“When it Hits the Fan”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Language: English

Context

When thinking of possible folk speech I could include in the archive, I asked my roommates what euphemistic phrases they had heard growing up. One chimed in with “when it hits the fan,” a less offensive version of “when shit hits the fan” that his parents would use around the house growing up. It conveys the same meaning, describing a situation that has suddenly turned disastrous, but employs more polite words. Personally, I’d only ever heard, or used, the original, vulgar version, and I couldn’t find any sources on others who might’ve used this phrase.

Analysis

I think this is a prime example of when we rewrite common, colloquial phrases for a younger audience. Given that I haven’t been able to find many instances of the phrase elsewhere, it seems likely that my roommates parents and the people around him deliberately censored the phrase while he was growing up. I’d argue that de-vulgarized phrases like “when it hits the fan” allows younger members of society to participate in colloquial exchange that they would otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Despite the arbitrariness of words being considered polite or impolite, phrases like this allow children to stretch their linguistic muscles and engage in what would otherwise be too mature for them.

“What the Freak?”

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Language: English

Context

The informant claims that they were the original source for this saying, and truth-be-told I haven’t heard it anywhere else. Around the time of origination, the word “freak” was making its rounds on the internet. In particular, the song “Nasty” by Tinashe had gone viral, and the lyric “is somebody gonna match my freak?” had become a popular TikTok audio. This led to the word’s more frequent usage, and since it’s aurally similar to the words “frick” or “fuck”  in the phrase “what the frick” or “what the fuck,” that’s probably how it snuck itself into the informant’s vocabulary. 

“What the freak?” is most often used immediately after a person says something tabooistic or off-color. It is mostly synonymous with “who said that?”, the implication being that someone other than the speaker had said something weird, and the speaker is reacting to them. “What the freak” is almost certainly euphemistic in nature, and could be an example of a minced oath, a phrase watered down from a more vulgar starting point (in this case, “what the fuck”).

While the phrase has been recorded online, this particular use of “what the freak” that highlights the absurdity of a statement seems to originate from my friend group.

Analysis

This is definitely not a widespread phrase. Only the informant, our housemates, and even myself are the only ones I’ve heard use it, or at least this specific use-case. But I don’t think it diminishes its value as a piece of spoken folklore circled amongst a close, tight-knit group. It speaks to a level of comfort we all share as friends and roommates, and highlights the safe, weird space we’ve created together. When someone says “what the freak,” it immediately sparks laughter and joy in our living room. I think that speaks to the power of folk speech as a means of creating a community identity.

Two Dogs Fucking – Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 57
Occupation: High School Teacher
Residence: Park Ridge, Illinois
Language: English

The joke, told by RK, goes something along the lines of this:

A young Native American boy looks to his father and asks how he and his siblings got their names. His father responds, “each time your mother gave birth, I walked out of the yurt. The first thing I saw became each of your names. This is how Eagle Flies High got his name, and how your sister Sunrise Dawn got hers too.” The boy thanks his father, and his father says, “no problem, Two Dogs Fucking.”

This joke was taken from a good friend of RK in his childhood (70-80s), and he believes it was also from a movie from around the time, but from which one RK can’t remember. The setup of the joke, while long, is the part with the most embellishment during the telling, often with short asides about how the father looked upon a brilliant sunrise or the majesty of the Eagle passing overhead. The punchline about the two dogs fucking is said almost as an afterthought, adding to the ridiculous name by talking about it as if it were, say, “John”. The joke was so funny to RK and his friends that one of his best friend’s nickname while in Indian Scouts growing up was “2 dogs” in reference to this joke.

This very crude joke is a product of RK’s childhood, and he remembers it fondly because of the memories it brought up. Aside from simply being funny, it became an inside joke amongst their friends, making it a signifier of their friendship long after the first time it was said. The joke was so influential that it inspired a nickname for one of RK’s friends, making it a critical part of their time growing up. The joke itself relies on a stereotype that Native American names are often translated into English as pieces from nature, compared to the more traditional European-style names that are common in the United States, allowing the first two names to seem reasonable. RK grew up in a decently wealthy Chicago suburb that was mostly white, so the relationship to any Native American people or culture is in the medium to allow the names to exist. However, the use of Native American people in general isn’t necessarily needed, making their addition to this joke perpetuate stereotypes that Native American people lack the refinement and common sense of the “normal” American person. More recently jokes that follow this same or similar structure drop the usage of Native American people at all, instead using a nondescript parent/child where children were named after things their parents loved, like how one’s mother loved roses and named their child “Rose”, with the other child “Lightsaber” coming from their father’s love of Star Wars. This readaptation of the joke maintains the same humor setup without having to draw upon making fun of the culture of Native American people.

Six of one half, dozen of the other – Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Middle School Teacher
Residence: Park Ridge, Il
Language: English

The proverb comes in two types: The correct one and the one that had been twisted.

The correct proverb goes “six of one, half dozen of the other”, but MK frequently misspoke and said “six of one half, dozen of the other” enough to where it became its own proverb.

This proverb means something along the lines of “it’s all the same regardless,” meaning whichever direction or choice one makes, the results will be the same. However, MK so often misspoke when trying to say this proverb that her version, “six of one half, dozen of the other,” became its own proverb accidentally. This new proverb would then seemingly mean that the choices presented to the speaker are no longer equal, and there is a correct choice that will provide more value. Despite this, the proverb is still taken as its correct variation where both choices are equal when used in practice.

This proverb could have taken on a new meaning, but rather than becoming its own proverb to counter its original, it instead became an inside joke between MK and her husband, becoming used intentionally wrong to call back to the frequent accidental mistakes that made it its own version in the first place. Because of this, it is only really used between MK and her husband. What makes this version of the proverb stick then is the added meaning behind the shared joke that makes the proverb take on a new primary meaning of love and connection between the couple, as it is a proverb that only they can truly appreciate. MK said about this proverb but their family in general is that it is built off of ridicule, making these jabs a sign of love and respect between the family as a whole. The familial tradition of poking fun at one another gives it the staying power to stand as a new proverb despite its literal context losing logical sense as a proverb trying to say all choices are equal.

More problems than Carter has pills – Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 57
Occupation: High School Teacher
Residence: Park Ridge, Il
Language: English

The proverb from RK goes along these lines:

“_______ has more _______ than Carter has pills,” for example “That guy’s got more issues than Carter has pills.”

This proverb comes from RK’s father, who would use it pretty often back when RK was growing up. The proverb is used to describe a huge quantity, with knowledge of Carter’s enormous pill storage being deemed as common knowledge in the late ’70s and early ’80s. When asked why Carter had so many pills, RK said that he assumed it was about former president Jimmy Carter, who had a tumultuous term as president, dealing with many wide-scale issues. RK was young during his presidency, being the first one that he could remember, and he assumed that on top of the issues he was dealing with as president, an enormous drug addiction was part of them. However, recently, RK discovered that Carter’s Pills actually had nothing to do with Jimmy Carter and instead were about Carter’s Little Liver Pills, with people seeing so many ads for them that it seemed “he” had endless pills.

This proverb is absolutely a product of its time, with both Jimmy Carter and Carter’s Little Liver Pills being something that peaked in the American interest in the late ’70s. Today, this proverb would only make sense to other people who had grown up in this era. The fact that RK did not know about Carter’s liver pills makes the use of this proverb even more interesting as RK was a passive bearer of the proverb, accidentally conditioning himself to think that President Carter had a pill problem which had stuck in his subconscious until only a few weeks ago. This conditioning occurs when one interacts with a proverb, and its illusion of collective wisdom can be extremely destructive when taken in the wrong context, but thankfully, RK’s opinions on Jimmy Carter’s drug use aren’t particularly harmful to anyone. Should this proverb have instead made RK think about an entire cultural group, perhaps, even if by accident, it could have led to the perpetuation of harmful biases against certain people, especially as the proverb came from RK’s father, someone who’s opinion RK values. While this mix-up was humorous in this context, it also shows how powerful folk speech can be in influencing one’s core beliefs when they are at a young age.