Category Archives: Folk speech

Japanese Proverb for Perseverance

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Gardena, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Japanese

Background

This informant is Mexican-American, but took a great interest in learning the language and culture of Japan when she began high school. Since then, she has visited Japan and founded a college club where she meets with and helps support Japanese exchange students studying in America.

Context

The informant described to me the first time she heard this proverb. She was struggling in one of her classes and a friend of hers from Japan (who she often texts to practice Japanese) texted it to her in the hopes that it would inspire her to continue persevering through the course. The informant said the Japanese phrase to me, while I was stressing about a grade on an assignment and explained what it meant.

Text

七転び八起き

Nanakorobi yaoki

Fall seven times, stand up eight

Thoughts

This proverb was clearly meaningful to the informant. I think, in part, it’s because it represents her connection with Japan, as well as her relationship with her friend. Furthermore, the phrase seemed to come into her life at a time where she needed to hear it, and therefore, it stuck with her enough for her to pass it on to other people, even those who do not speak Japanese.

I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now

Nationality: N/A
Age: N/A
Occupation: N/A
Residence: N/A
Performance Date: N/A

Background

Tumblr user chardonnaymami posted a transcript of a conversation about virgin mai tias that included the phrase “I came out to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now.” Over the next several weeks, the phrase was used in thousands of copy posts, molding to fit any number of situations. It reaches a point where people began to parody the phrase often enough that it would be impossible to understand some jokes if you didn’t have the background knowledge to recognize the original phrase.

Context

This meme was spread mostly on the popular blogging website Tumblr. It would mainly be used after some sort of criticism to sarcastically complain about being criticized or challenged.

Text

Original Post

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Examples of the spread of the phrase

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Self-aware meme

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Thoughts

This piece of internet folklore probably caught on so quickly because it addresses a problem that many people face on the internet: trolls and incessant criticism. By enacting this popularly used phrase, users could playfully deal with situations that are normally uncomfortable and hard to deal with. Furthermore, once the meme reached a certain level of popularity, it became almost necessary to post some form of the phrase to establish one’s self as a real part of the community. If you didn’t get the joke, it meant you clearly hadn’t been paying very close attention.

 

Love from a distance

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Gardena, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Japanese

Background

The informant is a first generation Mexican-American student. She said that she spends a decent amount of time in Mexico still (she usually visits a couple weekends during the school year and goes for slightly longer periods during the summer). She visits a lot of family in Mexico, including her grandma, a lot of cousins, and aunts and uncles. Outside of Mexico itself, she has a lot of Mexican friends from growing up in the Los Angeles area.

Context

The informant described to me the first time she remembered hearing this proverb. She was talking with one of her friends (who is also Mexican) about her some problems she was having in her long distance relationship and her friend responded with this phrase. The informant described her friend’s tone as somewhat joking, but with real sentiment behind it. She said that she heard that phrase countless more times during the 9 months she was still in that relationship from various other Mexican friends and relatives.

Text

Amor de lejos amor de pendejos

Love from a distance is love for idiots

Thoughts

This proverb was obviously more significant to the informant because she was actually in a long distance relationship and this is something people would say to her quite often. I also thought it was interesting how this proverb seemed to lose something in translation. The original spanish rhymes and has a good flow to it, where the english phrase is somewhat awkward. I asked the informant if she would say this phrase to me in English (I don’t speak spanish) and she said that she would probably just avoid using the proverb if she couldn’t say it in spanish because “it won’t sound the same.” In this way, the proverb is a way of connecting her to fellow spanish speaking people

In a closed mouth, flies do not enter

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Gardena, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Japanese

Background

The informant is a first generation Mexican-American student. She said that she spends a decent amount of time in Mexico still (she usually visits a couple weekends during the school year and goes for slightly longer periods during the summer). She visits a lot of family in Mexico, including her grandma, a lot of cousins, and aunts and uncles. She learned this proverb from one of her uncles during these visits.

Context

The informant said that the first time she remembers hearing this proverb is when she was a young child and was talking incessantly about pokemon. Her uncle said it to her and she said he essentially meant, “shut up, kid.” Since then, she says that she and others use it to let someone know they are being too long-winded.

Text

En boca cerrada, no entran moscas

In a closed mouth, flies do not enter.

Thoughts

The informant found this proverb very funny and she seemed eager to pass it on to me, so that she can now say it to me in Spanish and I’ll know what it means, even though I don’t speak Spanish. I think she desires to perform this proverb so badly because it allows her to say something kind of rude to the people she cares about, but in a playful way, so that it is hard for the person to get mad. She also seems to use it to identify with her Mexican roots and her close connection with her family in Mexico. This is something they apparently all say to each other.

“It is better to have tuchus than sechel” – Yiddish Phrase

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 71
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Mexican
Performance Date: 9/25/2016
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English, Yiddish

“Es mejor tener tuchus que sechel”

Phonetics: “Ez meˈxoɾ teˈneɾ ˈtuʧus ke seˈʧel”

Translation: It is better to have a bottom (understood as persistence) than a brain.

This phrase combines two Yiddish words with the Spanish language. Because it was understood that having a bottom implied being persistence and that having a brain implied being intelligent, this proverb implies that it is better to be persistent than to be smart. It is often said by a wise adult after witnessing another struggling to complete his or her work.

The informant, Reyna Babani, is a 71-year-old Mexican Jew who lives in Mexico City. Because she grew up in such a close-knit community, Reyna considers herself an expert on Jewish culture. She was taught the proverb by her father after he observed her struggling to finish various tasks, such as finishing her homework. To her, the proverb represents the idea that it is better to keep working hard than to simply be smart.

This phrase is a clear example of something that resulted from the Mexican and Yiddish cultures mixing together. Reyna’s father was born in Europe but had been raised in Mexico, so it makes sense why he would mix both languages into the same sentences. It is interesting to see how her father maintained his Yiddish identity, but still assimilated into his new country.