Category Archives: Proverbs

Marrying in Sunshowers

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2/18/2023
Primary Language: English

Text:

“When it’s sunny but there’s rain outside, that means the lion is getting married.”

Context:

PK is a 19-year old USC freshman who lived in Upstate New York. During a car ride to his local grocery store, he remembers the presence of rain and sunshine outside the window. Although he didn’t really understand what his mother meant, he embraced the saying and held it with him throughout his childhood. He predisposes that it means “something about finding happiness and joy alongside certain milestones in life.”

Analysis:

Especially when there are language barriers that detach one from their culture, certain sayings and proverbs appear to hold an even more abstract, metaphorical ambience that adds a more sacred, fantastical aura to the proverb. After searching for the influence of sun and rain in folklore, I’ve discovered that there seems to be a beautiful intermingling between joy and sadness, which reveals the ambivalence and complexities of life itself. Rather than attempting to rationalize the bizarre, folklore embraces it and makes it understandable. In fact, in various cultures, “sunshowers” are often linked to animals, particularly clever trickster animals, getting married or giving birth. This may be connected to the rain being a contradiction to the natural order. This attachment to nature–through rain, sunlight, and animals–is prevalent in many variants of folklore, and there is always a strive towards harmony among these dynamic elements. Perhaps as a way to explain seemingly magical phenomena, people seek their culture’s significant animals to create a more tangible reasoning. Especially to justify incongruities and inconsistencies in nature, folklore enables us to provide an explanation in order to restore a sense of ease and balance with our world.

Proverb: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Context: The interviewee, M, is 18 years old and they were born and raised in what is commonly known as the Bay Area in San Francisco, California. M had brought up this common proverb that they heard growing up while we were discussing minor folklore genres because both their parents are doctors in internal medicine, and they joked that they would eat an apple every time they wanted their parents to stop bothering them.

Analysis: The proverb originated in the 1860s in Wales, but it was in a different format: “Eat an apple on going to bed and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.” It wasn’t until 1913 that it became the proverb we know today (Davis, 2015). This was because they were advocating for children to eat more apples and healthy foods in general so that they will be in good health and not need to go to the hospital as often. I was also familiar with this saying growing up. I had some health issues when I was younger, and I frequently visited the hospital/emergency room growing up. I had a lot of allergies, one of them being dust, and I used to have asthma as well, so together, they were not a great combination. I was not a big fan of hospitals and doctors, so I would eat apples all the time to try and prevent myself from getting sick or having an allergic reaction and having to go back to the hospital. 

Davis, M. A., Bynum, P. W., & Sirovich, B. E. (2015). Association Between Apple Consumption and Physician Visits: Appealing the Conventional Wisdom That an Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. JAMA internal medicine, 175(5), 777.

Proverb:  “Mit dem Hut in der Hand kommt man durch das ganze Land.” 

Nationality: German-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: Feb 22nd, 2023
Primary Language: English
Language: German, Korean

Context: The interviewee, S, is 18 years old and they were raised in Dusseldorf, Germany. Their mother had taught them this German proverb when they were young. The English translation of this proverb is “with hat in hand, you can go through all the land” and S told me that it basically means to be polite and everyone will be nice back because tipping your hat is a gesture of politeness. 

Analysis: I wasn’t able to find when and where the proverb originated from, and S also did not know, only that it’s a common German proverb in the city where they grew up. I think it’s quite an interesting proverb and it makes a lot of sense to me. I interpret it as not holding your chin up too high and thinking you’re better than everyone else around you but instead staying humble and grounded, which will help you lead a much more fruitful and insightful life. I have always learned to not wear hats inside because it’s a sign of disrespect to the people around you, so by having your hat in your hand, you are communicating that you’re giving all of your attention to the room and the people in it. 

“Τα μάτια σου τέσσερα.”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 2/20/21
Primary Language: English
Language: Greek

This proverb comes from my friend LP who is Greek. 

Text:

“Τα μάτια σου τέσσερα.” The translation roughly means “use four eyes.”

“Τα μάτια σου δεκατέσσερα.” The translation roughly means “use fourteen eyes.”

Context:

“My mom and my yia-yia (a.k.a. grandma) will use the first saying whenever I go out somewhere they consider somewhat dangerous,” LP said. “For example, if I got dinner in the city with my friends, my mom would use that saying as I was walking out the door. It essentially means be careful and keep a lookout for danger. If I’m going somewhere that my mom considers to be super dangerous, she’ll use the second phrase. This just means be extra careful — hence the fourteen eyes instead of four.”

Analysis:

When LP told me the first saying, I thought it was interesting and that the number four made sense as I’ve heard things like “I have a pair eyes on the back of my head.” When she followed it up with the second saying about fourteen eyes, I was surprised at the huge jump in numbers and it got me curious about the number four itself since it was found in both sayings. I found that in Greek mythology, four is the number of Jupiter who is the “master of the protection and the justice,” which fit along perfectly with the context Leia provided for the phrase. The phrases are sweet and endearing as they imply caring about the wellbeing of loved ones. 

Θα το πάρεις κόκκινο.

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English
Language: Greek

This proverb comes from my friend LPwho is Greek. 

Text:

“Θα το πάρεις κόκκινο.” The translation roughly means “I’ll give you the red one.” 

Context:

“This is a sarcastic saying that we use when someone asks for something ridiculous,” LP said. “For example, when I was a kid and I asked for a fancy toy, my mom would respond with that saying. She’d respond with the saying to show that 1) I wasn’t getting the toy and 2) it was a bit ridiculous of me to ask. It’s kind of a funny phrase because it’s pretty sarcastic.”

Analysis:

When I tried to research this one, I didn’t have any luck finding anything which surprised me and makes me curious about how common it is. This sort of reminds me of the popular phrase “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit,” because both are used to lightly ridicule children who may be asking for too much. After not finding anything directly tied to this phrase, I tried to see what different symbolism the color red had in Greek culture to see if I could find a connection there. In doing this, however, I mostly found red as being a symbol for blood and cycles of life, which doesn’t particularly fit with this proverb. Overall, it’s a pretty straightforward and charming phrase and I would be very interested in talking to more Greek people about if they’ve heard of it and/or use it.