Category Archives: folk metaphor

Rice at the Filipino Wedding

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 19
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/20/16
Primary Language: Tagalog
Language: English

 

The informant is a freshman at USC. She’s from the Philippines, where she was born and raised. She talks about why it’s tradition to throw rice at Philippine weddings.

 

Chelsea: “Okay so in my culture, in the Philippines, when people get married, instead of flowers, they throw rice.”

 

Me:” Like the flower girl ?”

 

Chelsea: “Yeah, like the flower girl. She throws grains of rice. Like, uncooked grains of rice. All around. And then apparently it’s supposed to give you good luck and it makes you prosperous and it’s to make the couple lucky.”

 

Me: “Okay, so who told you that?”

 

Chelsea: “My aunt told me.”

 

Me: “And what does it mean to you?”

 

Chelsea: “I love rice (laughs) and I don’t think you should waste it like that.”

 

Me: “So when your grandma got married and your mom got married, did they throw rice?”

 

Chelsea: “I don’t know but when my aunt got married, my cousin and I were the flower girls and we had to throw rice.”

 

Me: “So in your country, it’s good luck and prosperity?”

 

Chelsea: “Yes.”

 

It’s interesting that this folklore piece is an integration of symbolism and superstition with wedding rituals. In the Philippines, rice is thrown and symbolic of prosperity, while American culture uses flowers as the element of life and good fortune. I then wonder if American culture has a flower girl, would the technical term for Philippines be a ‘ rice girl’ ?…

For more folklore on Philippine Wedding customs, visit  “Philippine Wedding Customs and Superstitions.” Asian Recipes. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

‘The Tide Decides…’

Nationality: Ethiopian/ Hawaiian
Age: 19
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/15/16
Primary Language: English

The informant is a freshman at the University of Southern California. Over Spring break, she vacationed in Hawaii where she met a local in Maui, Hawaii.  He was working at a tattoo parlor and is originally from Maui. The local was able to communicate a folkloric proverb to Elshadaii that he found significant to Hawaiian culture. Elshadaii was able to pass it down to me.

 

E: “This one goes, ‘the tide decides but leaves behind seashells on the sand. For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains.’”

 

Me: “ What does this mean to you?”

 

E: “Um, I think it’s basically a metaphor for the coming and going things in our lives. To me, it encompasses all of the joys that we come across and how they are beautiful in their own time but eventually everything must pass. And although that can be a sad thing, it’s better to focus on the good growth it brought us as opposed to focusing on the negatives.”

 

I feel as though this proverb perpetuates an optimistic outlook on life. The informant interpreted the proverb as saying that good things will come and go in life, but we should appreciate the growth we experienced as a result of these events. I think the proverb speaks more about being happy that certain things happened versus being sad that they are gone or over. Nonetheless, the proverb spreads a positive message and encourages readers to be more positive about the coming and going of people, experiences, etc.

 

신발 선물하면 도망간다

Nationality: USA, Korea
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Cypress
Performance Date: 4/19/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

AK is a first generation Korean American from Cypress, California. She is majoring in Occupational Therapy at USC.

“Koreans say not to buy your girlfriend or boyfriend shoes because they will walk away, meaning that they’ll break up with you.”

Original Translation: 신발 선물하면 도망간다
Pronunciation: shin-bal sun-mul-ha-myun do-mang-gan-dah
Literal Translation: If you gift someone a pair of shoes, he/she will run away

“This is a common phrases I heard growing up that was often used in a comedic way.”

I find it interesting how even in giving gifts, there are cultural taboos, or things that generally avoided. Also, the interpretation of the symbol of shoes is that they are specifically used for running away, and not something else such as protecting the feet from the ground. It could be useful to know metaphors such as this, because you could accidentally send the wrong message by buying your significant other shoes if they are Korean!

Angulimala

Nationality: Biracial, American Black and Southern European
Age: 50
Occupation: Buddhist Meditation Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 25 2016
Primary Language: English

Informant (J.H.), my mother, is a 50 year old Buddhist meditation teacher from Los Angeles. J.H. identifies as biracial, with both African and Southern European heritage. I interviewed her after stopping by for dinner one Monday evening. J.H. had a traditional roman Catholic upbringing, and has been studying meditation for 15 years. I asked J.H. for her favorite legends and myths surrounding the Buddha. As a self identified Buddhist agnostic, she takes these stories as metaphors with values them for their important teaching opportunities.

J.H.: “Angulimala was basically a serial killer. He was a bandit, who would kill people in the forests of India, and he would cut off a finger for each person he killed, and put their finger on a necklace that he wore around his neck. So mala means necklace basically, and Anguli is finger. So he had a finger necklace around his neck, and one time he came across the Buddha in the forest and he started chasing him to kill him, but no matter how fast he ran he couldn’t catch him. And so finally, the Buddha just stopped and Angulimala caught up to him, and the Buddha promised him freedom from his pain and suffering if he would just start meditating with him. Angulimala was so impressed… by the Buddha’s fearlessness, that he decided to try it. And the legend has it that he became enlightened, and what’s so beautiful about this story is that the Buddha thought that nobody was irreparable. Because the Angulimala apparently killed thousands of people, as the legend has it, but the Buddhist tradition says that all people have the opportunity for full liberation, no matter what your path has been.”

J.H.’s Buddhist Sangha is especially targeted toward people who have had struggles with society and are seeking alternative guidance or recovery through spirituality. J.H. seems to appreciate the Angulimala myth for its teaching of acceptance of all people. As a teacher, J.H. speaks fluently and openly about the history and philosophies of Buddhism in general as well as her particular Sangha, or group.

The OJ Simpson Metaphor

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: Financial Analyst
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 25 2016
Primary Language: English

The informant (A.H.) comes from a Black Christian family. A.H. does not identify with Christianity.

Now well retired from the game at 54 years old, A.H. played football in the NFL from 1983 to 1987; first drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, then transferred to the Seattle Seahawks, and finally the San Francisco 49ers. Since then he has coached youth football teams, and works now as a financial analyst. A.H. was over house for dinner one Monday evening, and after our meal I interviewed him for football specific occupational folklore. I asked about the superstitions, traditions, and legends A.H. had come across during his career as a professional player.

A.H.: “I remember growing up I was a huge OJ Simpson fan. I think every kid my age that grew up in my area that wanted to be a running back wanted to be OJ. And I remember reading in an article somewhere that he never ate before games. He had said somewhere that he wanted to know what it was like to be hungry, and he thought that it would transfer over into games. I think I might have been in high-school when I read that. It affected the way that I ate, like I would never eat the night before the game or morning before the game. The interesting thing is when I coached, I passed that on to the players that I used to coach. He said something like, if you didn’t eat it would make you like a hungry dog. You would play better. Every guy has his superstition before the game… So I saw one of the kids on Facebook that I used to coach… A lot of those kids are coaches, and they’re passing that stuff on now.”

I found A.H.’s story compelling, because what began as Simpson’s individual superstition was perpetuated by his success, and eventually A.H.’s success. As seen with the OJ Simpson metaphor, a young generation of football players dons the occupational superstitions of their predecessors as a rite of passage in the hopes to achieve similar success on the field. A.H. was well spoken, and seemed to enjoy revisiting memories of his time in the game. He was equally, if not more enthusiastic about the legacy he left behind as a coach.
Not only does A.H.’s story provide an occupational superstition, but also a new interpretation of a popular metaphor. Specifically, in English speech, ‘hunger’ serves as a metaphor for desire or motivation. In this particular superstition, the hunger metaphor is associated with the desire to win the game. For a popular example of the hunger used as a metaphor for motivation, see Suzanne Collins’ novel The Hunger Games.