Category Archives: Folk speech

Hajj

Nationality: Lebanese-American
Age: 22
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Los Feliz, California
Performance Date: 04/05/17
Primary Language: English

Can be referred to in different ways: one for the pilgrimage made to mecca; and the second is someone that has gone to Mecca. When someone’s has finished the pilgrimage to Mecca they would know be called Hajj- and then whatever their first name was. It is kind of like a PHD for those that complete going to back to Bali. In order to go on the pilgrimage one must be cleanse and have no debts.

My informant is from a Lebanese family. She is a college student at the California State University Northridge. She is very close with her father, often helping him run the family store. We sat down at a coffee shop to talk about folklore from her family.

The interesting part of this piece is the similarity in how those that have completed the pilgrimage are seen in a very positive and elevated status. Mecca plays such a huge role in the culture that it has its own merits when visited.

Mullah’s Donkey in a Well

Nationality: Persian
Age: 53
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Tustin, CA
Performance Date: 4 March 2017
Primary Language: Persian
Language: English

Informant: My friend’s mother told this story as one of her favorite Mullah Nasruddin narratives, saying she cannot remember where she originally heard it but she always thought it smart of Mullah.

Original Script: “A donkey falls into a well. And then everyone in town, they were thinking how they can actually rescue the donkey and no one can think of anything. And Mullah came and said if you put dirt on it. And everyone was accusing him, “why? it’s going to be buried under the dirt!” And it’s the smartest thing because if they were putting in the dirt and filling the hole so he could actually walk up. That was the smartest actually idea that he had at the time.”

Context of the Performance: Over dinner, family members exchanged old folk stories they remember from Iran.

Thoughts about the Piece: I liked this piece; it’s a good example of Mullah while being clever. I mostly enjoyed how excited the storyteller was, as it was clear this is her favorite story.

Meshindet

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English

“My grandmother says the phrase ‘meshindet’ a lot.  It means ‘in good health’, roughly translated from Albanian.  My mother and aunts say it a lot too because they got it from my grandmother.  We say it whenever we’re spending money together as a family, like a family dinner or a family vacation or anything.  It’s like an acknowledgement of the prosperous times we’re living whenever we’re able to spend that money, because everyone’s healthy, everyone’s together, and we can afford to do nice things together as a family sometimes.”

ANALYSIS:

I really like this proverb because of both it’s strong roots in Albanian culture and the positive and grateful meaning behind it.  Picturing a family getting together for a nice family meal and then saying ‘meshindet’ when the check comes just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.  I hope this particular proverb continues to find strong life as this family grows into new generations because I think it could really do a lot to help a family keep a positive outlook when times are both good and bad.

Mr. Tiger’s Wedding

Nationality: South Korean
Age: 58
Occupation: Self employed
Residence: Cerritos, CA
Performance Date: 4/10/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

Background: Simon is a 58-year-old man living in Cerritos, CA. He was born in Seoul and has lived in South Korea for the majority of her life until he moved here and went to the American military. He owns a car wash. Before that, he was a self-employed accountant. He is married and has two grown children.

 

Subject: Simile

Original script: “호랑이 장가가는 날”.

Translated script: “Mr. Tiger is getting married today.”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: This phrase refers to when it is raining and there is sunlight out at the same time.

Why is it the tiger’s wedding?

Simon: It was said when it rained on someone’s wedding, they would still end up living happily ever after. The rain was a bad premonition, but this saying would give hope to the married couple.

Thoughts about the piece: I never really understood this saying whenever my dad would say it, but it caught on after a while, so every time it rains and it’s sunny, I think of my dad. It’s a unique saying that sticks to your brain.

For another version of this proverb, see http://knowkorean.blogspot.com/2009/02/mr-tigers-wedding-day.html

Taiwanese Proverb

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/17
Primary Language: English

Background: Iris Zhang is an 18-year-old student living in Los Angeles, CA. She is a student at USC. She was born in Diamond Bar and raised in Arcadia, California.

Original script: “It takes sweat to work hard on something, but it only takes saliva to complain about things”

Background Information about the Piece by the informant: Her father told her this when she was much younger. She thinks she was talking about a group project and how someone wasn’t doing any work in her team. Her dad responded with this proverb and although it frustrated her, she still accepted it and considered it a valuable lesson.

Thoughts about the piece: I appreciate this proverb very much; it’s simply worded but very powerful. Also, it is very true – it creates an interesting contrast and encourages the listener to continue working hard instead of wasting time complaining.