Category Archives: Folk speech

BAE

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: 4/3/15
Primary Language: English

Background:

The informant is my younger brother. He was born in Pasadena, California and was raised in Silver Lake, California. He is currently a sophomore at Providence high school in Burbank where he receives an academic scholarship. He enjoys participating in sports and hanging out with his friends in his spare time.

Informant: 

“Bae” is probably the one word I hear at least once every day at school. Basically, it’s another way of saying “Babe” but by dropping the second B. I don’t know who the hell comes up with this shit, but it’s ridiculous how popular this word has gotten. Some people use it to describe their crush by saying something like, “oh, that’s bae”. I’ve also heard people say it stands for Before Anyone Else. Usually cuz people my age cut off everyone else for their boyfriend or girlfriend. I got homies who go MIA the second they start talking to some chick.

Analysis: 

The word is very common amongst younger age groups. It has had a huge impact on pop culture and has become extremely popular on various social media sites and even in music. Just last year Pharrell Williams released a song titled “Come Get it Bae”. Despite the fact that many think the word is dumb it has had a ton of influence. But like any other trend I think this one will die out over time.

Annotation:

Come Get It Bae. Perf. Pharrell Williams. Youtube. Vevo, 23 July 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfGMj10wOzg>.

 

“Buckets”

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: 4/3/15
Primary Language: English

Background:

The informant is my younger brother. He was born in Pasadena, California and was raised in Silver Lake, California. He is currently a sophomore at Providence high school in Burbank where he receives an academic scholarship. He enjoys participating in sports and hanging out with his friends in his spare time.

Transcript:

Me: Okay so explain “Buckets” to me what exactly does it mean?

Informant: Alright so in Basketball there is a lot of trash talking. Whether you’re bagging on someone for how much they suck or if you’re hyping yourself up cuz you know you’re just that good. Basketball deals a lot with confidence and being mentally strong. So “Buckets” is a way of stating that you just scored, you’re gonna score, or that you’re just flat out good at scoring, It all depends on how you use it

Me: Can you give me some examples on how it is used?

Informant: Yea….”Buckets!” is usually said after scoring as a reminder to your defender that they can’t guard you. “I’m about to get buckets” is said before scoring as a way of getting inside your opponents head showing them you’re pretty damn confident you can score on them. And”I get buckets” is said when you know you can score at will. Basically like saying you’re the shit.

Me: When did you first pick this up?

Informant: When I started playing pickup at the park and gym with my friends. When you play pickup at a park or gym you hear endless amounts of shit talking. I heard it and ever since then I’ve started using it.

Analysis:

It is a very clever metaphor in my opinion, and a very witty way of talking trash. I just wonder why it is “buckets” and not “baskets”?  It is interesting to see simple terms come to life in sports language. In 2012, the term was used in a Pepsi Max commercial. The person using the term was NBA rookie of the year Kyrie Irving.

Annotation: 

Uncle Drew Part 1 Pepsi Max/Pepsi. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DnKOc6FISU>.

“Wear It !” Baseball Slang

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendale, CA
Performance Date: 4/3/15
Primary Language: English

Background:

The informant is my younger brother. He was born in Pasadena, California and was raised in Silver Lake, California. He is currently a sophomore at Providence high school in Burbank where he receives an academic scholarship. He enjoys participating in sports and hanging out with his friends in his spare time. 

Informant:

When I started playing baseball I picked up a whole new language that relates to the game. Especially since I started playing high school ball. It has its own slang. There are a bunch of sayings. You know…shit like, “roll it up”, “turn two”, “good eye”, “going yard”, “squeeze” and the list goes on.  Anyways, the weakest thing you can do in a game is move out of the way from a pitch that is going to hit you. I mean unless that shit is coming at your head then you’d be stupid not to move. But if you get hit by a pitch while up at bat it’s a free base meaning we have a chance at scoring. If you move out the way its selfish cuz you’re more worried about a silly ass bruise than scoring to win. Guys gotta be willing to make that sacrifice for the team. So Ultimately, if you move out the way… you’re a selfish pussy whos afraid to get hit(laughs). For the guys that do take the hit, we yell “wear it” meaning like wear that shit be proud and don’t be a wuss. Wear the hit with pride cuz you just took a hit to put us in the position to score. As for those that don’t take the hit we still yell “wear it!” as a command if a pitch comes at them again. I first heard it my freshmen year from my coach at practice. We were having batting practice and I moved out of the way from a pitch that was coming at me. He yelled at me saying, “This ain’t little league no more! You better turn your shoulder and wear it! If you move out of the way in a game I’ll have a nice spot for you on the bench.” I remember thinking “what the fuck? I don’t want to get hit” But one of my friends who was older explained to me why as I just told you and said that’s just how it is in high school and college ball.

Analysis :

This metaphor is quite hilarious in my opinion. It is amazing how even something like a sport can have its own language and culture. I’ll say this though, I believe that it is a language that can be best understood by those who partake in the sport. “Wear it” can be a form of cheering on your teammates and encouraging them after taking a hit and also can be a command for those who are scared to take a hit. If you don’t take the hit it may come with some unkind remarks from teammates and coaches alike.

 

 

Dime

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 20
Occupation: California Gas Company
Residence: Atwater Village, CA
Performance Date: 4/20/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Background:

The informant is my best friend from middle school. He has a twin sister and is older by a couple minutes. He currently works for the California Gas Company and on the side does voice overs for D.J. drops. 

Transcript : 

Me: So what do you mean by Dime. Are you talking about money?

Informant: Not necessaruly. It can mean different things depending on how it’s used.

Me: Give me some examples.

Informant: Alright so in basketball if you throw a nice ass pass without looking to where the ball is headed that leads to a score you can call that a “dime” instead of an assist.

Me: I see I see. So you can say someone like Chris Paul or Stephen Curry dishes out a ton of dimes

Informant: Exactly.

Me: where did you first hear dime used in basektball terms?

Imformant: I can’t remember exactly but I hear it said a lot while playing and watching games on T.V.

Me: Alright. Well what else can it mean?

Informant: Well if you’re talking about a beautiful girl you can call her a dime which means she is a ten out of ten.

Me: (laughs) That’s interesting. Where’d you pick that up?

Informant: The term is big in Hip-Hop culture. And I would always hear my uncle say it and when I was younger and I would copy everything he did.

Analysis: 

I think the use of dime to describe a beautiful girl is clever with a dime being worth ten cents hence the idea ten out of ten. In the context of basketball, it hints to the idea of dropping a dime because people tend to drop change a lot without knowing or seeing. Obviously a player knows when they intend to pass but it has to do with not looking towards the direction the ball is going. It is a way of being finese and slick on the basketball court. Dropping something (a dime) and making it look EASY!

“May Your Giving Hand Never Fail”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Illinois
Performance Date: April 19, 2015
Primary Language: English

(in an Irish accent, imitating her Papa’s voice) “May your giving hand never fail.”

My Papa said this all the time and people didn’t really know what to do with it. I think he just said it to anyone who was generous, but like waitresses especially. So, they weren’t really being generous, they were just…doing their job.

I guess there was this one waitress, I wasn’t there this time, but she was like, “What’d you say?” and uh, my dad had to explain and she was like “I like that, I’m gonna start using it!”

I don’t know where he got it from, but he said it whenever he told me this story about this woman, and he describes her as a woman with a “good giving hand”.

So Papa, he was a Pace bus driver, so you know how they kind of have to stick to a schedule? Well this one day, it was the dead of winter, he saw this nun running after the bus and he just decided to wait for her. And she was flabbergasted he waited for her. And (in Irish accent again) he said, “Aw yeah, it’s too cold to be waitin’ for another bus” and she was so so thankful for him doing that that she ended up telling the hospital she worked at to let him have breakfast there everyday. He dropped her off and she said wait right here and ran in and I guess asked them and came out and told him to come for breakfast before his shift…  and so he did. For years, he just started his morning there everyday with free breakfast (laughs). She probably didn’t think he would actually take her up on it.

And every time he told it to me he would say “oh yes, she had a good giving hand”.

context of the performance:

The informant described this proverb and the following story in a one on one conversation, when asked if she had any family proverbs. She always does a very good Irish accent impression for her grandfather, who came to the United States from Ireland as an adult. He passed away a few months before this collection, so it was definitely a little nostalgic, as well.

thoughts on the performance:

It is always interesting how strangers respond to older people and their sayings, especially those with accents. It was hard to capture in writing, but when the informant described the waitresses reaction, she was sort of wary of her grandpa and almost rude in her response, until her dad clarified it for him. Especially the way the informant says it, in the vernacular of her grandfather, this proverb definitely sounds like a number of similar Irish blessings I have heard before.