That’s my Jawn

Text

“Jawn” – slang term used to mean friend as in “That’s my Jawn.”

Context

Informant grew up in Philadelphia, and used this folk slang to refer to friends. They suggested that this slang word might be specific to Philadelphia.

Analysis

The term ‘Jawn’ appears to be the version of the name John filtered through the accent associated with the region of Philadelphia. This is reminiscent of the name ‘John Doe’ that is often used in place of an unknown name in the US. In this way, Jawn could be a version of John, which is being used in place of an unnamed person.

Family Death and Paranormal Activity

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Text: Interviewer – “What kind of ghost stories have heard of or experienced? Anything relating to your family?”

JL – “Woo boy, I could write a book! I’ve always believed in the supernatural. I have a lot in mind, but one sticks out the most. That brings me to when my mom died, on October 13, 2012. My mom and I were always close. My kids were very close to her as she was the only grandparent they had a relationship with, and she absolutely ADORED them (she loved them to pieces!, as she would say). She’d visit us half a dozen times a year, we spent summers at her house, she’d join us on vacations. We were CLOSE. My kids were young when she passed, in third and fifth grades. One morning shortly after she died I was getting the kids ready for school. They were sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast, I was at our kitchen island making lunches. We have a light fixture above the table with 5 bulbs in it. One of them had been burned out for months and I just hadn’t gotten around to changing it. Anyway, one of us mentioned that we were feeling sad that day because we missed Granny, and the burned out light bulb switched ON. The three of us looked at each other and thought, “Huh, that’s odd.” I said, “Mom, if that’s you, turn that light back off.” And the light went off. None of us were scared, we all thought it was kindof… cool? Comforting? We spent the next 20 minutes asking questions, and that light bulb kept responding. I finally said, “Mom, thanks for visiting and letting us know you’re ok, but I have to get the kids to school.” And the light bulb never responded again. But Mom hasn’t completely gone. We have a door that leads from our garage into our house that has a deadbolt lock on it. There are times when I will open the door from the house, walk through the doorway, immediately go to shut the door behind me only to have it bounce on the doorjamb because the deadbolt has been fully extended. We’ve tried shaking the door, jiggling it to see if we could replicate it, and nope, no movement from the deadbolt. There have been times when I’ll be carrying groceries in from the car, keeping that door to the house open for several trips, and then when I finally go to close it, the deadbolt is extended. And it’s not just a little bit sticking out, it is fully extended. Every single person in my family has had this same experience. There are two things that I love about this: 1 – Mom still comes around to say hi, and 2 – my family’s reaction isn’t fright, it’s a casual, “Hi Granny, thanks for visiting.” This has been occurring for 14 years. With my daughter’s graduation approaching, I’m sure I’ll see a lot of activity with the deadbolt!”

Interviewer – “Have these paranormal activities diminished in frequency or stayed the same?”

JL – “They’ve diminished in frequency. Mom still comes around and plays with the lock on the door, but now it seems to coincide with times of extreme emotion – when we’re celebrating something like a birthday or a big event with the kids, when I’ve been exceptionally worried or stressed.”

Context: This long story came up as I was asking JL about some of the paranormal experiences they’ve had or if they believed in ghosts in the first place as I have my fair share of history with the supernatural and ghost encounters myself. This specific story has been shared throughout the past many, many years, for as long as since it happened, and is not exclusive to the family, though it is a piece of lore special to the family due to the circumstances of the events.

Analysis: This account is in it of itself a familial piece of lore. Whether it’s a tale to some or simply something that happened, the story of it all has continued to thrive as have the perpetual encounters. Due to the nature of the story and how it doesn’t necessarily have an end, whether someone who experiences it first hand believes in ghosts or not, the event of the deadbolt on a door elongating can be either calming, reassuring, or frightening based on who you are. All individuals who listen or experience this tale are bearers of it, and since the events have continued to repeat, the amount of first-hand sources simply grows as time passes. The ghost story evolves constantly, and the lore that the JL and their family once just held for themselves has continued to be shared to their friends and community.

Black Cat Bad Luck

Age: 51

Text:

Informant: “If a black cat crosses your path, that means like bad luck.”

Interviewer: Okay. Is there anything you can do to, like, undo it?

Informant: No. That’s bad luck. So I gotta, yeah, I don’t know. I gotta watch out for things. Yeah. Gotta be more careful. Maybe not. I don’t know. bungee jumping.

Interviewer: So there’s not like, something to like make the luck like fine.

Informant: No, we don’t, we don’t really have that at all. Like that you could do something about it.

Analysis:

This example of superstition, a belief-based form of folklore. It is widely known that a black cat crossing your path is bad luck, even when people don’t fully commit to believing it. Many superstitions come with a clear way to reverse the bad luck, taking it into your own hands and making it good. However, the informants cultural perspective believes that bad luck is not something than can be reversed or controlled. Instead, it is accepted as something that simple “is,” reflecting a more fatalist approach to superstition.

This belief emphasizes acceptance over intervention, with the informant even mentioning to watch your actions after and be more careful. This response to be more cautious shows how similar superstitions can functions differently across cultures even when the core belief is shared.

This example connects to the broader idea that folklore operates within a shared cultural logic and helps people connect to a folk group and other values. The superstition does not require proof or an explanation. Its truth comes from being widely accepted and in this case, the absence of a “fix” becomes part of the tradition itself. This reinforces a worldview in which certain outcomes are unavoidable.

This example demonstrates how across cultures and spaces stories and beliefs can adapt and change. Folklore is not just about the content but the belief and importantly the response. Different cultures respond to uncertainty and misfortune differently, shaping behavior through shared assumptions about luck and control over the events in life.

Pouring Tea – Chinese Ritual

Context:
My informant is a 19-year-old student from Orange County, California. I was having dim sum with my three friends and when we sit down at the table, we have tea cups and a pot of hot tea set before us on the table. I begin pouring the tea into one of my friend’s cups and she begins placing the two tips of her fingers by the side of the cup as I pour.

Text:

She begins explaining to us, “whenever my family pours tea we tap our fingers (she continues the action, tapping her fingers on the table) to show respect for the one pouring the tea. I think my mom said this was how kings used to do it but I don’t really know.”

The rest of us copy the movements when we get our tea poured.

Analysis:

My friend grew up in a traditional Chinese household. Both of her parents raised her immersed in Chinese culture teaching her Cantonese at a young age. I think this ritual can be traced back to one of the many Chinese dynasties. This ritual seems to have been passed down through generations. This combines food as folklore with this ritualistic performance, as hot tea also holds traditional value. Again, this is one of those beliefs that puts a lot of value on respect.

Ed the Friendly Ghost

Age: 19
Performance Date: 10/23/2025

EH: “My mom and my dog, like, left the house, and they went to the park, which is not at all close to my house. And then there was, like, tacking on my window, and I heard my mom’s voice yelling at the dog. And it was like the same yelling that she had done the night before so the dog would come inside. 
And I was like, that’s weird because they’re not here right now. And so I asked my mom later. She’s like, oh, that was probably just Ed. I was like, who the **** is Ed? 
And she was like, he’s our house ghost. Don’t worry, he’s not like malevolent or anything. I was like, I hope you would have told me that sooner if he was, but also, we have a house ghost? 
And she was like, yeah, he’s like, he’s older, he died of old age in the house. It’s fine. He’s nice. 
He just likes to tap on the windows and mimic people. And I was like, okay, that’s crazy. But, like, apparently I had him around your whole childhood? 
During my childhood, I thought I had an over of active imagination, ’cause I would, like, I had a bunch of, like, figures and stuffed animals, and so I would, like, make these complex plots, and, like, I thought I was just, like, making voices, but, like, I realized now it wasn’t me making voices, it was Ed.”

Interviewer:  “But, like, other people hear him?”

EH: “Yeah, like, my parents heard him. He liked my room the most. 
I think that might have been where he died now that I think about it. Oh my god. Because my parents lived, their bedroom was originally in my current bedroom, and they would hear him in there the most. 
And then they moved bedrooms and they were like, let’s stick our daughter with that. Naturally. And so I heard him all through my childhood because I had, you know, like those weird horror movies where like the kid has like a playmate and then like they show a picture of it, like a drawing or something and then it’s like this horrific creature. 
That was me, but I never drew Ed and I didn’t think Ed was like a real person. I thought it was just violently hallucinating. But Ed is like a real person. 
He’s a real guy. I found him on ancestry.com. My parents looked him up. 
My dad had that **** bookmarked. Yeah, that’s crazy. I’m gonna ask them for his last name so I can, like, show you guys.”

Interviewer: “So all of a sudden finding this out, how did it impact you? 
Like, what do you take out of your experience?” 

EH: “Well, 1st of all, I lived with a ghost, so, like, there’s that. He was, yeah, he was a friendly guy. 
Friendly old guy. Like it wasn’t weird. He was just like, he played with me, you know? 
Apparently. Now that I think back, I was like, I wasn’t making all the voices, okay? Oh my God. 
But yeah, so I’m like…”

Interviewer: “And is he still there?”

EH: “I haven’t heard from him in a while. 
Mostly because I’ve been here, but when I’ve been back in my house, there hasn’t been much. I think there’s been tapping, but he hasn’t done a lot of voices recently. Let me text my mom.”

Context: This story was told to the informant by her freshman dorm roommate in late October, while the two were in their dorm with another student, and they were discussing classes together. When the topic of ghosts came up (as a topic of a GE Seminar), EH immediately mentioned her complete belief in ghosts because she had had a recurring experience with one. Piquing the interest of her peers, she immediately jumped into this story. 


Analysis: This tale illustrates a ghostly take on the classic ‘imaginary friend’ situation often portrayed in popular culture. Prior to this conversation, EH had not mentioned this aspect of her childhood, assuming it was not out of the ordinary to have had such a normalized relationship with the uncanny. The informant has true belief that throughout her childhood she continually interacted with this household ghost, and that ‘Ed’ continues to occupy (EH avoids the term haunt) her house to this day. Her encounters with the spirit are unique in the sense that Ed never fully presented himself to her, but just existed as a voice or tapping noise. The tapping noise associated with the company of the household spirit is a common motif across ghost stories, being seen, often ominously, as a ghost’s way to make their presence known. However, the subject makes it clear that in no way is the ghost unwanted or invoking fear. Rather, the ghost is treated as a member of the household, acting as a playmate and lighthearted imitator.