Category Archives: Proverbs

Nickname Mix-Up

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Portland, Oregon
Performance Date: 4/14/2018
Primary Language: English

Informant Info: The informant is a 22-year-old male who was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and comes from a Catholic family. He currently is a senior at USC and is very into half-marathon and marathon racing.

 

Interview Transcript:

Interviewer: Any major proverbs or inside jokes within your family?

 

Interviewee: My mom always calls me Pedros Diaz  um because… and that’s I mean when people are like “I don’t really get that”. But what happened was I was a kid…when I was like 10. We were in Costa Rica for like my dad’s vacation and we were learning Spanish and I was just not very good at it and the guy just kept quizzing me. He was like “Yeah, so you know like what is your name? How old are you?” And I just got confused at the time and he was like “How old are you? PEDRO! And he’s like “what’s your name?” DIAZ!! So, I my Spanish mixed up and then, so he was like “AH Pedro Diaz!!!” And then I guess my parents have just called me that ever since. And then other proverbs I would say umm my parents always said just like treat others like you want to be treated… Uhh so I know that’s a pretty common one. But one they definitely had me remember and whenever I strayed from that they would sit me down and say something like “Is that how you want someone to treat you in that sense” or something like that. I think those are great first steps words like developing like any sort of empathy. I just realized that while my parents are really good. Like if I did something like I said I’m their friend they would really speak out to be like how does that make you feel that you’re in their shoes. And so, I think very encouraging that through something like that phrase made me think about other people’s perspectives. So, I think it definitely I feel like I still do think about it on my way. But I feel like as a kid I probably thought about it more than many a lot of other kids. So, I would say them saying that definitely made me feel more empathetic as a kid.

 

Analysis:

This collection resembles an inside joke on a family level. The informant’s simple mistake in learning a new language turned into an inside joke when the Spanish tutor just went along with calling him “Pedro Diaz”. Instead of laughing at the moment and letting it fade into the past, his parents held on to the memory. It was a shared moment and serves as a joke within the family. Individuals outside of the family may not understand the meaning behind it, but to the informant and his family, the simple nickname holds a fond memory that brings laughter. When telling the story, he visibly and audibly got excited and cheerful when describing the context of the story. This will likely be a joke that will continue to be passed down within the family to his kids.

 

 

Mexico: Monkey Proverb

Nationality: Mexico City
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 20 2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Original:

Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda. 

Translation:

Although the monkey dresses in silk, it’s still a monkey. 

Analysis:

This Mexican proverb was given to me by my friend who is a 20 year old from Mexico City. The exchange happened in the form of an interview while on the USC campus. She claims to have been hearing this ever since she was a child. Her mom would repeatedly say this to her every time they encountered a new person who, according to my friend, was someone her mom did not like or thought was rude. My friend then went on to explain to me how this proverb speaks to how classist of a society Mexico tends to be.  There is a large gap between the different economic sectors of Mexico; 1% of the population is extremely rich while almost 50% of the population live in extreme poverty. According to my friend, this proverb is often used to describe people that come from a poor background and are constantly showing off their newly gained money. In other words, she says that it is used to describe “people that are new rich but don’t have manners.” Hence the image of a monkey being able to dress in silk but still being a monkey regardless of the fancy clothes.

 

I think this proverb speaks a lot about Mexican society and how it functions. It also says a lot about the inequality in wealth distribution and how class plays an important factor into how people are perceived. Furthermore, it implies that people’s actions are being scrutinized despite their newly acquired wealth and/or status. The end result is to demonstrate how Mexican society is extremely closed off to outsiders of people that have not been a part of it for more than one generation. This is very interesting to me because it delineates how wealth, status, and class are taken into consideration in Mexico City.

Mexico: You Snooze, You Loose

Nationality: Mexico City
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 20 2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Original Proverb:

Camarón que se duerme de lo lleva la corriente. 

Translation:

If the shrimp falls asleep, the current carries him away. 

Analysis:

This is a Mexican take on the English proverb “if you snooze, you loose.” According to Andrea, she first heard this proverb when she was a little girl. Her father would say it to her every time she was late or forgot something. She explains that, in a way, it is a proverb meant to remind you to stay on your toes. You need to be aware of the things happening around you and if you lose an opportunity because of your lack of awareness then there’s no one to blame but you.

I love the imagery used in this proverb. The image of a shrimp being swept up by the current is a very vivid and entertaining image. This says a lot about how the Mexican language works; imagery and metaphors are an extremely common way of communicating ideas. I think it is a very creative twist on the American “you snooze, you lose” proverb. It also speaks a lot about Mexican ingenuity and how language is used as a way to reflect that.

Procrastination proverb

Nationality: Irish
Age: 56
Occupation: Lawyer/Screenwriter
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

The informant is my mother who is Irish and she grew up in Buffalo, New York. She always used to tell me this proverb growing up and still says this to me today.

 

“Your tomorrow self will thank your today self.”

 

I have never heard this proverb before and she is really the only person I have ever heard say it. My mother said her Irish grandmother would say it to her growing up. Upon further research I could not find where the proverb originated from, but I kept finding this:

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”

 

Which has the same sentiment and was apparently originally said by Sean Patrick Flanery who is also Irish.

If this is an Irish proverb, it tells me that the culture is very efficient and very in the now. I think American world view is very much future oriented and we put things off, but this proverb encourages people to do things now so you don’t have to think about it in the future.

 

For another version of this proverb see “Jane Two,” written by Sean Patrick Flanery.

 

Australian Proverb

Nationality: Australian
Age: 49
Occupation: Accountant/Talent Manager
Residence: Australia/Los Angeles
Primary Language: Panjabi

The informant was my best friends mother (referred to as KM) who is Australian. She is from Brisbane Australia and has been living there for around 50 years now. She works as a talent manager and an accountant. She told me her mother used to tell her the following proverb.

 

KM: “The more you know, the less you need.”

 

I think this short proverb is very powerful and says a lot about Australian culture. I think a lot of people in western culture view knowledge as power and power also equates to material items and money. So this is kind of the opposite of that. Knowledge is power and therefore, it is the only thing you need. Through my time in Australia and my friends, I have over there I saw a lot of people living a minimalist styled life. Obviously, people live in excess over there as well, but I think this is a beautiful way to live by. When you know more you become more resourceful and are filled with less desire to constantly consume.