“Don’t fix your shoelace in the melon bed and don’t adjust your hat under a plum tree” – Korean Proverb

Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 2/19/2023
Primary Language: English

1. Text

Main piece: Informant shared a Korean proverb which he translated to “Don’t fix your shoelace in the melon bed and don’t adjust your hat under a plum tree”.

2. Context

Relationship to the piece:

Informant is a Korean-American whose parents immigrated from Korea to the US. He learned this piece of proverb from his culture and parents.

Proverb meaning:

The informant explained the proverb as a metaphor to “not do things that will make you look suspicious”. Since crouching down to fix ones shoelaces in a melon bed would make it look like one is stealing the melons and likewise for the plum tree and stealing plums. This proverb is used to warn and teach people what not to do.

3. Analysis

This proverb’s use of the “melon bed” and the “plum tree” seems specific to Korea as melons and plums are more common fruits in Asian culture therefore would be more likely to appear in a proverb rather than pumpkins or apples which might be more common in western proverbs. The idea that you should not do anything that would make you seem suspicious even if you have the right intentions seems like an Asian ideal that appearances and reputation is more important than individuality. Fixing the hat and shoelaces are also perfectionist and conforming actions that are more emphasized or expected in Asian cultures like Korea.

“Slay” – folk speech

Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 2/14/2023
Primary Language: English

1. Text

Main Piece: The informant provided an instance of folk speech: the word “slay”.

2. Context

Relationship to the piece:

Informant:

“So I guess a form of folk speech that I’m familiar with as part of the queer community is probably the word ‘slay'”

“I know it’s really generic but it’s a word I use a lot and my friends use a lot and also a form of queer empowerment in general”

When do they use it:

Informant:

“If you do something really well, you like ‘slayed that'”

“same thing with like ‘you ate and left no crumbs'”

“like you did something really well and there’s no debate about it”

Where they heard it:

Informant:

“I sort of just learned it on the internet and like being associated with the queer community I also picked it up as well”

“I don’t really know where it came from but it’s fun to say”

3. Analysis

With the information from the informant, “slay” seems to be a slang in the category of folk speech that is used by the queer community as well as those in support of the queer community as a word that empowers individuals, especially queer people, by celebrating their accomplishments. This is important for the queer community that has had a difficult history so coming up with slang that celebrates their own people is a powerful thing. It seems to be used in casual settings mostly between friends and has a positive connotation that cheers each other up. It seems to be pretty widespread as it is described by the informant to be “generic” and “used a lot”. It also seems to be part of the internet culture as well since the informant mentioned “learning it on the internet”. This shows how the internet and social media has been a huge changing force in bringing together the queer community and empowering the community.

Full Moon Hair Cut

M is 44. She was born in Los Angeles, her parents are from Guadalajara, Mexico. She told me about this belief about when is the best time to cut your hair so it grows longer in peron.

“When the moon is full, that’s when you should cut your hair because that’s when it will grow longer. My mom told me that.”

https://www.almanac.com/fact/ive-heard-that-if-you-cut-your verifies this piece of folklore, noting that the moon has to be waxing and not wanning, otherwise the hair won’t grow as fast. This article from the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/world/full-moon-haircut-breaks-italy-s-law.html also confirms this folklore is popular enough in Italy to cause some salon owners trouble when late night haircuts conflict with local business operating laws. For more general folklore about haircuts, see https://www.lovedbycurls.com/hair-talk/8-crazy-hair-cutting-superstitions/.

Dia de San Juan

M is 44. She was born in Los Angeles, her parents are from Guadalajara, Mexico. She told me this custom about St. John the Baptist day in person.

“El dia de San Juan… June 24th, you’re not supposed to go in the water, like not even take a shower. It’s a religious belief… I remember my mom always telling me I couldn’t even take a shower that day… I’m not sure why, I think because on this day water is holy?”

San Juan, or John the Baptist is associated with water because he baptized Jesus. Some observations of this day involve the opposite of what M told me, where people bathe and splash in bodies of water (see https://www.nativeseeds.org/blogs/blog-news/celebrate-dia-de-san-juan). For information about celebrations in Spain involving fire, water, and plants, see https://centromundolengua.com/the-night-of-saint-john-in-spain/.

El Duende

M is 44. She was born in Los Angeles, her parents are from Guadalajara, Mexico. She told me this story her grandmother had told her about el Duende in person.

“My grandmother had the experience of el Duende… when she was younger… so el Duende fell in love with her and would come braid her hair at night… but it was so tight it was hard to get them off… so when it happened, my grandmother was very beautiful and she would wake with these braids and not know why, so one night her mom stayed up and saw the Duende…but so how you get rid of the Duende is holy water and tequila and you collect these things and wait for the Duende when he comes to try and braid the hair. I’m glad I wasn’t around back then!”

This duende story is a variation of the Tata Duende, which appears to be very popular in Belize, but also among other Mestizo cultures of Mayan descent. He sometimes also braids the hair of horses. For more accounts of Tata Duende see, https://www.marc.ucsb.edu/research/community-voice/teos-way/duende