School-taught hand Signals

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Performance Date: February 22, 2023
Primary Language: English

TEXT: “Silent Signal”, “I agree with you signal”

MINOR GENRE: Gestures

CONTEXT: As I was jogging the informant’s memory of what Silent Signal was, the informant began, “Wow, I forgot about that. That’s so fascinating [that I forgot.] So, I completely forgot about the silent signal… and was it really called the silent signal?”

“Yes.” I responded.

“So, we were little young children, and I feel like some random person walked into the room, like one of the teachers held up their hand making a symbol and then a bunch of people held up their hand like that and everyone then went silent. It would probably seem like a cult or something. I’m trying to remember, I don’t know if it was a peace sign or what it was… I remember at one point it looked like a little fox, it was like silent coyote. And then at one point someone said that was like offensive to something and so they were like, ‘Oh, I guess we have to stop doing that, so we’re gonna use this other hand signal instead.’ I don’t remember what that was…But I do really remember the ‘connecting with you thing’ where you hold out your pinky and you hold out your thumb and it’s like a lever going back and forth and it means like I agree, I see you, I know what you’re doing. And I haven’t seen people do that since then, but everyone knew what that meant there and did that to each other. We had a class where we would sit around in a circle and talk about how we felt, so you would do that ‘I agree with you signal’ and they taught us that from when we were like 6 years old, but I completely forgot about it. It’s not ingrained in me because I haven’t done it,  I’ve kinda fallen out of it, but next time I see you and I agree with something, you’ll know what that means.”

I continued the conversation, “[Our mutual friend from a different city] actually does it too. She did it at her school too.”

The informant replied, “Maybe it’s like a private school thing.”

I agreed, “Yea, it’s definitely a private school thing… a cult thing.” 

(Laughter)

The informant continued, “But it’s kinda fun. I, like, love learning sign language that isn’t [officially] part of sign language, like after I watched the movie DUNE, I learned most of the one handed sign language in the movie.”

(Some friendly chatter)

Then I brought it back to the conversation at hand, “I think a big part of it was that they were teaching us ways to like listen, but also control some type of excitement through a movement through a gesture.”

The informant ended, “Yea, that’s good! You can connect with someone without interrupting them.”

ANALYSIS: I sought out this informant because I knew we had a shared experience with gestures. We attended the same elementary, middle, high school, and, now, are both in SCA at USC together. In elementary school, our teachers and community leaders had many gestures they would use to teach us to communicate. Before I recorded our conversation, I talked a bit with the informant about “Silent Signal,” a signal where someone who wanted a large, noisy group or room to be silent would raise their arm and wait until eventually the whole room caught on and everyone was silent with their arm up in the air. I was curious to see if this informant’s memory differed from mine, and it definitely did. Silent Signal and the ‘I agree with you signal’ were somethings that I remember very well, but my mention of the word Silent Signal and just the simple hand motion of the ‘I agree with you signal’ jogged the informant’s distant and vague memories of them. I thought it was very interesting how the informant segway-ed to talking about the gestures that he did recall and that his memories of some gestures were very different from mine. I had no idea why we as a community stopped doing silent coyote, but he had details from a shared experience that I didn’t. I think this was an amazing interview to conduct because even though we spent many many years of our malleable adolescence together, his memories were unique to his view on our community. I also think the talk of our cult-like private schools having classes where we talk about our feelings, another sort of inside joke from our school community, was insightful because it showed that these extremely specific gestures we did as children, that he perceived to only be used in our small little world, are used all over the world to help children communicate their burning need to connect with their peers. I find it fascinating that there are simple hand gestures like that, that are not a part of any official language, that can satisfy kids’ tendencies in multiple schools. 

No Te hagas Que la Virgen Te Habla

Nationality: Mexian
Age: 47
Occupation: Caretaker
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: Feb 24, 2023
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Transliteration: Do not youtself make that the Virgin (Mary) is calling you

Translation: Don’t act dumb because the virgin is calling you

Explanation/ Context: My mom would often say this to my sisters and I, rhetorically when she was driving and someone upset her on the road. “Unas veces me enojaba tanto con los carros cuando las iba a dejar a la escuela… Lo escuché primero en México cuando era niña. No se de donde se viene.” After doing some digging (asking family members to translate), the saying is mostly applied to people who pretend to act dumb or as if they don’t know what’s going on.


Translation: “sometimes I would get so mad with the cars when I went to drop [you and your sisters] off at school… I heard it first in Mexico when I was a girl. I don’t know where it comes from though.

Scoop the Rice Superstition

Nationality: Filipino-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Graduate Student
Residence: Berkeley, CA
Performance Date: 2/24/23
Primary Language: English

Text/Context

PM: Okay. Yeah. Okay. Um, I’m not really sure like what happens if you don’t follow this, but I have never not followed it, so I don’t care to find out. Um, but I think it’s from my Lolo, so my dad’s father,

Interviewer: Um, Lolo, so that’s, um, Philippines?

PM: Mm-hmm.

PM: Like, and I don’t know if it’s like a Filipino thing or if it’s just my Lolo, but, um, whenever you get rice from the rice bin, you always like, usually there’s like either a huge bag somewhere or like a big jar or something. You always have to scoop the rice when you’re done for the next person. And like, if I did not do it, like if you just throw, if I just like, would throw the cup in the, in the rice bin, like, it’d be like, no, you have to scoop it and leave it in there so the next person can get it.

PM: And so like, whenever we’re out of rice, like you and you can’t scoop another one, I like go get the rice, open it up and scoop it even though I’m not using it. And like, I think I’ve talked about it with my dad, and I think it’s possible that it’s like a, something that was, that came from like, uh, like starvation practices. So like, you know that you have more rice if you scoop it. Mm-hmm. And like if you don’t, then you have to acquire more food.

Analysis

This person’s family originated in the Philippines before moving to the eastern United States, and the interviewee is a third-generation American. The folk group in question is the person’s close family, who all adhere to this superstition. They provided me with this superstition after I specifically asked for superstitions they learned from their family.

As they stated, they do not know what might happen if they did not adhere to this tradition. The practice is simply so rote that it remains unquestioned. However, as the interviewee stated, not following the practice is akin to breaking a rule that might confer some type of bad luck.

As the interviewee also stated, the origins of this practice may have its origins in starvation periods during colonialism in the Philippines. That would certainly make sense; to have the rice scooped for the next time it is needed is to know that you have enough food for the next time you are hungry. However, this person is a third-generation American whose ties to Filipino culture are mediated by their Lolo, or grandfather. It could also easily be that this practice formed as an expression of etiquette, extending courtesy to the next person who scoops rice. It could also be–as the interviewee stated–that the superstition was merely created by their grandfather.

Dog Fleas Proverb

Nationality: American
Age: 31
Occupation: Law Student
Residence: Salt Lake City, UT
Performance Date: 2/24/23
Primary Language: English

Background

My informant is my brother-in-law, who grew up in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. He says he frequently heard his father tell him this, who would invoke the proverb to warn him against hanging out with the wrong crowd. He is of Western European descent and identifies as American.

Context

This is a proverb, so the text remains largely the same with each iteration of speech. This proverb is used as a warning against associating with the wrong people.

Text

“If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get fleas.”

Analysis

As a proverb is supposed to convey some sort of wisdom or inherent truth, this proverb serves as a warning. It is common in English to hear a person refer to another person who is perceived as having a low moral character as a “dog.” This is likely due to dogs historically subsisting off of food scraps and scavenging in the cities and villages of human settlements. Dogs have a reputation of being dirty scavengers, and so the application to those with low moral standing is apparent. And, since dogs often have fleas, something that is unpleasant to be afflicted with, the proverb has both literal and metaphorical meaning. From here, it is easy to see how the proverb serves its warning: associating with those with low moral standing is likely to influence one’s own behavior.

The “dogs” might also refer to those of low socioeconomic standing, however, especially given the association with fleas. Fleas can be seen as a disease or affliction, and the proverb might also be meant to warn against associating with those with poor hygiene due to economic factors. On a larger societal level, this proverb might serve to maintain social boundaries based on class.

Brazilian New Year’s Tradition

Nationality: Brazilian-American
Age: 32
Occupation: Marketer
Residence: Salt Lake City, UT
Performance Date: 2/24/23
Primary Language: English
Language: Portuguese

Background

This is a description of the Brazilian New Year’s tradition, specifically that of northeast Brazil. The informant is a third-generation Brazilian American, although she has spent a considerable amount of time living in northeast Brazil–specifically the state of Bahia–and is fluent in Portuguese. The informant describes the rituals and traditions common for New Year’s Eve and Day in northeast Brazil. She is careful to note that the traditions come from the traditional Brazilian religion espiritismo, which is a syncretic mix of African religions and Catholicism. She is not an adherent of espiritismo, but she states that the tradition is widespread in Brazil, even for those not following the religion.

Text


MM: Um, so on New Year’s Eve, you typically wear a color that signifies what kind, what you want to bring into the new year. So the most traditional one is white. People want a peaceful new year, that’s white. Um, but the other most popular colors that people wear are yellow to signify wealth and prosperity in the new year. And red to signify passion and love and romance and sex in the new year.


MM: Um, and then on New Year’s Day, there’s a tradition in the northeast of Brazil, Bahia, to go to the ocean and, um, give, put white flowers on the water, um, as an offering for the new year for Iemanjá, who is the goddess of the sea and the most powerful, uh, deity in Brazilian spiritism.

Analysis

As is clear from the informant’s description of the tradition, while there are clear connections to espiritismo, it is not necessary to adhere to the religion to be influenced by it in Brazil. The informant knows that the deity is Iemanjá who controls the sea, but the deity is described from a secular perspective rather than a religious one. That an expat can experience this tradition is indicative of its pervasiveness in Brazil and espiritismo’s entrenchment in Brazilian culture.

The colors are significant here, too, and point to cultural perceptions of color in Brazil. Red, for example, is associated with passion and sex, suggesting a connection with fertility, menstruation, and blood. The three mentioned are common color associations in European culture, but given the syncretic nature of espiritismo, the associations very well could have originated in Africa.

Iemanjá being the primary deity in espiritismo might allude to the importance of the ocean during the colonial period, especially given that such a massive proportion of the Transatlantic Slave Trade ended up landing in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The treacherous journey across the ocean might be one influence, and the fact that Brazilian colonies largely existed along the coast might be another.