Category Archives: Folk speech

柳暗花明又一村

Text:

Chinese Characters (Simplified and Traditional): 柳暗花明又一村
Romanization: Liǔ’ànhuāmíng yòu yī cūn
Transliteration: Willow – Dark – Flower – Bright – Another – Village
Smoother Transliteration: past dark willows and flowers in bloom lies another village [via Source 1 listed at the bottom]
Free Translation: A solution lies at the end of the tunnel.

Context:

Me: When would you hear this or when would you say it?

Informant: so usually when we have a difficult time, and but somehow all of sudden, you have a hard moment, is all of sudden you have a solution for it. so uh so and uh that’s pretty much it. I-i-i like it is just because um there are no problems or no difficulties cannot be like cannot be solved, but sometime there is a time period you are searching and you are just not find it, right? but you keep searching, and then at a moment, you find a solution. So that’s we say 柳暗花明又一村. 

Uhh so liu means the trees, I think liu shu, how to say in English. Is uh, is willow. Willow so have like long strips of those things, willow. An is just dark, but then you’ll see flowers. Hua is flowers, ming is just bright, uhh so then you you yi cun is another I mean, basically you see the flowers in another village. Something like that. So you discover things.

Q: Where did you first hear this? Who first said this to you?

A: Can be my teacher. or, could be friends, they are naturally very optimism people, they are just very positive people, so so when we are searching and in the dark and find something, sometimes they they also encourage you, say 柳暗花明又一村 you’re going to find something

Q: Who usually says this?

A: People who are working together trying to find a problem, usually I’m just I just get excited 柳暗花明又一村 say something like that. 

Me: Do you know the origin?

Informant: Yeah, it is, so there is, this is from a Poem from Song dai (Song dynasty) a poem. And uh, so, in his poem, that’s one sentence. Just said when you have a difficult time, if this method does not work, you try different method, and you through trial and error search to find the solution.

Personal Thoughts:

This particular proverb is interesting because it finds its origins in authored literature. It is important to note, however, that many sayings and proverbs in Chinese have written origins, or at least accompanying stories. Alas, having a written origin is not necessarily enough to disqualify something from being folklore. The fact that this one line is being used in every day situations centuries later, separate from its original work or even the name of the poet, has shifted this work from purely written to more folkloric. This saying is also interesting because its literal meaning is drastically different than its free translation.

Additional Notes:

For translations of this one particular saying:

[1] 山穷水尽疑无路，柳暗花明又一村的英文. 查查在线翻译. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from http://www.ichacha.net/%E5%B1%B1%E7%A9%B7%E6%B0%B4%E5%B0%BD%E7%96%91%E6%97%A0%E8%B7%AF%EF%BC%8C%E6%9F%B3%E6%9A%97%E8%8A%B1%E6%98%8E%E5%8F%88%E4%B8%80%E6%9D%91.html 

For the full poem referenced:

山重水复疑无路，柳暗花明又一村_百度百科. 百度百科. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B1%B1%E9%87%8D%E6%B0%B4%E5%A4%8D%E7%96%91%E6%97%A0%E8%B7%AF%EF%BC%8C%E6%9F%B3%E6%9A%97%E8%8A%B1%E6%98%8E%E5%8F%88%E4%B8%80%E6%9D%91/3576938 

If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Nationality: American
Age: 26
Residence: Chicago Area
Performance Date: March 6, 2022
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Proverb: If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Context:

Context of Performance: said over Discord voice chat during a League of Legends game. The informant was recounting a story of a previous game he played where both teams trash talked each other in the public chat. However, once the opposing team began to lose they suddenly became silent.

Further Background:

The informant said that he first heard this proverb in grade school from his uncle. When asked about its meaning, he said: “stop complaining pretty much. If you can’t, like, in a kitchen they always get hot, right? So if you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen. If you can’t take it don’t complain about the heat. Stop complaining about something you’re trying to do I guess, if you wanna make it sound all technical.”

Personal Thoughts:
I’ve heard this phrase in passing, but usually by middle-aged or older adults. I’ve always associated it with condescending advice giving, I’ve heard this phrase in passing, usually by middle-aged or older adults. I’ve always associated it with condescending advice giving, because I essentially translated it to “suck it up” or “shut up.” Proverbs are typically seen as an old person genre for giving advice, but this particular proverb seems less of advice and more of “shut up and stop complaining”. As a greater reflection of society, this phrase indicates the older generation’s distaste for complaints.

As a side note, I’ve also heard this phrase as “stand the heat”.

Additional Notes:

This saying was coined by Harry S. Truman in 1942.

It is also noted that the saying has also been said as “If you can’t standthe heat, stay out of the kitchen.”

For further information about this proverb, go to
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Wiktionary. (2022, February 2). Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/if_you_can%27t_stand_the_heat,_get_out_of_the_kitchen#:~:text=Attributed%20to%20Harry%20S.,in%20a%20July%201942%20newspaper. 

Martin, G. (n.d.). ‘if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’ – the meaning and origin of this phrase. Phrasefinder. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/get-out-of-the-kitchen.html 

For further information about “don’t dish it out if you can’t take it,” go to:
Someone can dish it out but he or she can’t take it. SOMEONE CAN DISH IT OUT BUT HE OR SHE CAN’T TAKE IT | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/someone-can-dish-it-out-but-he-or-she-can-t-take-it 

“The Big One”

Context:

B is a 17 year old Taiwanese-American high school student who is from Northern California.

This happened online through a discord call after I brought up things we learned in elementary school. This was sparked by a TikTok I had seen criticizing what many kids are taught in the US education system.

Text:

B: Wait did you guys also learn about the- like giant earthquake that we’re like super overdue for?

Me: YEAH NO I remember that it was crazy and like… the fact we’re still waiting on it

B: No it’s terrifying I always forget about it and then remember it like.. randomly. Didn’t the teachers like… call it the Big one or something like that? It was weird we were all just like told that California was mad overdue for a giant earthquake from the San Andreas fault.

Me: No exactly, it made me so paranoid as a kid and like- we definitely also watched that movie called like San Andreas or something with the Rock in it after we learned about it… like why would you show a bunch of 5th graders that, I was terrified.

Reflection:

As someone who has lived in California all my life, it is so interesting that this is a shared experience with others who grew up here. While it is a scientific fact, the way that it is told to children as “The Big One” makes it a sort of inside joke to those who know about it. I remember bringing it up to college friends who did not grow up in California and they are always horrified to hear about it. On the other hand, because I have known about it for so long, I am noticeably more numb to how concerning the threat actually is.

Boots & Cats in Beat-Boxing

Main Piece:

Informant: “So, a friend of mine told me the way to start beat-boxing is to go “boots and cats” and speed it up, so: “Boots and cats and boots and cats.” But, uh, I can’t do it, but you get the idea.”

Context:

Taken from a voice memo sent in a group chat with two of my classmates in my Forms of Folklore class at USC.

Analysis:

I had heard this piece of folklore before and am always impressed with how surprisingly well it works. It’s perfect for the average passer-by for recreational use, and serves as a really vital gateway for those getting into professional beat-boxing. By simplifying an entire art form into a short saying, it really widens the range of people this folklore can reach. It allows outsiders to be integrated into the ‘inside’ of the industry and helps them be less self-conscious, now that they have an actual strategy. I wish my classmate would have delved into it more; it would surely make for a hilarious transcription. But, go ahead and try it! Mix it up a little, and you’ll see how fun it is!

A Panda Walks Into a Restaurant…

Main Piece:

CD: So a panda walks into a fancy restaurant. He was decked out. He’s got a nice suit, maybe a fedora. He’s got a violin case in one hand. He sits down at a table, and the waiter comes up to him and says “Sir, what would you like for dinner tonight?” The panda says “I’ll have everything on the menu.” To which the waiter says “Are you sure, sir? I mean, that would cost you an arm and a leg, and no one could possibly eat that much food…” The panda says “I want everything on the menu.” The waiter says “Ok. As you wish.”

The waiter goes back into the kitchen and returns maybe two hours later with every other waiter behind him, carrying plate, after plate, after plate of food. And you can imagine the panda sitting at maybe like an eight person table. He’s got it all to himself. And these waiters come out, and they put every single dish that the restaurant serves on the table in a big circle, and the panda just starts chowing down. He just like goes to town on this food, you know, and he manages to eat ALL of it.

And the waiter comes back—maybe an hour or later after the panda has finished his food. And you know maybe he’s wiping his chin off with a little napkin. Very classy guy. And the waiter says “Wow. I stand corrected. I guess you could eat that much food. But are you ready for the check?” The panda is like “Yeah, sure.” The waiter goes back into the kitchen, comes out with a check. It is $1,422 dollars and 36 cents. The panda says “Yup, I don’t know how I’m gonna handle this.”

He reaches into his violin case, pulls out a machine gun, and he starts shooting up the restaurant! You can image like glasses breaking in half, you know, everybody starts crouching under the tables in fear because this panda is just shooting the entire restaurant up! He fires his entire round, and when he’s done, puts the AK-47 back in the violin case, walks out of the restaurant, without saying another word.

A few minutes later, of course the police show up… Because it was a very violent incident… The head detective says “Aha! Panda.” The waiter says “I didn’t tell you it was a panda! How could you have possibly known that?” To which the detective says “Well here, let me show you.” He goes back out to his car. He comes in with a dictionary, and on the dictionary, he opens it up to the letter P:

Panda. herbivorous bear found mostly in China. Eats chutes and leaves.

Context:

A lengthy joke my tired suitemate tells to me and my roommate. Performed late night in a bedroom within Cale & Irani Apartments at the USC Village. He is a Jazz Studies (Trumpet) major in the Thornton School of Music. He heard this joke from his dad, and his been memorizing it since the sixth grade.

Analysis:

This joke is especially interesting to me because of the way it was performed. Even though he was tired, the informant still makes an effort to color the story with humor. I specifically remember him changing his inflection and emphasizing hilarious details (as evidenced by the italics). With such specific details like the amount of the check, it made me wonder if the nature of the joke was ever-changing. The amount is not the same each time. But it doesn’t matter: the way he says the story is more important than what he says. It’s meant to pull you in and get you invested, so that the shootout comes as a complete surprise. All of the comedic elements combined with the long build up really spotlighted the ending punchline. I remember hearing it and being stunned in silence for a good ten seconds thinking “I just sat through this long ass story just for this” before my roommate and I bursted out laughing at the absurdity of it all.