Category Archives: Riddle

Riddle

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: March 12, 2008
Primary Language: English

Riddle

An American is in the kitchen.

What do you call him in the bathroom?

European.

Emilie told this riddle at dinner one night at Parkside Cafeteria in front of a group of friends.  It was a relaxing night where everyone was swapping jokes at the dinner table.  Emilie says that she first heard this riddle during elementary school, on the playground during recess.  She said this was a popular riddle that a lot of the school children sang.

Emilie’s riddle is a play on words and can be classified as an oppositional riddle.  “European” sounds like “you are peeing”, which is what one does in the bathroom.  I believe that this riddle is the result of childish antics because children find humor with bodily functions.  In addition, elementary school is when the children are learning new vocabulary and experimenting with words.  Furthermore, although neither Emilie nor I know when this riddle was invented, there could have possibly been Anti-European sentiment at the time the riddle was created.  This riddle associates Europeans with bathrooms, which usually carries a negative connotation.

Riddle – Mexican

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 46
Occupation: Tailor
Residence: Inglewood, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish

Primer acto: una botella de agua

Segundo acto: un pato

Tercer acto: un mar

Conclusión? Agua pa tomar!

Act 1: a bottle of water

Act 2: a duck

Act 3: a sea

Conclusion? Water to drink!

Victoria said that she learned about this riddle when she was young, about 12 years old. It was presented to her by one of her sisters in Mexico. She said that it is simply a clever way to convey a message.

Although the riddle makes no sense when it is translated to English, it is a mind bender in Spanish. This is one of those riddles where you are shown pictures and you are supposed to figure out how each picture makes sense in the context and creates a phrase. In this one, the bottle of water is obviously water. But it gets tricky with the duck and sea. You are supposed to split up the word ‘pato’, thus having ‘pa’ (to) and ‘to’. But then you have to combine ‘to’ and mar’ to create ‘tomar’ (drink). Pretty basic, yet entertaining.

Riddle – Mexican

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 46
Occupation: Tailor
Residence: Inglewood, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish

En Navidad, siempre nos juntamos y empezamos hacer intercambios. Y depende de la persona que me toca le empiezo hacer bromas. Aveces es ropa vieja, zapatos o cosas ya hechadas a perder. Y al tiempo que abre su regalo va mirando que no es lo el esperaba y son puras bromas que le estamos haciendo.

On Christmas, we always get together and have gift exchanges. Depending on the person that I get, I pull pranks on them. Sometimes they get old clothes, shoes, or things that have gone to waste. And when they open their gift they see that it’s not what they were expecting and it was just a prank that was being pulled on them.

This represents the very fun loving attitude that my family has. Victoria isn’t the only one pulling pranks on Christmas to other family members, they all do it as well. I’ve seen some give others blow up female dolls, a slice of bread, etc. Everybody does it for a laugh and since we don’t get together as a family like this that often, everyone wants to make it memorable. Also, when someone brings someone brings their new boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse, they are the primary targets. It not to be mean, it’s just to reassure them that the family welcomes them to join in the festivities and possibly so that they can pull pranks on other the next year. To them it’s sort of like a rite of passage, while it is just a tradition to everyone else.

Riddle/Joke – United States of America

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Riddle/Joke – United States of America

“So there are ten fish in a bowl, and one dies, how many are left? 10 ‘cause the dead one is still in the bowl.”

“So there are 10 birds on a tree and you shoot and kill one, how many are left? 0 ‘cause the rest flew away.”

“So there are 10 lit candles and the wind blows out 1, how many are left? 1 ‘cause the others burned down.”

It was a sultry Sunday afternoon when I first heard Hanlong test a bunch of us with this riddle. No one got even close to the correct answers, either because they expected a stupid reply or just didn’t have the logical capacity to deduce the answer. It was very amusing so I asked Hanlong more about it.

He said that it was kind of a craze back in his elementary school. One of his peers used it to challenge the intelligence of the rest of the class in a bid for being the smartest pupil in class. Hanlong also indicated that it wasn’t just a test of logic but also used to make those that failed to answer it feel inferior. Therefore, it is safe to say that at the time it was quite condescending.

What surprised me was that we, a group of university freshmen, failed to garner a correct answer. But, as it is with many riddles, many fail to answer it correctly the first time, regardless of their intellectual prowess. But, in using this riddle at the time, Hanlong made everyone laugh profusely, for no less than a few minutes. It was our severe lack of logic that led to this. However, this can be contrasted to an elementary school environment, where failure would have resulted in a very sad child, or if things were malicious, a stream of tears.

Now we use this riddle as more of a joke. Although, I had never come across it as an elementary school student, I now use it sometimes in close company for a laugh. It’s great for a random laugh and for some a nostalgic remembrance of their past endeavors in school. Of course, I’d never use this in serious company although I’m sure Hanlong would not hesitate.

Riddle

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Palo Alto, CA
Performance Date: March 12, 2008
Primary Language: English

“Grandma. Two grandkids. They are twins—a pair of boys. They’re totally identical except one always tells the truth and one always lies, always. So, she’s at a “T” in the road—one way is right, the other is wrong. The boys know the answer. She has one question to ask to find out which way to turn. What does she ask?”

“She asks, ‘What would your brother say?’”

This riddle is a true riddle—it has all the information necessary to figure out the answer. However, despite it being a true riddle, I was initially confused when Laura told me this riddle. She explained answer to me as follows: “One lies and says left. The other says what his brother would say and says left. So, she knows to turn right on the road.”

Her friend Richie told her the riddle during a ski trip. One night, the electricity went out in the ski cabin. Because they could not watch television, they decided to entertain themselves by trading jokes, riddles, and stories. I think it is unfortunate that the only reason they started telling jokes, riddles, and stories is because they could not watch television. If they had a choice in the matter, they would have picked watching television over trading riddles.

Laura tells this riddle in situations where she needs to kill time. If she is bored, she might ask someone to tell her a riddle, or she may tell someone the riddle. Once again, it is unfortunate that telling riddles has become a way to kill time instead of being a form of preferred entertainment.

She does not really like the riddle because of the riddle itself; she likes the riddle because it has sentimental value. It reminds her of her friend Richie and the moment she heard it. She said it was fun when they began telling each other riddles and stories. In my opinion, she probably enjoyed the riddle and story telling more than she would have enjoyed just watching television. However, when the choice comes down to it even now, after her fun experience in the ski cabin, she would choose watching television over hearing a riddle.

I found this riddle very intellectually stimulating. Unlike most people, Laura actually had me guess for a really long time; she did not tell me the answer right away. Even when she told me the answer, I still was not completely clear on why it made sense. I agree with her reasoning behind why both boys would answer, “left.”

The context in which the item was performed indicates a lot about the society we live in. The majority of the population in the United States has a television set. We choose watching television, perhaps watching folklore on television, over choosing to perform or watch folklore live. We have this choice because we have televisions. In other, economically poorer countries, only a few people have television sets. These poorer people who cannot afford televisions do not have the choice, and thus when they see folklore, they are seeing it performed live. Trading jokes, riddles, and stories is entertainment to people who cannot watch television. Having a choice in the matter deeply affects the medium through which we experience folklore.