Category Archives: Proverbs

Dad’s Favorite Sayings

AGE: 59

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 02/19/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: American 

OCCUPATION: Doctor 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: Korean

RESIDENCE: New York 

For context, my dad is a very dry and sarcastic man.

Interviewer: Are there any particular phrases you remember growing up hearing? Or any of your own that you use?

TL: “No.” [Proceeds to think of any phrases he uses]

Interviewer: Oh well I remember your most common one: “Suck it up buttercup!”

TL: “Oh yes.”

[My mother]: “Your dad loves to say ‘Don’t be a knucklehead’ to you and your sister!”

Interviewer: Oh yes! You also say “You can’t teach stupid” a lot.

TL: “Mmm.” [This is him agreeing]

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

Because of my dad’s nature, it ended up with my mother and I leading the conversation from things that we remember my dad saying. While my dad might forget the things he says (which I personally feel that it’s common for people to forget the habitual phrases and words they use), my family and I remember it quite well. My dad loves to use proverbs or phrases that teach a lesson of some sort. After the interview, I asked my father where he learned these from and he stated it was a mix of his dad, TV, and the people he grew up playing sports around in NYC. What’s even more interesting is that I find myself using one of his phrases, “you can’t teach stupid” myself when giving advice to my friends. It’s incredibly interesting how common phrases and things we hear in our environments and families become a part of our subconscious.

Beginning Rather than the End – South Indian Saying

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Language: Telugu, translated to English

Saying/Culture: “Anthya Nishturam Kanna Aadi nishturame melu” 

Translates to: Better to Regret in the Beginning than at the end

  1. Context:

Being made fun of his whole life, he told me about his dad telling him this when he started his journey in the gym. Starting as a scrawny high school sophomore who could barely lift 45 pounds to someone who reps out 205 pound on the benchpress, this saying has truly resonated with him. He told me that his dad learned this from his dad when growing up in a farm in South India, where trying something knew and even breaking out of a generational farm path was the fruition of this saying.

Analysis: The fact that this proverb has been used for something far from its original grounding demonstrates the duality and multiple meanings that this can have. I found it interesting that the gym is why his father passed it down to him rather than traditional & preconceived educational stereotypes placed on south indians and south asians as a whole. The meaning itself has seen multiple translations or similar lines in America in other forms, in my opinion, and roots from a traditional sports background or more currently with Generation-Z, the college application process.

Idiots – Wealth Saying

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Miami, Florida
Language: English

Saying: “Don’t go half idiot, go full idiot.”

Context: Being passed down from her grandpa to her dad to her, this saying comes from when her father immigrated to the States for the first time. With uncertainty and restraints such as doubt and fear having the ability to hold someone back, her grandfather wanted to remove this preconceived notion to ensure the fact that if he went through with something stupid, such as a useless business idea, or buying a used Cherokee with 40,000 miles. Generationally, this has changed for her coming from the East to the West Coast, especially with friends. To her, if you make friends with someone don’t talk to them once, continue talking with them and stay in touch.

Analysis: I find this saying particularly interesting, especially from an ethnic perspective, as she is Korean. Talking with her, I learned that until the latter half of her high school years, her parents embodied the stereotypical tiger parent image. However, breaking off this and creating her own identity she was able to do this by putting her 100% into everything she does, whether or not it came to fruition. Especially with the idea of half vs full, something that comes to mind is a glass of water half full vs half empty. As such, with this saying, something that can be perceived is that if you plan on doing something and whether it succeeds or fails go down with the idea don’t leave it at the tilting point. This saying has evolved and culturally differs especially in the US. Similar to the glass of water is the idea of a captain sinking with the ship. As such, the meaning of the saying stays the same but changes depending on how/the cultural background you were brought up in. Strict parents follow the idiot idea, a family with ties to the naval space would have a ship, and a traditional American family of 4 going from the American dream would have a glass of water.

Treat others well proverb

Information Info

Age: 18

Date_of_performance: 02/16/2025

Informant Name: CK

Language: English 

Nationality: American 

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English

Residence: Westwood, Los Angeles 

Text:

““Treat other’s the way you’d like to be treated” My mom engrained that into my brain growing up anytime I ever did or said something she thought was unfair, especially towards other kids my age. It’s a fairly common saying, but I associate it most strongly with my mom because of her strong sense of justice and compassion.”

Analysis:

It is fascinating to me that most of the proverbs you hear around, are introduced you by your parents or specifically by your mother. This one stands out the most to be out of all of the them. It has 2 meanings we could dive into. 1. The simple and widely known meaning of treating people with respect and kindness. Putting yourself into their shoes and imagining what it would be like if someone those awful and disgusting words towards you, how would you feel? What you give out will come right back to you. 2. This meaning is a bit harder to find, but it also could mean do more than what is expected of you and put your own needs aside. The proverb follows the first meaning more, because CK mentioned how his mom would say it to him whenever he did something unfair towards siblings or kids around his age and her sense of justice getting passed down to him because of this saying that he will carry with him throughout life and help create his own sense of justice for others and doing what is right.


Knock on Wood for Luck

Information Info

Age: 38

Date_of_performance: 02/17/2025

Informant Name: CF

Language: English 

Nationality: American 

Occupation:  Senior Manager, Digital Marketing lol

Primary Language: English

Residence: Virginia, US

Text:

“You better knock on wood so something bad doesn’t happen or you don’t jinx yourself”.  It’s a big saying among my family and while I’m not particularly superstitious in general, I always knock on wood or the closest possible hard surface after I say “knock on wood”.  I’m not a religious person but I do believe in karma and that things can happen universally, so I will always “knock on wood”.  My family, particularly my mom’s side, has said this my whole life so I feel like I’ve been saying it since I was able to understand the saying.  

Analysis

Knock on door is a proverb I’ve heard many time before. It brings up an interesting conversation about where that saying came to be. C mentions how she isn’t religious but believes in karma, which makes me believe that it lands in the lap of people who are less spiritual and simply want protection and luck from the universe. Superstitious proverbs most of the time lead back to nature, as we can see from the one above, knocking on wood (whether if its a tree or a table made out of wood from trees) and it connects to wanting to be on good terms with the universe and what surrounds us. I also find this story sweet, even though she isn’t superstitious like her family, it is still ingrained into who she is because her mom taught her it and wanted to have luck throughout life.