Category Archives: Folk speech

“The Devil Beating his Wife”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2018
Primary Language: English

Owen Lord studies Anthropology at the University of Southern California. He is originally from Columbia, South Carolina but currently lives in Los Angeles, California while he attends university. Owen’s southern upbringing led him to adopt a number of southern customs. Once he moved to Los Angeles, he was immediately struck by the differences in the way people speak, how they behave, and the traditions they practice. Many of Owen’s favorite folkloric phrases were lost on his new peers in Los Angeles. Below, Owen describes one example of folk speech that is used to describe weather conditions:

Owen: “In the South—the American South, South Carolina to be specific—we had certain terms that I didn’t realize were a little shocking until I used them outside of the South. Like when it’s a sunny day and it’s raining, we’d say that the devil is beating his wife. Which um, non-Southerners have found to be a little inappropriate.”

Isabella: “Why were people offended?”

Owen: “Um, I think the references to domestic abuse. And… people aren’t used to talking about the devil. And, in the South, we attribute everything to either the devil or God. So yeah, it was a little shocking to other people.”

Here, Owen reflects on a folk metaphor that is unique to the American South. Owen acknowledges that this metaphorical statement does not resonate with people who are not from the South, and attributes this to the cultural differences between the two areas. As Owen notes in the transcription, Southerners are more likely to reference the Devil and God in everyday speech than people who live in other parts of the nation.

This folk metaphor is used to describe the weather, which highlights its prominence and popularity amongst Southerners. It also reveals some key distinctions between Southern culture and west coast (i.e. California) culture. References to domestic violence are embedded in the metaphor, which suggests that jokes of this nature are normalized in the South (not necessarily domestic violence itself).  This metaphor speaks to the topic of sensitivity in humor — in places like Southern California, fears of coming across as politically incorrect might dissuade someone from reciting a metaphor like the one described here.  However, in the South, it is perfectly acceptable to joke about certain taboo topics.

“There’s Enough Room in the Sky,” Nigerian Proverb

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 10, 2018
Primary Language: English

Stanley Kalu studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is originally from Nigeria, but has moved several times throughout his life. He spent a significant portion of his life in Nairobi, Kenya and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He recalls hearing a number of stories as he grew up; many of these stories conveyed moral lessons and were told to younger audiences. In the excerpt below, Stanley recounts a Nigerian proverb that discouraged competitiveness:

Stanley: “Growing up in Nigeria, I used to hear this one proverb all the time. It went like, ‘there is enough space in the sky for all of the birds to fly.’”

Isabella: “And what does that mean to you?”

Stanley: “It just means, it doesn’t have to be a competition… There’s enough space for everybody… to succeed.”

This proverb contains a powerful message about cooperation and kindness.  It provides insight to the type of values that are promoted throughout Nigerian communities; rather than encouraging young people and children (the proverb’s main audience) to adopt a competitive approach to life, proverbs such as these encourage cooperation and tolerance. It makes use of animal symbolism for narrative purposes; by using symbolic language, young people and children are better able to digest the message embedded in the proverb.

This proverb mandates collective success, not just individual success, thus marking a critical distinction between Western culture and Nigerian culture.  Stanley (my source) exhibits cooperative qualities in his own life, and I assume that Nigeria’s folkloric traditions helped shape that part of his personality.

The Crypto Term “Hodl”

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Masters-level engineering student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 7, 2018
Primary Language: English

Daniel Shapiro is currently pursuing his masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA.  He dedicates much of his free time to researching and investing in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology (or ‘decentralized ledger technology’).  As a result of recent profit yields, the market for these technologies has grown exponentially and begun to attract investors from around the world.  Online forums and communities are emerging in tandem with the technologies themselves.  Reddit, an online social news aggregation, is one of the most popular websites among crypto enthusiasts.  There, they exchange information about blockchain technology and offer advice to other investors.  Daniel frequents these websites and has adopted the “language” of crypto.  In the excerpt below, he describes the origins of one specific term, “hodl,” and then explains how it is used across various forums.

 

Daniel: “So, on the Reddit crypto forums, there’s a notorious post where someone was telling everyone to ‘hold,’ as in ‘don’t sell your bit-coins, or your alt-coins’ but he misspelled ‘hold’ as ‘h-o-d-l,’ or ‘hodl.’  So now, in all crypto forums and twitter and in any crypto blogs, space, whatever — people say ‘hodl’ instead of ‘hold.’  And it’s a term to say, when the price is going bad, ‘hodl’ and don’t sell, because if you’re selling away at a low price when you SHOULD be holding and selling at a high price.”

Isabella: “And what is cryptocurrency?”

Daniel: “Crypto is a buzzword name given to decentralized ledger technologies… which are, effectively, networks of computers which operate as a single server, so you don’t need a third-party server to host different networks, which are centralized and controlled by a single party, and require advertising to pay for their servers.”

Isabella: “And why do crypto forums exist?”

Daniel: “Well, these forums exist to… spread news about many of the different cryptocurrencies… such as, when they [the creators and proprietors of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies] release specific products or make specific partnerships.  They’re mainly for distributing information… also to have discussions about the coin.  But realistically, probably about half of these pages are just ‘meme’ pages.”

The original author of the term ‘hodl’ was ridiculed on account of his spelling error. As such, ‘hodl’ has satirical undertones and is often used in a joking manner. But as Daniel notes in the transcription above, ‘hodl’ is also used during actual trading deliberations, wherein the goal is to dissuade someone from selling their shares at a low price. ‘Hodl’ serves as an example of folk speech because it is unique to the crypto community and serves a specific purpose amongst its members — one’s knowledge and use of the term can corroborate their belonging to the community.

“How the Tortoise’s Shell Cracked”

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2018
Primary Language: English

Stanley Kalu studies screenwriting at the University of Southern California. He is originally from Nigeria, but has moved several times throughout his life. He spent a significant portion of his life in Nairobi, Kenya and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He recalls hearing a number of stories as he grew up; many of these stories conveyed moral lessons and were told to younger audiences. In the excerpt below, Stanley recounts a folk tale he heard as a child:

Stanley: “So back when I was young, my mom would tell me a story of how the tortoise got his shell cracked. And the story went like this: the tortoise, being the most intelligent animal in the animal kingdom, during a drought said ‘hey birds, let’s go to heaven. You can fly me up there and I’ll talk to God, and everything will be fine, we’ll all get food, it will be fine. But in heaven, we’ll all have different names. So my name will be all of you, right? My name will be all of you.’ And the birds agreed, so they flew him up to heaven. And then, they were talking to God, who brought a huge feast with him. And then God said, ‘this food is for all of you,’ and the tortoise said, ‘oh, that’s me!’ so he ate all of the food, and all the other animals got upset. So, they left him in heaven and he had no way of getting back down to Earth. So he had his wife place a soft pile of feathers on the ground to break his fall, but he missed. Then he cracked his shell and he had to piece it back together. And that is how the tortoise got his cracks.”

Isabella: “Does that communicate any sort of moral lesson?”

Stanley: “Yes—don’t be sneaky.”

The transcript above details a Nigerian folk tale. Stanley recounted the story as we sat at a café after class one day, and he appeared to have the story committed to memory entirely; this suggests that he heard the story frequently as he grew up. The tortoise story warns against deception and “sneakiness” by illustrating the consequences of such behavior. It serves as a template for other tales—the message is universal in a sense and the motifs are interchangeable.

Korean Proverb: Sparrow Following a Crane

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/14/18
Primary Language: Korean

A sparrow tried to follow a crane and split its crotch

BACKGROUND:

The direct translation of the proverb tells of a Korean Crow-Tilt (closely related to a sparrow) who tries to be as elegant as a crane. In doing so, the crow-tilt ends up making a fool of itself. Crow-tilts are often known for having short, stubby legs unlike the crane. So if the crow-tilt were to walk the same strides as a crane, it would split the crotch of its pants and completely embarrass itself. The moral of the proverb is to not try to put so much effort into the way that you look and to be satisfied with who you are, otherwise you’re going to fall flat.

MY THOUGHTS:

I feel like this is a clever proverb with a beneficial lesson. Admittedly, I was a bit taken aback when I first heard the English translation. My source was very kind and patient with me in explaining what the actual meaning behind it is. After a little explanation I was able to value it for what it is.