Category Archives: Folk speech

“It’s better to look down at the grass that up at it.”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Illinois, USA
Performance Date: April 24, 2015
Primary Language: English

Right off the bat, the first thing that comes to mind is my dad. He always says, “It’s better to be looking down at the grass than up at it.” Anytime I ask him how he’s doing…or uh, how his day is, he always says that. “It’s better to be looking down at the grass than up at it.” and then usually, “best day of my life.”

“Where do you think he got it from?”

Honestly, I’m not 100% sure. I think he might have come up with it on his own. He’s really good with words, actually and cute little phrases and speeches. He made a beautiful toast at my aunt and uncle’s 25th anniversary…I’m excited for him to speak at my wedding.

Oh, another thing he says a lot is “Savor the moment.” Like for any big mile stone in my life, when those are going down, or for my cousins, too. He tells us “Savor the moment”.

And when he gives me cards, he gives me cards whenever I go back to college after spring or Christmas break, he writes that in there. And there’s always money in the cards, which is nice!

The first time he said that to me was when my volleyball team, remember that, was in the state championship and I guess it sort of just progressed from there.

Context of the Performance:

This performance was delivered during a one on one conversation between the informant and me. I asked her if she had any proverbs her parents or grandparents always says and right away she came up with the one about it being better to  look down at the grass.

Thoughts on the piece:

I think any expressions that recognize our own mortality and sort of show an appreciation for life are worth repeating. The informant detailed how her father uses it very frequently, even when just asked how he is doing or how his day is going. Paired with his regular use of another proverb “Savor the moment,” it is clear the informant and her father share an appreciation for each day.

A quick search of the first proverb online did not yield any exact matches, so it is possible this particular proverb is unique to their family.

“You gotta have a home.”

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: tax accountant (intern)
Residence: Illinois, USA
Performance Date: April 29, 2015
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

I guess I know one that would be uh, a proverb. Just: “You gotta have a home.”

What do you think that means?

I don’t know. I have no idea.

Okay, um. When did you first hear this proverb?

When? Um… I don’t know how old. I guess I was probably ten years old. And it was at story time at our house right before bed. Or maybe Uncle Tom’s house. Either way, it was us and Joey and Jake and we asked for one more story and they  said they would tell us the story of the boll weevil and then just started singing, “You gotta have a home.”

I guess it… emphasizes the importance of family. Like having a home is having a family you can count on. Dad and Uncle Tom just wanted us to go to bed.

Have you told this proverb to anyone else?

Actually, yeah! I passed it on to Luke to make him mad when he asked me to tell him a story like four years ago.

Context of the performance: 

I asked the informant, who happens to be my brother, to tell me his favorite family sayings that we tell and retell. He immediately thought of the story of the boll weevil.

Collector’s Thoughts on this Piece

Members of our family definitely repeat the phrase, “You gotta have a home”, but never with as little context as the first time it was told, which the informant described.  The story of the boll weevil has become an inside joke of sorts, a way for bored  or tired bedtime storytellers to end it and annoy the kids.  The informant does not go into much detail about this but story time was a big part of our childhood whenever we had a cousins sleepover.

For another version of this piece, there is actually a recorded song with similar lyrics. Uncle Tom must have misheard them or forgotten the rest because the only lyric, which turned into a family proverb over time, he sang is “you gotta have a home”, which isn’t actually a part of this recorded version.

Benton, Brook, and Stan Applebaum. The Boll Weevil Song and Eleven Other Great Hits. Mercury, 1961. CD.

“Lo Que mas se Presume, menos se tiene”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/14/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My informant is a student who has very deep connections to her hispanic culture. She shared with me a proverb passed down to her from her mother. She also explained the meaning of the phrase to me, and what it meant.

Informant: A saying my mom says often is ” Lo que mas se presume, menos se tiene” Which translates to something like… The more you show off the less you have. ” She says it when ppl want to show off that they have a better car or a bigger party but maybe in reality theses ppl that show off feel depress and lonely”

Analysis:

My analysis of this proverb is that it is a direct moral lesson, to warn children against greed. The object is to instruct them to be happy with what they have, and not to desire for more then they have. In addition, it is also a warning that merely owning more possessions will not lead to happiness, but is just a substitute for it. Without meaningful companionship, it is extremely possibly in my view that someone may end up feeling unfulfilled.

Cinderella Jumping Rope Rhyme

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/27/15
Primary Language: English
Language: french

The informant is 20-years old and finishing her sophomore year at USC. She is a Business and Music Industry Major, is involved in several on-campus organizations such as Concerts Committees. When she’s not doing her school work or work for clubs, she enjoys running, taking hikes, and going to concerts. She grew up in Washington with her mom, dad, and two younger sisters.

 

Informant: “I guess something I learned from other people would be jump roping rhymes. I was super into jump roping with my friends when I was in elementary school. Even into middle school we would play Double Dutch. It’s just an easy thing to play—jump-roping. Like all we needed to have with us was the rope.”

 

Interviewer: “Do you have a favorite rhyme you want to share?”

 

Informant: “I wouldn’t say I have a favorite…But one I think is really weird. Haha. Probably the most bizarre rhyme that circulated around is one about Cinderella. We would sing:

‘Cinderella dressed in yellow

Went downstairs to kiss her fellow

On the way her girdle busted,

How many people were disgusted?’

And then you’d count off 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Until whoever was jumping rope tripped. And then the song would start all over again.

 

Thoughts: It’s funny that my informant learned this Cinderella rhyme for jumping rope in Washington because I learned the same one in the suburb of Chicago where I grew up. I remember seeing some kids recite it while jump roping, but where I heard it the most was in the figure skating community. I figure skated for ten years and when we had shows, all of the younger kids would convene in a sort of backstage/holding area when we weren’t on the ice. We used to play all sorts of games to pass the time and one game was a one where everyone sat in a circle with their hands touching and we would go around the circle as we sang this song slapping the person’s hand next to us, and when we got to 10, the person whose hand was slapped got out. This seems like a good example of how folklore travels, or of polygenesis, and how it attains different uses and practices as it is spread.

“I’m Staying Another Week” – How Punchlines Pervade Daily Life

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: 04/05/15
Primary Language: English
Language: none

The informant is a 54 year old woman, who has lived in the United States all her life. She was raised by her mother and has no siblings. She attended school through college, and lives in downtown Chicago with her husband. The following is what she described as “folkspeech” from her mother-in-law.

 

Informant: “It’s from a joke. So, whenever, if we were having a disagreement, like your uncle and I, about anything, and you’d ask your Grandma’s opinion about it. Like, “What do you think?” She’d say, “The soup’s not hot, the soup’s not cold, and I’m staying another week.” It was a punchline to a joke about a married couple whose mother-in-law is there visiting and won’t leave so they stage a fight to try and make her leave. She realizes what they’re doing so she says, “the soup’s not hot, the soup’s not cold, and I’m staying another week.” So whenever I would try to get her involved, that’s what she would do. She said that all the time.

 

Interviewer: “Do you know where she heard the joke?”

 

Informant: “Oh, from Grandpa, I’m sure. He had so many jokes, you remember.

 

Interviewer: “Of course. Do you know where he got his jokes?”

 

Informant: “He would hear them and I guess kind of mentally collect them to tell.

 

Thoughts: Initially I was unsure as to whether or not this was folklore. The phrase itself doesn’t seem very “folkloric” in nature; neither does the informant’s in-law’s use of the phrase. However, when I thought about the phrase again, I realized that it is a form of folklore. The phrase itself came from the punch line of a joke—something that people learn from other people—and the informant’s mother-in-law took the punch line into a different context, her daily life. This is a perfect example of how folklore can traverse across different mediums and how it can be applied in different ways.