Category Archives: folk simile

Folk Simile: Like the Cat that Ate the Canary

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Accountant
Residence: Scottsdale, AZ
Performance Date: 25 April 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Russian

White/Native American

University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of Southern California

International Relations

Accountant for Make a Wish

English, Russian

Scottsdale, Arizona

25 April 2011

Folk simile- Like the Cat that ate the Canary

“So here’s something you can use. I was sitting with a friend eating lunch and we were talking about the grades. He was talking about how the teacher had graded everybody’s paper really hard. I, on the other hand, had gotten full marks. It was the highest grade in the class. All of the sudden, maybe ’cause my face gave away what I was thinking, he asked me how I did. I told him the score I had gotten on it. He then stated something to the fact of, ‘well aren’t you pleased with yourself? You look like the cat who ate the canary.’ I had never heard anybody actually say that before. It made sense though in the context, I was feeling pretty smug about the fact that I had done really well.” RA explained that basically it was a simile, however he didn’t actually say the word. However, he did describe it well enough that I knew what he was talking about. Basically, he said that it meant that the person who “looks like the cat that ate the canary” is someone who is pleased with themselves.

I agree with the explanation that RA gave for the simile, however I would add that this simile could be used in several other contexts. In my opinion, it can also be used to describe someone who has gotten away with doing something devious or looks guilty about something they are hiding. The origin of the word probably did come from the connection between the look someone has on their face and a cat that was pleased that it caught a canary. The basis of this simile is that it is personifying/anthropomorphizing the animal, in this case a cat, with the human like qualities of smugness or being pleased with themselves. However, as someone who has owned a dog, I can say it’s not hard to give your pet human like qualities. I have personally heard this folk simile several times before.

Examples of this folk simile appear pretty frequently in other mediums. It’s no that difficult to see that this simile was used for the basis of the interactions between the characters Sylvester the cat and Tweety bird. For those who haven’t seen the old Looney Tunes cartoons by Warner Bros., Tweety is a yellow canary that is constantly being hunted by Sylvester the cat, who always ultimately fails to eat Tweety each episode.

Make like a tree…

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: February 13, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: French, Hebrew

“Why don’t you make like a tree and get outta here?”

Alex is 24 years old; he was born in New Jersey, but was raised and lived the majority of his childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He arrived in California for the first time when he was moving into his dorm room at USC in Los Angeles, California.  Currently, Alex is an alumni from USC with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.

Alex told me this is one of his favorite quotes from one of his favorite movies Back to the Future. It is a variation on the pun “Make like a tree and leave.”  He told me that he actually uses this quote in real life because of how much he likes this quote; additionally, he says that he has heard other people use the same quote in colloquial conversation as well.  He says that this quote appeals to him because he finds it humorous that the character that says it, Biff Tannen, doesn’t seem to understand that what makes the statement and actual pun (leave – the verb and the noun).

I personally find this quote to be hilarious as well.  I have heard people use this in real life additionally and feel as though I’m “in the know” when I heard other people say it and am able to say that I get what’s funny about it. It forms a sort of group identity in the sense that all people who have viewed the movie and remember the quote are included in.

Zemeckis, R. (1985, July 03). Back to the future. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/quotes

Midget Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: February 13, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: French, Hebrew

Have you ever worn a turtleneck with a backpack?

It’s like getting choked by a really weak midget.

Alex is 24 years old; he was born in New Jersey, but was raised and lived the majority of his childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He arrived in California for the first time when he was moving into his dorm room at USC in Los Angeles, California.  Currently, Alex is an alumni from USC with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.

Alex told me that he heard this joke recently from a friend while hanging out one night.  He said that he does not remember the context of the joke, but that his friend referenced Mitch Hedberg when he said it.

When Mitch Hedberg said this joke, he said, “Wearing a turtle neck is like being strangled by a really weak guy.  All day.. Like if you wear a turtle neck and a backpack, it’s like a weak midget trying to bring you down.”

This joke is very derogatory and insults small people. Alex says that he had never heard this joke before his friend told it to him, and he said he found it hilarious and true.

I had never heard this joke before Alex told it to me and thought it was extremely funny but mean.  It’s a funny joke, but would probably be considered offensive by those the joke referred to.  I also found it interesting how his friend had paraphrased the joke from where he heard it from and how conspicuous the variation of the folklore already is with just one transfer.

Hedgberg, M. (1999, January 04). Turtlenecks. Retrieved from http://comedians.jokes.com/mitch-hedberg/videos/mitch-hedberg—turtlenecks/

Proverb – Polish

Nationality: Polish
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA (Current)
Performance Date: April 25, 2011
Primary Language: Polish
Language: English

W marcu jak w garncu.

“March’s weather is like a pot.”

The weather in March changes all the time; sometimes rains, sometimes the sun is out. It is like a pot—mixing the weather together; everywhere in Poland.

The informant is from Poland. She is currently attending university in Los Angeles, CA. She has been studying in the United States for the past four years.

The informant said she learned the phrase in school.

This is an example of a fixed phrase proverb that utilizes a simile. The simile that March’s weather is like a pot does not make sense out of context, but if the idea that inside a pot the mixture can always be changing is considered, the meaning is relatively easy to grasp.

Folk Simile

Nationality: African American
Age: 49
Occupation: Account Manager
Residence: Fresno, CA
Performance Date: April 23, 2011
Primary Language: English

“You’ve got as much sense as God gave a goose”

The informant found this saying very funny when she first heard it as a child. It’s something her father would often say. He was born and raised in Arkansas in 1930s and 40s. She has no idea what it means, but assumes that it must relate to how geese have little common sense. Since her father grew up as the son of sharecroppers in the American South, he would’ve had more direct contact with animals than my informant ever has. After thinking about it a bit longer, my informant said that she recalled her father saying something about if geese watch another goose get killed, they will continue to attack whoever killed the first goose instead of running away.  

The informant said that this folk simile would be used to refer to someone who is relentlessly stubborn and doesn’t know when enough is enough and drop whatever it is that they are doing. My informant says that she had never heard anyone besides her father use the saying until she met her uncle (father’s younger brother). He told her that it was a common saying in the community that they had grown up around in Arkansas.

However my informant has never performed this piece of folklore herself. She was never that comfortable with the meaning and thinks it’s irrelevant to the people she spends time with, because they, like her, might also be confused by the folk simile’s meaning. Since most people are not raised on farms anymore. My informant’s explanation makes sense to me and I agree with her conclusion about why this saying is localized to a specific folk group in America.