Category Archives: Folk speech

A Deal With the Devil

Nationality: Chilean
Age: 60
Occupation: Agronomist/Coffee Plantation Manager
Residence: Hawaii
Performance Date: 03/29/15
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

I collected this piece of folklore from my dad while he was visiting. We ended up just sitting in the car in a parking lot while he shared some more Chilean folklore with me.

Original script 

“Un pacto con el Diablo”

Transliteration

” a deal with the devil”

Translation

You use this whenever you see someone in Chile doing very well. Especially someone young and very successful with lots of wealth. They think that people can sell their soul to the devil, and make a trade. If you’re poor and not doing well, you can ask the devil for help, and he will offer you whatever you want , but it will only be temporary, and in the end, the price to pay is often an early death.

My dad was raised in Rancagua, Chile, which is a city outside of Santiago in the 1950s and early 1960s. Back then and still today, religion has a very strong presence in Chile.

This saying can be seen as rooted in jealousy over what you don’t have, and in a way, is kind of like cursing someone for being  successful when you aren’t. This saying is well-known and used a lot in Chile.

“Ikau” Pun

Nationality: American/Filipino
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 04/27/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog

The informant is a fellow student and a good friend. While going out for smoothies, she shared her Filipino culture with me.

“I’m going to give you a heads up, so ‘ikau’ mean ‘you.’ So they would say, ‘What’s an example of an ugly cow?’ And then someone would say, ‘what?’ And then they would be like, ‘IKAU!’

Background & Analysis

The informant thinks this joke is really corny, but she still uses it with other Filipino people a lot. She learned it from Filipino friends in grade school, who had probably heard it from older brothers and sisters.

This is a more contemporary joke, because it’s in english, but makes use of a pun in tagalog. This joke most likely then originated among subsequent Filipino-American generation children here in the U.S.

German Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 63
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Performance Date: 4/20/2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Polish, French, Spanish, Italian

Informant: Kleider machen Leute

(Clothes make the man)

Collector: Who told you this?

Informant: My mother told me this constantly, like several times in a month all during my childhood. This proverb exists in many languages, and I don’t know why she chose to tell it in German. I would guess that this was passed down from her parents.

Collector: Why do you think she told you this proverb? In what context?

Informant: Having grown up in difficult circumstances-both as the neglected daughter of the family and as a member of a persecuted community in Europe-she felt that assuming the persona that you wanted by ‘wearing the clothes ‘ and doing whatever it takes to be beautiful or accepted were important survival skills that she wanted to pass on to me. Also, grooming was very important to women in France.

Collector : And what did the proverb mean to you ?

Informant : For me, growing up in far less precarious circumstances, it represented superficiality, because I felt that what is inside a person is more important.

In the few times I’ve heard this proverb personally, it was always more in a wholesome manner. It was in the context akin to working for the place you wanted to be. Essentially, you should act as if you are where you want to be and your hard work will get you there. In the case of this informant, it’s in a more self-conscious and conforming mentality that could potentially have repercussions on the informant. By being told one should do whatever it takes to be accepted, individuality and originality is undermined. Rather than accepting oneself and working to be happy on one’s own terms, it is suggested that they work to be accepted by others and make others happy.

French Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 63
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Performance Date: 4/20/2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Polish, French, Spanish, Italian

Informant: Il faut souffrir pour être belle

(french, « one must suffer to be beautiful »)

Collector: Who told you this?

Informant: My mother told me this often, like several times in a month all during my childhood. This proverb exists in many languages, but she always told me in French.

Collector: Why do you think she told you this proverb? In what context?

Informant: She was trying to tell me that things don’t come easily, and that you have to work hard to get results. I think that her own background of exile and having to begin a new life in America taught her that nothing comes easy. I think that in particular she wanted me to care for my outward appearance as this was very important to her. And I think that she told me in french instead of in English because women in France are known to place a high value on grooming.

Collector : And what did the proverb mean to you ?

Informant : For me, it represented superficiality, because I felt that what is inside a person is more important. I grew up in the 60s, and we were really rebelling against the idea that you have to ‘work hard for the man’.

In the few times I’ve heard this proverb, it was in a more wholesome manner. It was in the context akin to working for the place you wanted to be. Essentially, you should act as if you are where you want to be and your hard work will get you there. In the case of this informant, it’s in a more self-conscious and conforming mentality that could potentially have reprecussions on the informant. By being told one should do whatever it takes to be accepted, individuality and originality is undermined. Rather than accepting oneself and working to be happy on one’s own terms, it is suggested that they work to be accepted by others and make others happy.

Leaving Words

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 4/28/2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant: Bahala Ka

(Bah-ha-la Ka)

(Be careful, you’re dumb)

The informant learned this phrase from her Filipino relatives.

It is said every time a younger person leaves to do an activity, for example, go to the beach with friends or ride a bike to a destination. The informant explains that it was never said with malice or judgment but was a warning to stay safe.

The informant never found it offensive because the concept that kids are better than their parents was never culturally appropriate in her Filipino upbringing.

It seems as if the saying was less an intended comment on the person’s intelligence and more of a comment on how things can go wrong or  on how bad things happen. It’s used a warning to be mindful and be safe. It was said with love by a person who was concerned.