Category Archives: Proverbs

Think twice, say once

Nationality: United States/Macedonia
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hackensack, NJ
Performance Date: 04/24/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Macedonian

BACKGROUND: My informant, MB, was born in the US but has dual citizenship in Macedonia as well. The following proverb is something MB’s father always says to MB and her sister in anticipation of them saying something he deems as stupid.

CONTEXT: This piece is from a conversation with my friend where I asked her about Macedonian proverbs.

MACEDONIAN: Размислете двапати, кажете еднаш (Razmislete dvapati, kažete ednaš)

LITERAL TRANSLATION: Think twice, say once.

MB: It’s essentially like, “think before you speak.” My dad’s the type of guy who doesn’t like being asked questions so he’ll always stop me and say this before I ask him for something to make sure it’s worth bothering him over.

THOUGHTS: MB compared this proverb to the common American proverb “think before you speak.” However, I think it’s interesting to note the difference in the direct translation from the American version. “Think before you speak” gives the connotation that someone should do a quick survey of their thoughts before speaking but to me, “think twice, say once” feels more intentioned. As if to say, think it over… now think it over again.

German Sauage Proverb

Occupation: College Student
Performance Date: February 2021
Primary Language: English

Context:

Informant SG was a current undergraduate student at the Univerity of Southern California at the time of this collection. I met with SG on a Zoom call to exchange family folklore.

SG mentioned, “The context would be as advice to someone dreading an ending or waiting for something to be over. Any time an inevitable end is applicable. Plus, it has sausage in it.”

Text:

“Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei.”

Which translates to

“Everything has an end, only the sausage has two.”

Analysis:

An analysis of this proverb might give insight into the attitudes Germans share in regards to inevitable ends. This proverb could possibly be used in a variety of scenarios. One scenario being when someone is desiring for a dreadful/boring/painful circumstance to come to and another instance being when someone is desiring for an enjoyable circumstance to last for longer. In both cases, the German attitude regarding endings is that all phases/events in life have some definite end. This could even suggest that Germans might view time in a more linear fashion with a clear beginning and end as opposed to a cyclical view in which time would go on continuously in a repeated way.

The second half of this proverb helps to distinguish itself as German. Germany is known for its sausages in that Germans regularly engage in both the making and eating of sausage. Not only does this element of the proverb help distinguish it as German, it too offers insights about the shared attitudes of Germans in regards to time and inevitable ends. In saying “only the sausage has two (ends),” this proverb becomes more relatable and offers an opportunity for laughter/humor. Further analysis of this proverb in its intended context could perhaps show the degree of seriousness with which Germans view time and inevitable ends. I am inclined to think that by including a sausage into a proverb, which is often regarded for its timeless wisdom, that Germans might view time in a light-hearted and spirited way. By sharing this proverb with someone who is dreading an end of either a painful or enjoyable circumstance, perhaps the speaker is reminding the listener to not take their current circumstances so seriously.

Ambarabà ciccì coccò

Nationality: Italian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Bologna, Italy
Performance Date: 04/26/2021
Primary Language: Italian
Language: English

Main piece:

«Ambarabà ciccì coccò
tre civette sul comò
che facevano l’amore
con la figlia del dottore;
il dottore si ammalò 
ambarabà ciccì coccò!»

Transliteration: 
Ambarabà ciccì coccò, three owls on the dresser, which made love with the doctor’s daughter; the doctor got sick, ambarabà ciccì coccò.

[there is not a proper translation as also in Italian it does’t have a metaphorical or deeper sense, as the main purpose is the one for the words to rhyme one with the other and sort of articulate and give rhythm to the count children should do with it]

Background:

My informant is a 19 year old girl who was born in Crotone, Calabria(Southern Italy), but who spent most of her lifetime in Bologna (Italy). She claimed this piece to be an “integral part” of her up-bringing and childhood, and while recounting this to me, she naturally started to intone this rhyme, while pointing the fingers to me and the other people present. In fact, this nursery rhyme is usually performed with hand-gestures, in which fingers point people in a group so to ‘do the count’. 

Context: (the context of the performance)

My informant performed this over a dinner, in which other friends were present, and they all started to participate in the ‘practice’.

Thoughts:

This nursery rhyme is extremely interesting from multiple perspective. 

First of all, it is something which, despite being directly associated to infantry and childhood, is used by adults as well, especially in the context of folk-speech. For example, if you do not know what to choose between two options, people will say to you “do Ambarabà ciccì coccò” which basically mans ‘do the count’ —something similar to what in English would be toss a coin. 

Another curious aspect of it, it’s its evolution throughout time. I have, indeed, recently discovered that, in the original version, the verse “tre civette sul comò che facevano l’amore con la figlia del dottore” actually was “tre civette sul comò che facevano timore alla figlia del dottore”, which translated would be “three owls on the dresser which intimidated the doctor’s daughter”. This gives a complete new value to the song, as it shows how some means of expressions and communication young children have -like folk-songs or rhymes- are used by them in the attempt of approaching the adult’s world. Int his case, the fact that the three owls, from frightening the girl, make love with her, (beside the strange and quite perverse connotation) transform and include a grown-up thematic into a playful song. In this way, children not only indirectly get closer to a new and mature topic, but they can also be directly advised against certain behaviors. Particularly, little girls are advised not to act like the doctor’s daughter did, who, by making love with the three birds, made his father become ill. 

“Il faut tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche avant de parler”

Nationality: Italian
Age: 63
Occupation: Businessman
Residence: Bologna
Performance Date: 03/28/2021
Primary Language: Italian
Language: French, Spanish

Main piece:

“Il faut tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche avant de parler”

Transliteration: 

Il faut: It’s necessary

tourner: to rotate

sept fois: seven times

sa langue: the tongue

dans sa bouche: inside the mouth

avant: before

de parler: speaking

Translation: Before saying something, you ought to think well about your words / Think before you speak

Background:

P.S.: My father used to tell this a lot…my aunt as well. There are similar sayings in Italian as well, but…hum I don’t know, my father sometimes just switched to French to make concepts more vivid.

My informant is my father, who was born in Belgium from Italian immigrants and who spent the first years of his life in Mons, before moving to Italy. Even after his transferring, he continued to visit many times each year his native country, also because much of his family still lived there. Since really young he was told many French proverbs, especially by his parents and by those family members who continued to live in Belgium.

Context:

My informant and other relatives of mine told me several times multiple French proverbs, and, in this particular case, we were in the informant’s living room.

Thoughts:

I believe each culture presents a similar proverb, which encourages everyone to think carefully about his or her own actions and words, as they could easily affect or, even, damage the other. At the same time, it invites people at thinking logically and reasoning reflectively on something before acting, as it often happens that impulsive behaviors or decisions are the ones a person can regrets the most.

This sort of saying has been a fundamental part of my up-bringing, it being repeatedly mentioned to me in multiple occasions by family members. 

Tutti i nodi vengono al pettine

Nationality: Italian
Age: 57
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Bologna
Performance Date: 04/13/2021
Primary Language: Italian

Main piece:

“Tutti i nodi vengono al pettine”

Transliteration: 

Tutti: All

i nodi: knots

vengono: come

al pettine: to the comb

Translation: All the knots come to the comb, meaning that the truth will always come out in the end and that all the bad actions or lies one commits or tells will eventually be unmasked and punished.

Background:

My informant is a 57 years old woman, born in Bologna from Italian parents. She has been told this words since she was a child and they made up much of her upbringing and education, which both had a particular emphasis on the importance of caring for the other and treating him or her as “you would treat yourself”.

Context:

My informant -my mother- has always repeated these words to me since I was really young, and when I asked her if she had some proverbs she wanted to tell me for tis collection project, she immediately brought this one up. We were having breakfast in the informant’s house.

Thoughts:

This proverb wants to be both a teaching and a warning, a philosophical approach to the evil received and, at the same time, an educational indication that should be respected.

On on side, indeed, the proverb serves as a sort of eschatological or, better, karmic ‘prophecy’ for actions committed. I often received this proverb as a reassurance when lamenting for injustices or wrongdoings received, so as to say that those who act badly or give negative energies to others will, in the end, receive their share of punishment. 

On the other hand, this saying also serves as an advice, which basically invites you to always think twice before doing something, especially if this something involves other people as well. 

Even if my general interpretation and understanding of this proverb was mostly related to what I have just explained, as my informant pointed out, the proverb can also be interpreted with a meaning related to truth: no matter how many lies are told or how many obstacle will be placed in its course, truth will always find its way to be revealed. 

I believe this proverb to be quite representative of Italian values and principles, which have been, in time, greatly influenced by Catholicism and Christian doctrine. As a matter of fact, this proverb encompasses both the care one should have towards the other and, simultaneously, the conception of Final Judgment, which are two of the main pillars of the Roman Church.