Saying: “Don’t go half idiot, go full idiot.”

Context: Being passed down from her grandpa to her dad to her, this saying comes from when her father immigrated to the States for the first time. With uncertainty and restraints such as doubt and fear having the ability to hold someone back, her grandfather wanted to remove this preconceived notion to ensure the fact that if he went through with something stupid, such as a useless business idea, or buying a used Cherokee with 40,000 miles. Generationally, this has changed for her coming from the East to the West Coast, especially with friends. To her, if you make friends with someone don’t talk to them once, continue talking with them and stay in touch.

Analysis: I find this saying particularly interesting, especially from an ethnic perspective, as she is Korean. Talking with her, I learned that until the latter half of her high school years, her parents embodied the stereotypical tiger parent image. However, breaking off this and creating her own identity she was able to do this by putting her 100% into everything she does, whether or not it came to fruition. Especially with the idea of half vs full, something that comes to mind is a glass of water half full vs half empty. As such, with this saying, something that can be perceived is that if you plan on doing something and whether it succeeds or fails go down with the idea don’t leave it at the tilting point. This saying has evolved and culturally differs especially in the US. Similar to the glass of water is the idea of a captain sinking with the ship. As such, the meaning of the saying stays the same but changes depending on how/the cultural background you were brought up in. Strict parents follow the idiot idea, a family with ties to the naval space would have a ship, and a traditional American family of 4 going from the American dream would have a glass of water.