Category Archives: Folk speech

A Filipino Pun

Context:Context: The informant (NA) is a freshman at USC. He lives in a Filipino household and experiences all of the traditions that a family in the Philippines would have. He heard this joke from both his peers and his family. The piece was performed on an online conference through a Zoom meeting with the interviewer (DM). 

Main piece: 

NA: “Why do Filipinos not like salt”

DM: “Why?”

NA: “Because it’s asin”

This is similar to a pun and the main point of this joke is saying that salt which is asin in Tagalog, is a sin, like doing something wrong.

Thoughts: Personally I am a huge fan of puns and wordplay like this. The joke ties English in with Tagalog and it reflects the focus on religion that many people in the Philippines have. It also could reference the preference of taste with Filipino with the lack of salt which has some truth to it since Filipino dishes use fish sauce as their main source of saltiness. It ties in a common habit in cuisine and cleverly merges it with a play on words and with the stereotype of the religious Filipino community

Skateboarding Taboo – Mall Grabbing and Pushing Mongo

Nationality: Canadian/American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 3/22/20
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant is a twenty year old photography student in New York City. He learned of the taboo while growing up in both Los Angeles, CA and Burlington, VT. He has skated regularly since he was 12 years old. 

Context: The informant was teaching me how to skateboard in his San Diego neighborhood and informed me of the taboos. This piece was collected in its natural performance setting. The piece itself is a summary of the conversation because the performance was not planned and was recorded after the performance and not as it was being performed in real time. 

Piece: 

I was “mall grabbing” the skateboard and the informant quickly began to make fun of me and told me not to hold the skateboard in this manner. Mall grabbing is holding the skateboard vertically by the top truck, with the grip tape of the skateboard facing the holder’s legs. This is considered a “rookie move” and would have almost certainly invited insults and jeers from other skateboarders if we were at an actual skate park. When asked why it was bad to “mall grab,” the informant said that having the grip tape face one’s pants or shorts usually leaves scuffing or pilling on them. 

After being informed about this taboo I remembered that I had once heard of skaters being made fun of for “pushing mongo” so I asked the informant to explain what this meant and why it was taboo. He told me that “pushing mongo” refers to the practice of riding a skateboard using the front, rather than the back foot, to push the ground and generate momentum. He noted that this is taboo because it is an inefficient and awkward way to ride the board and makes it difficult to transition from pushing to doing tricks. The assumption is that if an individual pushes mongo, he/she/they can’t skate stably or perform tricks smoothly.

Analysis: Skateboarding is an incredibly exclusive subculture in my experience. When you go to a skatepark, people usually gather in groups, observe each other skating, and often make fun of other skaters in the park who aren’t “good.” The taboo on “mall grabbing” and “pushing mongo” quickly becomes a way to distinguish the beginners from the experts. It creates explicit ingroups and outgroups. It shows that skater culture places a high premium on the ability to perform tricks in a particular, socially sanctioned way. When an individual pushes mongo, it is more difficult to perform tricks in the smooth and seamless manner that is preferred. Although there are many different skating styles, these taboos highlight that there is an ideal style and when skaters perform outside of this ideal, they are not accepted into the wider community. 

Leaves of Three

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Performance Date: April 7
Primary Language: English

“Leaves of three, let it be. If it’s shiny, watch your heiny. If it’s hairy, it’s a berry”

This piece of folklore is a saying to talk about how to identify poison oak. If it has three leaves or is shiny with oil, watch your heiny, meaning that it is likely poison oak. If the plant is hairy, it is a berry bush. This piece of folklore is performed typically outdoors and used for a very practical sense. It is a teaching tool to enable people to identify poison oak, whose oil will cause rashes on anyone who touches it with bare skin.

            The subject learned this piece of folklore from Boy Scouts. It embodies the type of preparedness and learning the boy scouts emphasizes and is a very practical way of remembering the qualities of a poison oak plant. The subject learned it from their Scoutmaster during a camping trip. The subject, of course, made use of it as a practical saying which is its intended purpose. They remember it because of their interest in the outdoors when they were younger, which was the reason they joined Boy Scouts in the first place.

            This saying is not just a warning for kids. It represents technical education through oral folklore. Typically, something like this would just be told by another person or read in a book. Instead, this saying was created in order to help people remember their qualities. Because of this, it takes on a different form and really represents the importance of passing down knowledge to the younger generations.

White Rabbit

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: April 2
Primary Language: English

White Rabbit is the first thing said on the first day of every month. It is meant to bring good luck and prosperity for those who participate. If words have already been spoken on the first, White Rabbit is not said.

The informant learned it from her family, specifically her dad, when she was younger. Her whole family participates. She follows this because she believes that if anything could possibly bring her good luck, it is worth doing. It is meaningful because she knows her family does it and it is something that she can share easily with her friends.

There are other additional forms of this same piece of folklore performed in different manners. Some other words are said instead of White Rabbit. My own family says Rabbit Rabbit on the first of every month. I learned it from my father, who learned it from an old colleague at work.  Possible origins of this tradition could be the concept of the lucky rabbit’s foot, traditionally from a white rabbit. It could be a manifestation of this but in a less brutal manner.

Shellback, Golden Dragon, Golden Shellback

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: Lawyer
Performance Date: April 29
Primary Language: English

This is folk speech that is found in the maritime world. They are names that are given under various circumstances when sailing around the world. A shellback is a name given to someone who crosses the Equator for the first time while aboard a ship. A golden dragon is someone who crosses the dateline. The dateline is the imaginary line that runs North-South through the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the globe as the prime meridian. Finally, a golden shellback is someone who crosses where the international date line meets the equator for the first time. These names are given to sailors to recognize their global travels. Sometimes, this is accompanied by hazing if it is the first time the sailors have received this name, such as treading water in the ocean. The informant has not crossed any of these lines by ship but was involved in the sailing community growing up and associated with people that had done this.

The informant learned about this folk speech from his uncle when he was growing up. They remember it because they had always been interested in making these achievements and traveling the world by ship. The informant always looked up to people that had done this because he thought they were hardy and real seamen/adventurers. There are other terms used for some of these accomplishments, such as a son of Neptune. There are names for people who have done none of these, like tadpoles, as well.

It is certainly an achievement to have accomplished this, but the navy and other similar organizations are notorious for hazing and rites of passage, being secluded on a boat with just other sailors. It is interesting to think about in comparison to other rites of passage within different branches of the military. Although this is a general sea term overall, it is often used frequently in navies across the globe.