Category Archives: Proverbs

Verbum Sap Sat motto

Nationality: American
Age: 13
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arlington, VA
Performance Date: 3/16/19
Primary Language: English

Abstract:

This piece is about a saying at a middle/high school in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area that shows their ideals of independence and responsibility.

Main Piece:

“Verbum Sap Sat is latin and it means “A word to the wise is sufficient.” and that kind of goes along with HB Woodlawn’s idea that we should be independent, like if a teacher tells you, “hey this is important you should take notes on it – then a word to the wise is sufficient. They don’t need to keep telling you. You should just know.

M: What other examples of this phrase can you think of?

L: A lot of teachers when they’re doing important notes, they say “hey guys you have to focus, remember ok? Because Verbum Sap Sat!” At my school, you don’t need to wear shoes and you call your teachers by their first name. It just kind of goes along with the idea of Verbum Sap Sat. It’s like a motto, like a thing to that. Like for example our theater program is very big and they’re always building sets on the stage, but sometimes we still have class. So if you’re not wearing shoes and a teacher is like “hey there might be some nails on the ground. You might want to put something on your feet so you don’t get tetanus – then Verbum Sap Sat!”

Context:

The informant is a 13 year old girl who is an 8th grader at HB Woodlawn. She learned this phrase before even attending the school as a student and learned it when she toured as a prospective 6th grader. She plans to graduate from the school, attending from 6th to 12th grade. She does not view this phrase as a social one, more of an academic one.

Analysis:

I think it is interesting that they learn the phrase in Latin, though the main message is mostly understood in English. It is like an unspoken motto through the entire school that both students and teachers know of. I think the phrase emphasizes the ideals of the school to be those of independence and responsibility, but from the outside looking in it does seem like there are less rules and more freedom. They want the rules/deadlines that are set up at a traditional school to be found within the students themselves, rather than stating them outright.

The Old Man and His Horse

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2-17-19
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Background Info/Context:

My friend was reaching out to USC students to get them to fill out surveys for a company called Tik Tok. The company wanted to collect data and get feedback from first time users, and they went about this by setting up a competition– the people who are able to get the most, second most, and third most surveys filled out under their name win cash prizes. So after a week of nagging friends and classmates to download the new app, browse through it, and fill out a Google Form set up by the company, my friend later found out that she won third place, receiving $150 as her prize!

I was thrilled for her and insisted that we go out for dinner or a celebratory dessert, but she sternly said that she shouldn’t splurge her new found money, because of a story her dad told her years ago. The story made her feel more optimistic, because it helped her to see situations beyond the myopic level.

 

Piece:

“This old man lives in like, what do you call it… not suburbs… but like the outskirts of China. And then, he owned a horse, but then one day, it just ran away. So he lost it and it was like a big loss right? Cuz horses were so, um, important back then.

So then his neighbors came and said “Oh I’m so sorry to hear about that,” and “If you need any help” and blah blah blah, and then the old man was just like, “How do you know this is a bad thing? I just lost a horse, we don’t know if it’s good, we don’t know if its bad.”

And then, um, a few weeks later, the horse came back with a bunch of other wild horses that it made friends with. So basically, the old man gained like I don’t know, 15 other horses, after losing one. So then, the neighbor comes over again and then says like “Oh congratulations! You have like so many more horses! This whole thing got spun 180 degrees!” And then the old man again, was like “How do you know this is a good thing? Just cuz I got more horses.”

And then one day, he was riding one of the wild horses, and it sort of acted out, and he broke his leg. And so, the neighbor again said “Oh, um, so sorry to hear you broke your leg.” And the old man goes, “Oh! Why are you sorry? How do you know this is a bad thing?”

Time goes by, and the emperor is recruiting for more people in the military, and getting able bodied people to join the military. And guess what! The old man is not able bodied anymore, and he couldn’t go to war, and he just like stayed at home. And I guess that was seen as a good thing, since he doesn’t have to sacrifice himself for his country.”

The lesson my dad was trying to tell me through this story is that whatever happens, I shouldn’t be immediately affected or put down by something bad, and if something good happens, I should always be cautious about it. So I don’t want to get ahead of myself and spend the money I won.”

 

Thoughts:

The story structure is somewhat similar to those in America, in the fact that there is a 3-time repetition in the narrative, but then there is a plot twist that plays off of it. I think that the man’s skepticism to everything that happened in his life is somewhat pessimistic, because he isn’t able to live in the moment, or accept things the way they are.

Because the old man in this story has the same reluctant attitude throughout the story, it shows that this proverb can be used in multiple scenarios. It could be used as a way to console people who are going through a hard time, or be used to warn people to not get ahead of themselves. Either way, patience and prudence seem to be the overarching themes in this proverb.

 

Northern American Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Willmar, Minnesota
Performance Date: 4/19/19
Primary Language: English

What is a proverb you’ve heard plenty of times before in your own household?

B.N. – “My grandfather, the man who’s M.O. was to be super reserved, very careful would always tell me “what’s the worst plan you can have?  No plan at all.”

How has this impacted you, and your life?

B.N. – “I mean, it’s hard to be conscious of this, but these are words that I definitely live by.  He was always ‘the man with the plan,’ and all my life, which has, like, always been in this town of Willmar, has always been easy for me.  And it’s because, I think, I’ve always had these words to live by, this backbone that I could go back to.”

 

This simple proverb resonated with this person just as it does with me.  He admitted that it doesn’t seem like most proverbs – too specific.  But, when I think about what it meant to him, in his town where – as his own uncle put it – danger was around every corner at one point or another, it brings another meaning to me.

Skate for fun, not for fame

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Long Beach, California
Primary Language: English

“Skate for fun, not for fame.”

Context: The informant has been skateboarding since he was six-years-old, and has encountered many amateur and professional skateboarders.

Interpretation: There is a lot of backlash in the skateboarding community against skaters who “sell out” and skateboard for the sake of money and fame. It is well-known that a “true” skateboarder skates because they are passionate about improving and about the culture of skateboarding. This proverb encourages skateboarders to fully enjoy the activity rather than putting pressure on themselves to be of a certain skill level in order to pursue skateboarding professionally. It also shames skateboarders who see skateboarding as their greatest strength and opportunity for success, and makes it more difficult for skateboarding to progress as an industry.

 

Av barn og fulle folk får ein høyre sanninga

Nationality: American
Age: 62
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Corona del Mar, California
Primary Language: English

“Av barn og fulle folk får ein høyre sanninga.”

“From children and drunk people we hear the truth.”

Context: The informant’s grandmother was a Norwegian immigrant with many peculiar sayings. This was his favorite, as it gave him a rare sense of power as a child.

Interpretation: Because sober adults often act in their own self-interest and mask their intentions with flattery and deceit, it has been said in more than one language that honesty is reserved for children who have not yet learned to lie and manipulate and drunk people who do not have the mental capacity to mask their feelings and intentions. This can be used, as is the case with my informant, to empower children and encourage them to maintain their honesty and forthrightness. It can also make adults more likely to share their true feelings because it indirectly shames their general dishonesty. Lastly, it makes people more receptive to the thoughts and feelings of children and drunk people, who are both often overlooked because they are seen as foolish and incapable of sharing knowledge.