Information Info

Age: 20

Date_of_performance: 02/18/2025

Informant Name: HH

Language: English

Nationality: Puerto Rican  

Occupation: Student/works at the National History Museum

Primary Language: English/Spanish

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Text:

“One saying I grew up hearing (and learned wasn’t that common?) was “let it roll off you like water off a duck’s back.” I think this came from my dad who’s from Alabama so it might have southern roots. The idea of the saying is to encourage someone to let something go, to be flexible, and not to fixate on something too much. Basically a cute way to tell someone to let it go, or that it’s not that deep”

Analysis:

This proverb sounds like it could have southern roots because I haven’t heard of it until H told me in our interview and I’m from the east coast. I can understand why her dad would tell her this proverb growing up, it’s a sweeter version of saying “Don’t freak out. You need to calm down”. It gives you the idea that you need to breath and let it all go. Let go of things you can change, it isn’t the end of the world. We all needed to hear this proverb growing up with all of the pressure being put on us. “Let it roll off you like water off a duck’s back”, ducks don’t get upset when water rolls off their back, they don’t even pat an eye towards it. They let the water roll off them and move on like it never touched them in the first place. This is what the saying wants to feel, like the uncomfortableness come over us and let it go without a second thought or care.