasteful, as the informant used it on her nephew. It would be effective for that purpose because prison inmates are looked down upon and anal sex is still somewhat taboo, so impressionable boys might not wish to associate themselves with the former or symbolically invite the latter. Saggy pants could be considered an American folk costume, since the style has not been much endorsed by authorities—the folk group being, if this story is true, prison inmates and their imitators.

Musical Idiom

Nationality: American
Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arlington, VA
Performance Date: March 2, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Some spanish

“Break a reed!”

Ava told me that she has heard this idiom spoken several times over the course of a few years. It is said by one oboe player to another during music auditions. One player will say it to another before they go into the audition room.

 “Breaking reeds is never good. they can break just by change in temperature, tonguing to hard on slightly the wrong corner, snap when you try to open the tip of the reed(or reed in general, to allow more air to move through it; usually cracks here because it’s dry or just bent too far). Oh, and you can smash it somewhere. people say it when the runner comes in and announces something like for ex: “Oboe #4?”, calling them to follow them to the audition room, and the oboist expresses grief/anxiety, or they may say it just because they know that person or wanna be friendly or whatevs. Heard it at allstate auditions. I don’t know about others. Oboe, because it’s so thin. The single reeds are never temperamental because they’re thicker, that’s why you never really hear single reed players complain about reed issues, only oboe, and occasionally bassoons, but again, their reeds aren’t nearly as bad because they are thick and won’t snap if you poke them the wrong way.”

The idiom is taken from the popular, “break a leg,” said to an actor right before they ascend the stage. The idea of breaking a leg right before a performance is an actor’s worst nightmare, effectively removing the actor from the performance. Hence, telling someone to “break a leg,” is a sort of protection against it actually happening, and is often used in jest.

Similarly, “break a reed,” is told to an oboist before they audition. A music audition is often a nerve wracking experience, and any additional stress is unwelcome. For musicians who play reed instruments, especially double reed instruments such as the oboe, the reed of the instrument can be extremely temperamental. Double reeds consist of two pieces of wood cane wrapped together. The reeds are expensive and difficult to make. If not made properly they are prone to producing a bad sound or even breaking. This is not something a musician wants to happen right before an audition.