Category Archives: Riddle

Dinner at Pinoy Home

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 56
Occupation: Accountant
Residence: Glendora, CA
Performance Date: 4/23/12
Primary Language: Tagalog
Language: English, Ilocano

(In Tagalong) “Kain lang kayo ng kain, walanghiya kayo, pakiramdam nyo bahay nyo to!”

(First Translation) “Eat all you can, don’t be shy, and you’ll feel at home!”

(Second Translation) “Eat, eat, eat you old son of a gun, you think this your house!”

This is probably one of the most common sayings that is given during a feast at a Filipino home. The informant was born in the northern part of the Philippines on a small province known as Ilocos Norte. He remembers that near the end of each month, he would wake up early in the morning to gather all the vegetables, meats, poultry, and rice to cook for the feast that would take a complete week to prepare. People, including family and strangers, would come to his home, because his family was notable for providing the largest feasts and the best entertainment. And one of the first few greetings they would tell their guests was this phrase. He found this greeting particularly interesting and comical, because it is somewhat an offensive statement when translated correctly, but it is meant to be a statement of hospitality. His family brought this tradition to the United States, which is frequently used whenever they have parties and/or big feasts.

My informant provided the saying in tagalog, as well as two English translations. The First Translation is the intended meaning, and the Second Translation is the actual interpretation.

My review of this piece is to interpret it as both a saying and as a joke. As the informant had indicated, the greeting’s intended meaning is different from its literal meaning. And from my own experience with hearing and using the saying myself, I can agree that many use it as a sign of kindness. I also found this to be very interesting after learning the two translations, because it teaches a lesson that we shouldn’t take things for their face value. For example, this saying can be seen as a joke rather than an insult as suggested by the literal interpretation. Those who can interpret the phrase correctly usually respond by laughing. It is not to be taken as if outsiders are perceived as taking advantage of other’s generosity. Further, one’s interpretation can depend on how someone says it through their tone and physical gestures. Together, these considerations can lead us to believe that statements should not be understood by looking at translations in their literal sense. And there are additional aspects that need to be considered in order to fully understand the meaning of spoken words and phrases.

Advanced Easter Egg Hunt

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 25th, 2012
Primary Language: English

“So, my mom is an artist, she’s a painter, and my dad did, um like a lot of writing and stuff, he’s like an English dude. He’s American. Anyways. Um, for Easter, we would, we would have Easter Egg hunts, my sister and I. And um, it started off, we’d come, we’d come downstairs and there’d be these Easter eggs, and you’d open it, and it’d be a scrap of paper that would be cut in a weird shape, and on one side would be like, a part of a drawing, but you don’t know what the drawing is, and on the other side, would be, um, a clue. A poem or a limerick my dad made. That would lead you to, it would be a clue to like, find the next egg, in a different part of the house. And so you’d read the clues and try to find each egg, until you, you finally find the basket. And each of these papers, its the poem on one side and the drawing on the other, and once you got the basket, you’d have all the pieces, you assemble them and you tape it together, and then you’d flip it over and it’d be, like my mom would have, um, she’d uh, she’d have drawn like an Easter themed drawing, like one of them was like me from my senior yearbook photo, but with bunny ears drawn on, and she, um, also drew like the Scream, but with like bunny ears. It’d be a clever take on Easter themes.”

 

This tradition interests me, because it takes the candy, which is usually what Easter is about for kids, and makes it secondary. The riddle clues the source’s dad wrote are almost a sneaky way of making Easter Egg Hunts educational. It is also a way for both of the source’s parents to pass down their love for the arts to their children, and it worked, as the source never mentioned candy once when talking about the Easter Egg Hunt, she remembers her parents for being artists, and taking time to create something for her and her sister.

The Sexist Doctor Riddle

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Graphic Designer
Residence: Massachusetts
Performance Date: March 15, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian, Spanish

The following is a riddle my informant told to me:

A man and his son were driving down an icy road. When they took a corner, the car flipped. After a while, two ambulances came, one took the father to a hospital in the west, the other took the son to an hospital in the east. The nurses rushed the son into surgery, because he was losing a lot of blood. The doctor entered, and after looking at the boy exclaimed: ” I can’t operate on this boy, he is my son!” How can this be?

Answer: The doctor is the boy’s mother

My informant told me that he tells this riddle often at parties or to his kids’ friends. Half of the time people guess the answer right away, but the other half of the time it completely stumps them.

When I first heard this riddle from my informant I could not figure it out. I thought it had to do with the sun rising, or another meaning of the word: “son”. As it turns out, it just reflected how the term “doctor” is still associated more with men than with women. I believe that this riddle is important because it pokes fun at the sexism of American society.

Friday

Nationality: American
Age: 11
Occupation: Child
Residence: Frisco, Texas
Performance Date: April 9, 2012
Primary Language: English

Lawson Franklin Echols-Richter

Houston, Texas

April 9, 2012

Folklore Type: Riddle

Informant Bio: Lawson is my youngest cousin. He is eleven years old. He is from Frisco, Texas and has lived there his whole life. Lawson is the younger of two boys, and both of his parents are Methodist Pastors. He enjoys video games and showing off his skills of dancing and flipping a fedora onto his head. I call him The Dude.

Context: I saw Lawson briefly with his father when my grandfather (not ours) passed away. I asked him what were some jokes he had been learning at school. He said he could not remember any jokes, but he knew a few riddles.

Item: A couple rode into town on Friday. They stayed for three days, and then rode back on Friday. How? The couple’s horse was named Friday.

Informant Analysis: He said sarcasm than anything else, and I would actually say kinda funny.

Analysis: Even though I heard this riddle when I was a child, it took me a moment to get it because I forgot that they rode in on a horse and not a car. Albeit that is part of the riddle, however, it is also something a southerner might get a bit faster than people from big cities or places up north that do not ride horses. Not all Texans ride horses, but they are around. This riddle is an example of a child playing with words and leaving out certain details because he never mentioned what exactly the couple rode into town on. I also think there is a bit of country cultural flare because country people are more likely to figure out Friday is a horse because they are around them more often.

Alex Williams

Los Angeles, California

University of Southern California

ANTH 333m   Spring 2012

 

 

Two Twin Ducks

Nationality: American
Age: 11
Occupation: Child
Residence: Frisco, Texas
Performance Date: April 9, 2012
Primary Language: English

Lawson Franklin Echols-Richter

Houston, Texas

April 9, 2012

Folklore Type: Riddle

Informant Bio: Lawson is my youngest cousin. He is eleven years old. He is from Frisco, Texas and has lived there his whole life. Lawson is the younger of two boys, and both of his parents are Methodist Pastors. He enjoys video games and showing off his skills of dancing and flipping a fedora onto his head. I call him The Dude.

Context: I saw Lawson briefly with his father when my grandfather (not ours) passed away. I asked him what were some jokes he had been learning at school. He said he could not remember any jokes, but he knew a few riddles.

Item: So the two twin ducks sitting in a movie theater next to each other they’re both twins, but they are not born on the same day how is this possible? The answer is they are two twins not from the same family.

Informant Analysis: He said it’s just funny.

Analysis: This riddle is pretty intellectual in regards to the answer. It is also pretty intellectual humor that is simply derived from people attempting to figure out the riddle and enjoying the answer. It is not vulgar which could indicate that Lawson is not quite yet at that age of figuring out usual boy topics such as bathroom humor, or his cousin and father were not the ideal people to tell a vulgar joke too. The ducks do however denote a slight sense of innocence because of how much children love animals. Either way the joke demonstrates young boys attempting to play with and twist different scenarios in the world around them.

Alex Williams

Los Angeles, California

University of Southern California

ANTH 333m   Spring 2012