Category Archives: Folk speech

The 6 P’s- Fraternity Lore

Nationality: American - Jewish, English, and Russian Heritage
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Westwood, CA
Performance Date: 4-15-16
Primary Language: English

Informant: Sam Kitaj is one of my best friends from high school. His heritage is English, Russian, and Jewish. He is 21 years old and grew up in Westwood, California. He went to high school in Los Angeles and now attends a university and is studying Real-Estate Development. He played sports his whole life with a focus on soccer and is now in a fraternity.

 

Sam: ” The “6 P’s” is something at all people learn before entering my fraternity. It is a way to show the values the house hold in a catchy tone. The 6 P’s are as follows: Proper Preparation prevents Piss Poor Performance.”

This is a long lasting tradition is my Friend’s fraternity (rather go unnamed) and it is an integral part of the entrance into the brotherhood. The brotherhood that Sam is a part of holds true to the fact that it wants it s member to be good, genuine gentlemen who have good habits and can be a man that someone could hold accountable. These words are ingrained into the minds of the upcoming initiates and poses an obligation to live by them. These 6 words demonstrate that nothing can be done correctly unless you prepare to do it correctly. Without proper preparation than your performance will be week, and you will not be the best form of yourself. Something that his fraternity holds to the upmost importance.

I really like this particular phrase because it helps define fraternity life in a different way. Not all of fraternity life is about brutal hazing for initiation and crazy parties thrown on Thursday nights. These 6 P’s  allow for a constructive and motivational culture to be established and encourages good behavior of a group. This is a very noble saying that can be continued into everyday life.

Hot Corner – Baseball Jargon

Nationality: American - Irish Descent
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pacific Palisades, CA
Performance Date: 3-25-16
Primary Language: English

Informant: Matthew Henry McGeagh is my 19 year-old  twin brother. He was born and raised in Pacific Palisades, California. His family history comes from Irish, Catholic, Jewish, German, and Swedish roots; with an emphasis on the Irish culture. He attended Catholic school from kindergarten until 12th grade and was raised Catholic by his family as well. He played many sports growing up and is very athletic. He now plays baseball at the University of Pennsylvania.

Matt informed me, “For those who know baseball well, the position of 3rd base is often referred to as the ‘hot corner’.”

Most positions in baseball stick to their given name and name is given by where the player stands on the field. For example, the position of first base is located right next to first base. 3rd base, however, as its own unique name. The term ‘hot corner’, as 3rd base, comes from a lot of generally easily observable happenings during a baseball game. My brother is the 3rd baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, so he very well knows the reasoning behind this nickname. 3rd base is located on the very left, corner side of the in-field, next to the foul line. The 3rd baseman is required to stand rather close to the batter when he sets up for his position. This makes his job very dangerous. Whether it is a left-handed or right-handed batter, the 3rd baseman gets a LOT of action. Plays to third base are not generally easy ones either, usually the plays are quick and one needs to have very fast reaction time in order to make the play or simply protect himself. That is why the term “hot corner” comes into play, because it gets so many plays and the ball is coming at you quickly.

3rd base is known for being one of the harder positions on the baseball field because of how much time one has to react. Giving it the name of the ‘hot corner’ shows respect to those who play that position and it is an acknowledgement of its difficulty. One who plays the hot corner is someone  who is generally tough and skillful because it something that takes a lot of courage and athletic ability.

We’re Off Like A Herd Of Turtles

Nationality: American- Irish and Jewish Descent
Age: 50
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Pacific Palisades, CA
Performance Date: 4-19-16
Primary Language: English

Informant: Tracy McGeagh is my mother and was born with the name Mara Tracy Weiss. She is now 50 years old and lives in Pacific Palisades, California. She was raised in Malibu, California and in Santa Monica, California and went to College at UCLA. She got her Law Degree after she graduated college and practice Family law for many years and still does briefly today. Her mother’s side of the family is from Wales, with Irish- Catholic heritage and her Father is Jewish, with Hungarian blood. She was not raised practicing either of the two religions, but celebrated both Catholic and Jewish holidays. Later in life she decided to be confirmed as Catholic and not practice her Jewish roots. She had 3 children who she helped raise as Catholic as well.

My mom always says, “And we’re off like a herd of turtles!”

This particular expression is one that is very easy to explain and holds some simple humor. My mom first heard this saying from her Uncle David who is from Wales. It is unknown if this expression comes from Irish folk speech, but she learned it from him. “Off like a heard of turtles” is a phrase that is said when a group of people gets into a car and is ready to leave for a trip, errand, or anything involving driving in a car. The reason for the “herd” part of the phrase is because their is usually a group of people present when it is said. The “turtle” part of the expression refers to the fact that the group took a long time to get ready to leave for the journey or are just moving very slowly. If the group is lagging or being forgetful, thus making the departure time significantly behind schedule, that is when the phrase is stated. Imagine a herd of turtles, that would be a pretty slow moving herd. Therefore, the subtle humor and reason for the expression makes sense and is easily understood.

I personally love this phrase because I grew up hearing it. My mom used to always say this because me and my two siblings would always take a very long time to get into the car and we really probably moved at the pace of a herd of turtles. The phrase is catchy and humorous. Also, the person who usually says the expression is the one person who was ready to leave on time, therefore it adds a little shot at the slowness of the others in the group.

Das Billige ist immer das Teuerste

Nationality: American
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: 4/22/16
Primary Language: English
Language: German

German proverb: Das Billige ist immer das Teuerste

Literal translation: “The cheapest is always the most expensive.

 

According to the informant, this proverb means that opting for quality is always of greater value, speaking long term,  than opting for something cheap or for greater abundance. This is because quality will sustain if it’s an object and you will learn and improve to a greater degree if dealing with a teacher of some sort.

This is said to be a very old saying in Germany that has been passed down for both personal benefit but also civil. This acts as a reminder that even the property, means to a cause or service must be value in terms of quality and that the people should invest a greater deal of resources into these things to insure a prosperous collective.

The informant values this proverb greatly because when she was young she was subject to dealing with many faulty things and horrible teachers here in the states because of the disregard for quality. Part of this had to do with living through the Great Depression  but looking back she says that there were many instances where procuring quality would have saved her family a great deal of time, energy and money.

 

I selected this proverb from the informants repertoire because I felt it carried a great deal of merit in an age of synthetic and cheap knockoffs of quality products. Some people obviously still value nice well made things but too many fall for the short term trap. From a business end cheaper is better because it can ensure sales long-term. But if you look to the past many companies and groups of people made solid products regardless of the price. It is as though there’s been a shift of values for the sake of profit.

If we look at the creations of their German people, they are notorious for producing quality products  it is likely this proverb transcended its folk roots into mainstream production philosophy, at least to a good degree

 

The informant is retired but worked as a secretary for quite some time. She is of German descent and has a great deal of German folklore knowledge that she had learned from her relatives.

 

 

 

Aus Schaden wird man klug

Nationality: American
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: 4/24/16
Primary Language: English
Language: German

German Proverb: Aus Schaden wird man klug

English translation: Failure makes smart

According to the informant, Aus Schaden wird man klug is a proverb that reminds one of the essentialness of failure. We live in a world where many cultures devalue missteps instead of seeing them as being just as integral to progress as success.

The informant states that she came to know this proverb from her father who learned it from his German native father. It was when she first pursued playing the violin. She believed she could easily bypass others who found the instrument difficult to play well. Little did she know how difficult it really was. Ironically she played more poorely than her friends. After giving a few months she was ready to give up until she told her father of her intentions. This irked her father who then shared the proverb. This opened up her eyes as to how perceive failure. She embraced it and eventually came out of her learning rut. Since then she studied her failures more closely to better inform her next steps. This proverb she says holds an enourmas amount of value because it has fundamentally changed how she approaches mout things in life.

I found this proverb worth capturing because it provides a type of perspective on a matter, that is achieving success, that often comes from old and often overlooked wisdom, such as embracing failure. That is not to say there are cultures around the world who do not embrace failure today, but in the mainstream westernized way of thinking it has certainly been suppressed by many. What we must take away of from this is that understanding and appreciating antiquated thought may serve us in surprising ways. It is not something to reserve for the recepticals of time.

The informant is retired but worked as a secretary for quite some time. She is of German descent and has a great deal of German folklore knowledge that she had learned from her relatives.