Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

French Schoolyard Catch Riddle

The catch: being asked to spell J,T, and P, in a French accent

Context: The informant is currently studying at USC, but as a child, she attended a French/English bilingual school. She explained that as a child, other kids would tell her to spell out “J, T, and P” in a French accent. Doing so would result in the informant saying “jé, té, pé,” after which the kids would laugh, as they had tricked her into saying something that sounded like “j’ai pété”, which means “I farted” in French.

Analysis: This is very similar to a typical elementary school catch of asking someone to spell “icup” (resulting in saying something that sounded like “I see you pee”). In Jay Mechling’s chapter on Children’s Folklore from Elliott Oring’s Folk Groups and Folklore Genres, Mechling notes how the child’s body features greatly in children’s folklore, specifically bodily functions. This is an example of humor based on the taboo of bodily excretion; the joke is played on an outgroup and results in them saying that they have done something that other children find embarrassing or gross.

Taiwanese Joke: Double Naming and Chickens

Nationality: Taiwanese
Primary Language: Mandarin
Age: 50
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Taipei, Taiwan
Performance Date: 16 February 2024

Tags: joke, Taiwanese, chickens, double meaning, toilet humor

Text:

There was once a man who visited Taiwan for the first time to improve his conversational Mandarin speaking skills. He had heard from his Taiwanese friends that Taiwanese people often like to ‘double say’ (repeat) nouns- for example, ‘喝水水’ = ‘drink water water’, ‘吃飯飯’ = eat food food, ‘大狗狗‘ = ‘big dog dog’.

To attempt to fit in to local customs, the man wanted to try ‘double saying’ a noun. As he was thinking, he saw a small chicken crossing a road. He pointed at the small chicken and loudly declared:

“小雞雞！” (“small chicken chicken”)

After he said this, every local around him burst out laughing. Confused and embarrassed, he hastily called his Taiwanese friend and recounted the experience, demanding an explanation. The Taiwanese friend burst out laughing and explained:

” ‘雞雞’ (chicken chicken) means ‘penis’. “

Context:

T is a born and raised Taiwanese local, and apparently this is a pretty popular (though crass) joke to tell children, which she did in my youth when we ate chicken one day. Growing up learning Mandarin from T, I realized we both subconsciously also used the ‘double noun’ habit, though it’s mainly used for children learning Mandarin growing up as it can seem cute in a way, in a singsong-ish manner.

Analysis:

Thinking back on the joke, there may or may not be a connection to the English interpretation of the word ‘cock’ as both a word relating to ‘chicken’ and ‘penis’, so maybe dick jokes can help connect the world.

The Fort Point Ghost Walk

Text: “I think like 3 years or so ago I went on a tour of Fort Point underneath the golden gate bridge and there was like this scary tour pertaining to the ghosts of soldiers who served in the fort in the past. Part of the tour contained people in ghost costumes but it also included explanations of supernatural events and examples of the tour guides communicating with ghosts in the rooms or sites where they are believed to be.

Context: CH is a resident of Mill Valley in Orange County where he claims to be an hour or so away from the fort where he went on this tour. The scariest part according to him was the setting of the tour, the dark and twisting corridors of the old fort, which added to the overall sense of unease and tension. He also remembered a point where his tour guide tried to talk to the ghost of a soldier who passed away in the room he was in which was very scary. CH said this was a Halloween tradition that people could experience annually around that time of year but that the tour would likely lose its charm after going again.

Analysis: While there have been reports of supernatural activity at the fort over the years, including sightings of ghostly apparitions and unexplained sounds and movements, these claims have not been scientifically verified. It is important to note that many of the stories and legends surrounding Fort Point are based on historical events, such as the fort’s use as a military prison during the Civil War, and the deaths and tragedies that occurred there over the years. These stories have been passed down through the years and have become part of the folklore and mythology surrounding the fort. The people dressing up as these ghosts and telling scary stories of ghosts believed to be inhabiting the fort are ways of perpetuating this belief and are not only a way to attract tourists and visitors, but also a way to keep the rich history of the fort alive and well. The way CH described it the tour he went on seemed to involve some examples of ritual where the guides tried to communicate or interact with apparitions.

Gasparilla

Context: The informant JE is a recent graduate of a college in the city of Tampa, Florida. Not being from there, the informant made it very clear that they tried extra hard to make sure they followed and learned all the traditions of the area. JE stated that they felt in doing this they would have both a better experience living there and also meet lots of new people.

Tradition: Every year in Tampa there is a festival, Gasparilla, which the informant stated was basically just a big pirate festival across the city, celebrating the history of Tampa. The informant said it was a huge deal in the area, and they partook in the event every single year that they lived in the city.

Analysis: The informant constantly emphasized how important the event was to the city, and subsequently all of their college friends. While in the end it seems a bit like a giant excuse to party, the fact the city keeps the tradition as an extremely big deal is tremendous to see. The city because of festival and its “pirate” history has really leaned into this cultural aspect, even naming one of their professional sports teams after pirates. City identities such as this create an extremely fun and connected culture for the residents, and more cities should lean more into their history to have a unique culture.

Lucky Pennies

Text: 

L: “So for luck, your godmother [T], from the Massachusetts area, came from somewhat of an Irish background and she had a tradition of throwing pennies. She would throw pennies in everywhere, whether it was your house, whether it was your room, whether it was in a card she closed, whether it was in a car…”

Me: “For a moment I thought you were going to say a fountain.”

L: “She would throw it into a fountain, but she was not limited to fountains. Believe me. You know, drawers, rooms, books. And her tradition, which I believe is an Irish tradition, is that you throw pennies into the area you want so that you are blessed with good luck and good fortune and no lack of money. So basically, it’s a good luck charm. And to this day, you can even verify it with dad that we’ve found pennies in every corner of her townhouse.”

Context: 

L is my mom. Her close friend, T, who is also my godmother, was of Irish lineage. L learned this tradition from T in her 30s and while T practices this tradition a lot, L did not. When asked why she responded, “Because I had the annoyance of picking them all up.” When asked about interpretations L said T believed placing a penny causes good luck in that area compared to the belief of picking up a penny for good luck on the day it was picked up. T would never pick up a penny she found and considered it bad luck if someone did.

Interpretation:

Hearing about this tradition was interesting as I am personally used to the “If you pick a penny up, all the day you’ll have good luck.” This is the opposite with a giving penny tradition. Online there are various traditions about lucky pennies, and many specifically Irish ones too (Some listed here: https://silverbranchheritage.ie/heads-or-harps-penny-traditions/). I can’t find anything exactly like what T did but there are the older traditions of wishing wells and fountain pennies, some where if animals were sold as a market the buyer would give the seller back a penny that would become a lucky penny, and more. Abiding by such a tradition as T’s shows one’s giving nature and some belief in superstitions.