Tag Archives: drinking

The dog that bit you

Age: 44

TEXT:

“Nothing better to beat a hangover than getting a taste of the dog that bit you.”

CONTEXT:

A saying used by the informant’s grandfather and uncle, in reference to curing a hangover. The informant later explained her disbelief in the saying and application of the saying, stating, “I just think it makes you more drunk, and then you just don’t feel as bad.”

ANALYSIS:

This take on the traditional English proverb the hair of the dog was used by my informants grandparent and uncle growing up in Chicago. The saying offers a fresh and witty take on the widely known saying, and when thinking of the same or sharing it with others, such as was the case with this interview, my informant is reminded of her childhood and interactions with now deceased relatives. These sayings bring back memories in a bittersweet way, but keep the memory of those who said them alive. In my opinion, this is a combination of folk medicine (hangover cure) and a proverb.

Crossing the Street Expression

Age: 19

Text:
“The story I have to tell is an expression that my grandma says. She’s from Guatemala and came to the U.S. in the 80s. The town my grandma is from is really small. The expression that she says is, in Spanish, ‘Look both ways when you cross the street because you don’t know if it’s your dad driving. And even if it is, you don’t know if he’s drunk or not.’ People drink a lot in that little town, and it’s dark.”

Context:
A boy from Pamona, CA sharing a proverb that his grandma and other people from her town use when crossing the street. She is from a small town in Guatemala that has a big drinking culture.

Analysis:
This saying is likely a proverb passed down through generations to educate their children on safety when crossing the road, especially given that the town has such a large drinking culture. This also suggests that there may have been drunk-driving accidents in this town and that it is common for people to drive under the influence. Instead of changing the drinking culture of their community, they turn to educate their children on the risks of drunk driving. This has turned into a folk metaphor, passed down through generations.

Senior Skip Day

Age: 21

Text
“Yeah so every year, I think this is a pretty widely common thing in high schools in like America but like when you’re a senior there will be a day where everybody skips class and it’s called senior skip day. For us, like the high school I went to, it’s pretty much become a tradition where every year the senior class will like meet up and we’ll drink and pregame and all that and then all of us will go to the beach and like hang out for the day. Just like everybody in the class or like anybody that wants to go so like it’s open to everyone and I mean like everybody gets into it because it’s the last few like moments you’re sharing as a group you know. So, yeah, that’s one of the more special traditions I’d say from my high school.”

Context
AV says that senior skip day is a very common and well known tradition among high school seniors in America, and notes that all his friends in college, his siblings, and his high school friends from other schools participated in their own senior skip days at their respective high schools. AV says that at his high school, their specific tradition of drinking and going to the beach as a large group was well known from year to year and nobody really deviated from it. He doesn’t know when it started, but he says a few years later, kids are still doing it now and everybody gets into it.

Analysis
Senior skip day is a piece of customary folklore, a yearly tradition that is widespread throughout American high schools, yet is given its own unique spin by each specific school and student body. It’s a great example of how school lore passes horizontally through students rather than vertically from the institution. It’s a tradition that plays on liminality and communitas, as normal school rules are void (and the school doesn’t mind) and the entire student body is together in experiencing this tradition. For AV’s school specifically, skip day has almost become a festival that marks the end of high school and the social bonds as a graduating class, and according to Santino, intertwines the playfulness of festivals while still marking that transition past high school. Skip day is also a great example of how lore passes down as even though it’s not an official tradition of the school, the same event has been and will continue to be passed from senior class to senior class.

Story About a Priest at a Wedding Party

Nationality: Irish

Occupation: Horse Race Track Manager

Residence: Waterford, Ireland

Language: English

Text:

Back in the day Murphy got married, but he hardly remembers it because of how much he had to drink, oh far far too much. At one point during the ceremony the priest came over to him and said “Murphy you are drunk” and Murphy said “how do you know father?” and the priest said “Because you are lying on the floor”. Murphy looked up at the priest and said “that may be true, but the best man is drunker than me” and the priest says “don’t you mean ‘drunker than I’?” and Murphy says “no father, nobody is drunker than you”.

Context:

When my aunt told me this story, she acted like it happened at a wedding that she went to as a child growing up in Dublin; only when I pressed further did she admit it was a story she heard, not one she observed. It is unclear if there was a specific wedding that this actually happened at, but the story had been passed down from her mother, and her friends had heard similar stories elsewhere. When I pressed more, she said that one of her friends heard that story but said it happened in Kerry (in the West of Ireland), and if the story took place there that would feed into stereotypes Irish people have about Kerry.

Analysis:

The way that my aunt acted like this story had happened at a wedding she went to reveals a lot about Irish communities. The idea of a priest being drunk at a wedding is funny, but the story works as a joke because it isn’t completely unreasonable. In many parts of Ireland (less so in Dublin, which is how I knew the story wasn’t a true experience of hers), the priest is a major part of the town’s social network, where he would know everyone and be at any major event like a wedding. However, a priest would also be willing to join in the celebration, which opposes their day to day holy life. Many people in rural Ireland have experienced priests acting in a very normal way outside of their holy work, but this is generally not talked about; this joke is a way of bringing up how priests are human just like everyone else.

Marching Band Shot Taking

Tweeeeeeeet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, down, don’t die preformed

“Tweeee^eet tweet tweet tweet tweet down, don’t die”

I’m in band, I am a college student of legal age, who occasionally recreationally takes alcohol, in a safe, consensual manner (laughter) [consensual between you and the alcohol?] Yes. (laughter) [So where will you use this?] Often times I’ll use this right before parties. [So you’d use it at parties, do you think you would use it (this method of taking shots) at a non-band party?] Probably not because I think I’d look like a weirdo. [Who taught you this? Who did you originally learn it from?] The people who were in band before me, so like when I was a freshman they were seniors and it just gets passed down. [Would that be your section or just general band? (both the taking of the shot and the teaching of the shot] General band, but I learned it from my section. [Why do people in the band say this?] We say this before we run down on the field, we say “tweeeeet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, down, don’t die” and then we would start going “aaaaaaa” and then running on the field, and then because another huge part of the band other than marching band and music is alcohol (laughs) we will also do that before we drink. [So what does the tweet stand for? How does that become a thing?} the tweet mimics the sounds of the whistle that Jake uses to cue us off (to go running onto the field).

-Interview with the Informant

The USC Marching Band became as well known and impressive as it is today thanks to its previous director, Arthur Bartner. His tenure at USC is marked by the current band for having an incredibly football team, manly mentality as well as a band that was rowdy and alcoholic. The identity of the band has shifted since Dr. Jacob Vogel, the current director, took the reigns, however the importance of alcohol for band members has not been completely erased. Band members spend much of their time together, especially during the fall football season and as a result they have created a folk group that transcends just being a marching band and is also a social group outside of band itself. They have band exclusive parties, drinking traditions, particular mixed drinks made special by each different section, all of these different social aspects that are considered a part of band despite not being practice or music related. Using the folklore of their band activities, such as being tweeted off before running onto the field, they extend the group’s activities to drinking, partying, and socializing outside of just the marching band practice and game hours.