Tag Archives: bed time

The Floor is Lava (Yoan)

Context

My dad told me this story about a game that he played with his older brother as a part of their bedtime ritual when he was younger:

Dad: Ok, so, in our lifetime – shared lifetime – there’s been more of an awareness, of kids playing a game called “the floor is lava.” Like, there was a tv show, called the floor is lava, and people started talking about it, and actually, you know, whatever it was, 10 years ago, 12 years ago, we wrote – we: our little Marino family – wrote a story called “the mysterious floor” that’s essentially the floor is lava story in a new form.

Text

Dad: That came out of the fact that when I was growin’ up, my brother and I had bunk-beds in our room – we shared a room, we had bunk beds, and we had a little ritual. And the ritual was um, someone had to turn out the light, and I had the bottom bunk, so I- it was easier for me to go turn out the light, and then I would come back to the bed, but the game we played was was that our-our bunk-beds were a submarine, a submersible, and um, the minute you turned off the light, the-this was lava, but we called it yoan, which was a combination of the words yes and no for some reason *both chuckle* the minute you turned out the light, the yoan would start to rise, and so I had to hop back – I– there were apparently some yaon-proof, like little stones in the wa– in the yoan that didn’t get covered right away, so I had to hop back – hop on different rocks back into bed, and, um… before the yoan completely rose. And then it would rise and cover the submersible, and then we were, you know, all night long we were basically in a submersible underneath the yoan. But it wasn’t until… many many… many years later that I realized that there were… that lots of kids played some version of “the floor is lava” and that it was– it was like a thing, but, but again, I don–I can’t– I don’t have any recollection of anybody ever teaching us that game or telling us about it… or even playing the floor is lava with any of my other friends. It was just something that was– it was part of this night-time routine that my brother and I did that– that we kinda felt like we had made up and maybe we had, you know, absorbed from the culture. I don’t know. 

Interviewer: Did um… so the bunk-beds were the submersible, so you were safe in the bunk beds? 

Dad: Yeah, the-the bunk-beds had like– yeah, they sealed up like, like fully, you know, fully shielded up against yoan. Um, and… I think, you know, my brother was older, so he was like the captain of-of our submersible and then I– you know, I had some sort of yoaman’s job of like, i don’t know, ma-maybe I ran the engines or whatever like I– yeah. I was… you know, I was crew of our-of our submersible.

Interviewer: And you were safe in your bottom bunk…?

Dad: You were safe any– if you were on either b– you know, any… either of the two beds… maybe also on the ladder, I… we never really discussed that, but if, if you- I definitely had to get into bed, make it back to the bed to be- for us to put up the sh- I don’t know, close up the doors of the ship… You know, it was kinda sealable, the ship, so that it could be submersed in yoan for the night. It, you know, it could travel through the yoan too, like it would, it would sort of like, you know like-like a submarine, it could like explore different places and things like that. And I think we were able to see thro– even though the yoan, in my mind, even now is pretty opaque, and actually more of like a yellow color, for whatever reason, than a red, but the yoan w– you know… once we were fully submerged, we could see through the yoan as though it were, you know, a submarine under water. 

Anaylsis

This bedtime routine is a unique version of ‘the floor is lava’ game. It is interesting that my dad doesn’t remember learning this game from anyone else and did not know that it was a game people played until he was adult, but that is a common occurrence in folklore.

As my dad alluded to, it is likely that this game served as a way to get the young brothers into bed at night in a way that felt playful and fun. This behavior was also likely encouraged by their parents who appreciated a break from telling the wild kids to get back in bed

Sleep well in your old bett gestell

Nationality: american
Age: 52
Occupation: marketing
Residence: los altos
Performance Date: 4/25/19
Primary Language: English
Language: german

Text:

“Sleep well in your old bett gestell”

Genre: Phrase / saying

Background: The interviewee, VP, is an American middle-aged female. VP resides in Northern California and comes directly from Austria and Latvian descent. VP’s heritage and traditions are deeply influenced by her Austrian descent and capability to speak both German and English. The folklore originated in Austria and was translated from German to English. The original German translation of “Schlaf gut in deinem bett gestell” translates loosely to “sleep well in your bed frame,” but means that the sturdiness and safety of your bed will allow you to sleep well. VP states that the phrase is used at night before either going to bed or tucking someone in. It can be said amongst adults and children alike, but is primarily used by parents and grandparents of German descent when tucking in their children at night. VP notes that she learned this from her Austrian great grandmother who passed it down verbally to her daughter, then down to her.

Nationality: Austrian
Location: origin: Austria, practiced: America
Language: English German hybrid

Interpretation: Like most oral traditions, these are passed down from generation to generation. What I find extremely interesting is that by definition, folklore contains variation and multiplicity, much like the phrase that has been passed down to VP throughout generations. Over time and through Americanization, the phrase has gone from the native tongue to shift into a mixture between both American and Austrian cultures as both languages are present in the phrase. This is seen more commonly within those who are capable of speaking both American and Spanish. People with this bilingual capability are often seen speaking both languages at the same time that some may call “Spanglish.” This blend of languages makes it extremely hard for someone who is monolingual to translate or make sense of quotes or conversations, thus causing a loss in translation as seen with the Austrian phrase presented above. What I also find interesting is that the original phrasing’s translation into English doesn’t make all that much sense, but in the native tongue of Austrian it carries a far deeper meaning. However, the mixture of the two languages does not lose any emphasis or meaning as the words become more of a phrase or saying that carries meaning versus a straight language translation.

Don’t let the bugs bite

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 03/23/2019
Primary Language: English

Text

“Sleep tight, don’t let the bugs bite. If they do hit ‘em with a shoe, and they’ll turn black and blue!”

 

Background

The informant knows this saying because her parents would always say it to her right before she went to sleep every night. It reminds her of childhood and she remembers that when she was younger, it comforted her because it gave her a sense of power over the things she couldn’t control (like monsters under the bed or in this case, bugs in the bed). She currently thinks it’s just a silly rhyme but would also like to pass it on to her children some day.

 

Context

The informant is a college student in Southern California and grew up in Orange County. She grew up in a nice area and went to a local public school.

 

Thoughts

Interestingly enough, one time when I was babysitting, I said “Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite!” to the kid I was babysitting because I remembered that my mother use to always say that to me. To my surprise, the boy got very upset and scared that there were bugs in his bed. When I was a kid, I knew that this was a very common phrase, so I did not take it literally, but I saw firsthand how this nursery rhyme might be scary to young children. This version that the informant told me about fixes that problem by giving the child some sense of control over this fictional bed bugs by giving him or her a sufficient way to take care of the problem (by hitting the bed bugs with a shoe).