Category Archives: Riddle

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 6
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/17/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

This is a skipping rhyme told by a male second grader. As he was singing it some of her peers joined in the song.

“Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground. Teddy bear, teddy bear, tie your shoes. Teddy bear, teddy bear, get out of school.”

The skipping rhyme was shared by one student within a small group of second graders and myself. The rhyme associates childish themes, such as the teddy bear and tying shoe laces, with more controversial ideas such as ditching school, or perhaps dropping out. This is an oikotype of Teddy Bear skipping song. Upon further research, I found a different rendition of the song that replaced “get out of school” with “say your prayers.” The latter version was a nursery rhyme that may have been passed down my parents and then modified by the children. The children from whom I collected this rhyme couldn’t remember where that had learned the rhyme, therefore it is unclear whether they changed the lyric themselves or had heard it in that form. Either way, the line “get out of school” reflects children’s frustration with the education system. The skipping rhyme was well known by most of the second graders in the classroom, therefore the negative connotation of school was widely spread amongst them and possible others in different grades or classrooms.

For another version of this song, see 201 Nursery Rhymes & Sing-Along Songs for Kids by Jennifer M. Edwards.

Sphinx Riddle

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 20
Primary Language: English

“Okay… so I don’t remember where I heard this riddle I must have been extremely young. But I remember it very vividly because I thought it was so cool and I don’t know what it’s called but I remember how it goes. So a Sphinx… when you’re walking down a path and you’re just trying to keep walking but a Sphinx is in your way and so…in order to get past the Sphinx the Sphinx will never let you pass and I think it kills you if you don’t answer the riddle correctly… but the only way to pass is to answer a riddle correctly and this is the riddle the Sphinx asks, ‘what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs during the day, and three legs in the evening’ and nobody ever gets it right so the Sphinx always kills them or doesn’t let them pass, I don’t remember if they kill them or don’t let them pass but the correct answer is a person like a human being because when you’re a baby you crawl on four legs and when you are an adult, you walk on two, and when you’re an old man, you walk on two and your third is a cane and that’s how the Sphinx gets ya”

This is a fairly common folktale if one had studied greek legends. what I enjoy about this folklore is that it’s both a story. A folktale about a Sphinx that kills people, but it’s also a riddle as well. There is a riddle within the story. It’s very Shakespearean in that sense.

One Bright Day

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Gilbert, AZ
Performance Date: 4/25/17
Primary Language: English

The interview will be depicted by initials. The Interviewer is QB and the interview is AS.

QB: So what are these things your dad used to tell you?

AS: Well there was one story that he told me, that he had learned from his father so its been passed down along the family.

QB: Alright go ahead.

AS: One bright day in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight. Back to back they faced each other. Drew their swords and shot each other! A deaf policeman heard the noise, got up and shot the two dead boys. If you don’t believe my story is true ask the blind man he saw it too.

Analysis: Its nice to see that this story has been passed around generation to generation. Also the stories ironies are more intended for that of a younger age as the student, and their father, both learned these stories while they were very young. The saying follows many songs that children would sing, but this story is more about death and is spoken.

 

Argentine Riddle

Nationality: Argentinian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Performance Date: 04/09/2017
Primary Language: Spanish

Main piece:

  1. Q: Lana sube, lana baja. Qué es?

La navaja.

  1. Wool up, wool down. What is it?

The knife.

  1. Wool goes up, wool goes down. What is it?

The knife.

Background information about the piece by the informant: Emanuel was born and raised in Argentina, where this is a common joke riddle. He says it is exclusively Argentinian, as it can only be understood in Spanish being a play on words, and can only be funny in Argentina, as its humor is very specific to the country.

Context on the piece: This is an innocent joke riddle in which the answer is much more simpler than what is expected. In Spanish “Wool goes down” is “Lana baja”, which sounds like “La Navaja”, meaning “The knife”. The audience is supposed to break their heads finding a hidden meaning in the ambiguous question, while the answer is an obvious play on words. It’s a classic “it was so simple the whole time” joke. This makes the person trying to give an answer seem dumb for not knowing such a simple question, so the comedy if for the performer instead of the audience, as he gets to make fun of the person trying to give the answer.

Thoughts on the piece: Emanuel claims the riddle can only work for Argentine sensibilities, which can tell us that this is a society of pranksters who enjoy simple jokes. This joke could be either for kids or adults due to its simplicity and inoffensive nature, despite its point being leaving a person dumbfounded. It also creates a strong sense of community when only people who speak Spanish in Argentine can get the joke.

Bread Riddle

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: University Gateway Apartments
Performance Date: 4/25/2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

Informant CS is a student at USC who is currently studying physical therapy. He is Japanese, born and raised in Japan, and went to school at an international school in Japan.

CS: “This is a really well known Japanese riddle that I don’t know if it counts as folklore but it’s more of a joke. [says something in Japanese].”

*later I found the original in Japanese: パンはパンでも食べられないパンは、なぁに？

Dude how do I even know what you’re saying

CS: “You can find it online for sure. Anyways, in english it translates to ‘bread is bread, but what bread is inedible?’. The answer is: ‘a frying pan’. Obviously that makes no sense in english, BUT, in Japanese, the word for “bread” is also “pan”, so, if you take that, it is a play on words and the riddle is actually ‘Pan is pan but what pan is inedible?’.”

…..

Thoughts: I mean… that was amongst one of the lamest jokes I’ve ever heard in my life but I guess its a joke riddle so it makes sense. I know in Chinese there are a lot of riddles like that where the answer to the riddle is a play on the original riddle’s word. But when my friend he would tell me a riddle I was expecting something better than this…