Rattlin’ Bog

Nationality: American
Age: 25
Occupation: Real Estate Developer
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: 2/21/23
Primary Language: English

Text: SW explained his favorite drinking game, “Rattlin’ Bog” to me: A group of people gather in a circle, sitting around a table. Each person has a drink in their hand (and usually one or two more in case they finish their first one) and the song “The Rattlin’ Bog” is played, most commonly through a speaker connected to someone’s phone. This song has a chorus that repeats in between verses, and each successive verse adds another line to the last one, so that the verses get continuously longer as the song progresses. One member of the group drinks for the entire length of a verse, then after the chorus, the person sitting beside them in the circle drinks for the next verse, and this continues in a clockwise direction around the circle until the song’s completion. Thus, as the verses get continuously longer and build upon themselves, the successive people in the circle drink for longer. SW claimed that, by the last verse, it becomes a relatively difficult task. 

Minor Genre: Game

Context: SW is a 25 year old man who graduated from USC in 2021 and now lives in New York City. He told me that he first played this game when he was a senior at USC, and that he learned it from a friend who had known about the game for quite some time. This friend had told SW that the game supposedly originated in America, but that the song Rattlin’ Bog was a traditional Irish tune. 


Analysis: After hearing this, I thought of another drinking game called Thunder. The premise of Thunder is almost the same as Rattlin’ Bog, but it is set to the song Thunderstruck by AC/DC. Thunderstruck was released in 1990, while The Rattlin’ Bog is a traditional Irish folk song, in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 129. Thus, I wonder which game originated first, where each game originated, and finally, why SW’s friend postulates that Rattlin’ Bog the game was first invented in America – how could this be, and furthermore how could he know this? How one culture borrows from another and creates a new folk game out of an old folk song is fascinating. Generally speaking, this made me think of how drinking games tend to create their own cultures in the act of gathering, drinking, and playing a game with other people. Though there are two different national cultures supposedly concerned here (American and Irish), any drinking game also creates its own new folk group every time it is played, just with the people present. There are certainly variations between individual games (SW said that some people bang their fists on the table during the chorus, others clap for the drinker during the verses), and these small variations create folk groups of people who now play this specific way.

Tiger in Chinese Knock Knock Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California, United States
Performance Date: 2-23-2023
Primary Language: English

Text:

Informant: knock, knock

Me: Who’s there

Informant: Lao

Me: Lao who

Informant (chuckling): You just said tiger in Chinese.

Context:

The informant made this joke in 2nd or 3rd grade while learning Chinese. The joke is based on the fact that the Chinese word for tiger 老虎 (Lǎohǔ) is pronounced very similarly to “Lao who?”

The Informant notes that it is the only joke they’ll have on hand should someone ask them for a joke. I did just that and thus received this joke.

Analysis:

Though original, this joke clearly fits into the wider genre of jokes and riddles connecting similar sounds/pronunciations to their divergent meanings across languages. Especially with children (likely because they are learning and seeking to understand the languages they hear and speak), it is common to see linguistic exploration like this. there is also the common desire among young speakers to have a trick to their words or a “gotcha” as their punchline.

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

Nationality: USA
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: CA, USA
Performance Date: 2/23/23
Primary Language: English

Content Warning: Discussion of potentially triggering topics including, but not limited to, sexual assault.

ZN describes an acronym convention within the fanfiction community. This convention warns readers that there is content that may be triggering or that could be deemed incredibly offensive that is being used for sexual intent within a work of written fan-fiction. These topics could include non-consensual sex, underage sexual conduct, and more.

ZN.) So there’s something called Dead Dove, Do Not Eat, or DDDNE which is a tag that people will put on AO3 (the Fanfiction website Archive of Our Own) fanfiction posts that means that there’s some triggering content or potentially triggering content. It’s usually sexual in nature, so it’s like non-consensual sex or like underage stuff or like bestiality or something like that. It’s written in a way that it’s meant to be pornographic and like you’re meant to be turned on by it, so it’s kind of a trigger warning. But, it’s different than a trigger warning because trigger warnings will usually be used like “We deal with this really heavy topic in a way that’s trying to be respectful but you may get triggered by it.” Dead dove do not eat is specifically for like sexual assault scenes that are written like pornography.

This is an acronym that a community decided to use colloquially to describe content that would be very taboo for most readers. It is a piece of folk speech used by those that frequent fanfiction websites and communities. It’s not dissimilar to acronyms used in other communities to refer to inappropriate content, but in contrast its more used as a tag than to replace the actual inappropriate content. It’s interesting that it’s both used to keep users that may dissent to reading this content away from the content but also to attract users that may enjoy this type of writing. While this type of writing existed before the internet, now it is very accessible to whoever is browsing, so it’s very important that the community has a way to distinguish what they are okay with reading before being exposed to potentially harmful content. 

“Flat out like a lizard drinking”

Nationality: Australian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Philadelphia
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English

Text: flat out like a lizard drinking.

Context: Tom heard this phrase from a man he spoke to at a bar in Western Australia, who told him a story about a man who was previously kicked out of the bar. The man sought to use this simile to convey how quickly the misbehaving man left the bar when he saw the bouncer approaching him. Tom uses the phrase to describe situations when someone changes locations in a haste, and thought it was very funny when he first heard it. 

Analysis: As Tom explained, in Western Australia these one-liner comparisons are a culturally popular way of expressing oneself. The word play abides by observations of human behavior and of lizard behavior in Australia. Tom explained that in Australia, people say to go “flat out” is to move with maximum speed, perhaps a reference to a horizontally pointing speedometer. Also, when a lizard goes to drink water, it lies down flat on its belly. So, these meanings working in conjunction, the phrase references the double-meaning of being “flat out” in Australia, ultimately referring to moving quickly. I connect this phrase to the combination of Australia’s unique culture and its inherent connection with nature, namely the Outback. 

“As busy as a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad”

Nationality: Australian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Philadelphia
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English

Text: As busy as a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad.

Context: Tom says he’s “as busy as a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad” when he finds himself extremely busy with his tasks at hand. He uses the term in all settings, including academic, social, and professional, and sometimes modifies the phrase but always keeps the alliteration aspect of it. He first heard it from his Western Australian uncle, who, in a conversation with Tom’s dad (Tom overheard), employed the simile to explain how busy he was with work as an entrepreneur. He found it very funny the first time he heard it. 

Analysis: This simile is a tool used to liken the sisyphean task of rebuilding a warzone, made even more difficult by a major physical impairment, to occupation with an overwhelming amount of work. Tom explained that in Australian culture, people tend to make funny comparing statements: one-liners that are intended both to convey information and to be comical. I interpret the phrase not only as clever wordplay, but also as a store of historical value as it doubles as a reference to current events (war in the Middle East).