Category Archives: Folk speech

One Knight, Three Men.

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: MN
Performance Date: 4/22/20
Primary Language: English

One knight, three men are on a boat sailing across the ocean. In the morning, there were four people on the boat. How could this happen?

A: Someone swam up and hitched a ride.

O: But the boat never stopped so how did this happen?

A: Someone gave birth.

O: Oh my god. Three MEN?!

A: That’s all I got.

O: In the beginning, I said one KNIGHT along with three men. There were four people on the boat from the start but one was a knight.

This riddle works with its play on words to deceive its listeners. There are a number of other versions of this same riddle. One notable version involves a King and a Queen on a boat. It’s possible that in the past this particular riddle was meant to separate those who live or have lived under monarchies from those who haven’t as many of them deal with noble families. For the informant, this is a fun riddle they like to use because, considering the way it is carefully worded, they know it will confuse people.

Escape Room Riddle

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: WN
Performance Date: 4/22/20
Primary Language: English

O: You’re in a room with no escapes. There’s a mirror and a table… What do you do?

A: You use the table to break the window.

O: But there is no window.

A: Then what do you do?

O: You look in the mirror, you see what you saw, you take the saw, cut the table in half, two halves make a whole. You can escape through the hole.

This is definitely one of those riddles where if you know it, you know it. But if you don’t, you’d never guess the right answer even if you tried. You have to have heard the full riddle before to answer it correctly. The solution is not logical at all. It’s filled with double entendres to confuse the other. Which, in turn, determines who “the other” is. Unlike most riddles, this is one that simply cannot be answered. It leaves the audience forever puzzled.

E-Y-E-S Riddle

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: MN
Performance Date: 4/22/20
Primary Language: English

O: What does Y-E-S spell?

A: Yes

O: What does E-Y-E-S spell?

A: Eyes

O: Dammit, you were supposed to say “E-Yes”!
According to the informant, this is one of those riddles that is meant to give the performer a good laugh. From my understanding, the setup is designed to detect the fool. “Eyes” is a seemingly easy word but the moment it’s spelled out for you in the riddle, logic usually goes out of the window. This can make a fool out of even the smartest of us because it’s not really about intellect, it’s about listening.

“Last Run”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student and Customer Service Rep.
Residence: Salt Lake City, UT
Performance Date: April 22, 2020
Primary Language: English
  • Context: The following informant (S) is a 20 year old bike/ski enthusiast. He explains the avoidance of the words “last run” while skiing and the bad luck it can bring to the end of the day. The conversation took place when I asked the informant of any superstitions he held. The informant told me he doesn’t believe in superstitions, but never to say you’re going to take your “last run,” because it might truly be your last if you do. 
  • Text:

S: “Ok… if I’m skiing, or biking, you can’t say ‘Last Run’. Any time I have said ‘Last Run’ or anyone around me has said ‘Last Run’ an we’ve taken a run that is our last run for the day… I have ended up in the hospital.”

Me: “Same. So do you say anything instead of ‘Last Run’?”

S: “Yeah… we say either ‘2 minus 1’ or… ‘9 more runs’ or ‘8 more runs’ if you’re referring to two more runs. So 8 is if you’re referring to two more 9 is if you’re referring to last.”

Me: “Is there a reason for those numbers?”

S: “Nope. That’s just what works.”

Me: “Have you always done that?”

S: “I’ve done that since I broke both bones in this arm saying it was my last run.”

Me: “Did anyone teach you?”

S: “Yeah… everyone I grew up riding with. It is a known tradition throughout the action sports world… like any… any athlete performing at a high level knows that tradition.”

  • Analysis: Growing up in a ski town, I knew from a young age never to refer to my last run as my “last run.” We would often find code words to signify that we wanted this run to be our last for the day. I had always said “grilled cheese” or “second to last” or “2 more minus 1.” I have heard countless stories of people getting hurt on their last one after announcing it was their last run. I myself made this mistake when I was 12. After proclaiming I was doing my “last run” for the day, I made it almost to the lodge when a snowboarder hit me and broke my wrist. I never will say “last run” again. 

Culinta (Cullies) and Ginkles (Ginks)

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Designer and Genealogist
Residence: Salt Lake City, UT
Performance Date: April 23, 2020
Primary Language: English
  • Conext: The following informant, T, is a 56 yr. old married mother of three. She comes from a large Italian family. She explains to me the alternative names she and her entire extended family use for vagina (culinta/cullie) and penis (ginkle/ginks). The informant also sings me a song she created when her daughter was a toddler that incorporates a variant of the word culinta that is now sung throughout her family to female toddlers. The conversation took place in the informants kitchen as we looked at old family photos and remembered other folkspeech used among the family. 
  • Text:

T: “In my family growing up we would call vaginas culintas and penises ginkles and I don’t know where it came from. But it came from my dad’s side of the family, and they we’re Italian, and they would really call it a cullie or a ginks or a ginkle and we would just reference that…

And so when [my daughter] was little I made up this song about putting her pull-ups on in the kitchen and it would go… it goes like this…

‘Put the pulls on the cules and make the coffee in the kitchen’

And now that’s a family song. And all of the nieces, all of my nieces, sing that song to their kids.”

  • Analysis: Sex is a very tabboo subject in American society. The conversation of genitalia is also often censored. I believe this may be one of the reasons for the wide variety of vocabulary used to describe male and female genitalia. It does not shock me that my own family uses the words culinta and ginkle, because even though we’re aware of what body parts we’re referring to, it somehow makes the conversation feel appropriate to any audience. In addition, the words themselves sound more similar to Italian words, so they harken back to our ancestry. I plan on teaching the words culinta/cullie and ginkle/ginks to my children, as I’m not sure they could survive in our family without knowing the meaning of those words. Surprisingly to me, when the terms are used around non-family members, they often understand the meaning, but I would attribute this more to the context in which they are used. Perhaps from the other parts of the conversation, the person is able to pick up on the meaning of the words rather than inherently knowing the definitions.