Tag Archives: folk expression

Minor Genre: Saying/expression

Date of Performance: 02/11/2025

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

“I’m fuller than a wood tick on a swamp rabbit”

Context: The subject’s grandfather (from Kilgore, Texas) would say this after a large meal, usually dinner. According to them, the phrase has a slight negative connotation – it is primarily used when one feels uncomfortably full.

Analysis: Cultural background likely played a large part in the inception of this saying, given the rural nature of the subject’s grandfather’s home area. A “wood tick on a swamp rabbit” is likely very full, as the rabbit is unlikely to resist being leeched on by the tick. Interestingly, the phrase exists in direct contrast with another Southern expression I’m familiar with, “I’m hungrier than a tick on a teddy bear”, which presents the opposite meaning (as a teddy bear has no blood to feed off of).

Minor Genre: Folk Expression

Date of Performance: 02/24/2025

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: Chino, CA

“Mickey mouse _______” or “[Thing] is mickey mouse”

Context: Subject is an avid sports fan, and said phrase is often repeated on sports corners of social media, specifically basketball. The label refers to something unearned, easy, cheated, etc. – derived from the Los Angeles Lakers 2020 Finals Championship, which, due to COVID-19, was held at Disneyworld in Florida to an audience of no fans – this championship’s validity is often put into question, and its’ Disney sponsorship is mocked, hence “Mickey Mouse”.

Usage Examples (for clarity):

“That class is mickey mouse” — meaning that class is easy.

“Mickey mouse trophy” — meaning the trophy was earned unfairly, inadequately, or cheated.

Analysis: This phrase has significant comedic value to those in sports circles, particularly those who follow the NBA, and is often immediately understood — however, it remains relatively obscure to those who do not spend significant time on sports discussion social media pages. Regardless, the subject and many others use the phrase in non sports-related conversations, meaning some have picked up on its meanings outside the sports community. The phrase is related to “NBA twitter culture”, the birthplace of several popular memes and expressions, some of which have outgrown the relatively niche community of their origin.

Minor Genre: Folk Expression

Date of Performance: 02/27/2025

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

“Did you get the license plate of that truck that hit ya’?”

Context: In the subject’s teenage years, his father would repeat this expression when the subject appeared particularly disheveled or disorganized — “basically when I would just wake up looking crazy”. Apparently, his father’s uncle would say it to him, and it was passed down in the family.

Analysis: Subject described his father as the joking type — and that fits, as this type of expression is common amongst comedically inclined dads. A similar phrase is the classic “looks like a tornado passed through here” often repeated by parents upon seeing their children’s messy rooms.

The “S” (Cool S)

Text:

The “S”/Cool S

(Wikipedia)

Context:

My informant describes the “S” or the “Cool S” as a drawing of an “S” in a graffiti-like style. She has first seen it during elementary school, where classmates would draw this “S” in their notebooks or the margins of their papers. She interprets it as something kids would also teach each other how to draw. It consists of two rows of three lines that are connected to make a pointy letter “S”.

Analysis:

I interpret the “S” as mostly children’s folklore. The “S” has very unclear origins outside of school because it is where people learn about it and how to draw it. I notice that this spread simply through children learning and teaching each other. This iconic drawing’s origin may have been lost most likely because it was children who spread it. The graffiti style of the “S” could also imply rebellion. In many schools in America, gang signs and anything that could resemble a gang symbol are typically banned. While the “S” does not particularly represent anything specific, children still gravitate drawing and spreading this symbol just for some inconsequential malicious compliance.

Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult

Nationality: African-American (Ivory Coast/Scottish/Welsh)
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Shoreline, WA
Performance Date: 4/5/17
Primary Language: English

Context: My roommate discovered this meme one day, and it prompted a discussion about the various levels of depth it reached.

Background: My roommate is a self-described “conveyor of fine memes” and has a hobby of collecting, creating, and sharing Internet memes.

The Meme: The meme (attached to this post) is a play on the phrase “easy peasy lemon squeezy.” The phrased is reworked in a text explanation that laments the fact that things are not “easy peasy lemon squeezy” as once believed, but are in fact “difficult difficult lemon difficult.” This explanation is accompanied by the image of a middle-aged woman furiously gripping a laptop in both hands and biting into it.

Analysis: This became a folklore discussion as a surprise, as the further my roommate and I discussed it, the more it seemed to work as a piece of folk speech. “Difficult difficult lemon difficult” is definitely an evolution of the saying “easy peasy lemon squeezy,” which itself has an origin that feels meaningless in the context the phrase has since gained. The specific discovery of the newly-changed saying also has the context of being in meme form, memes being one of the more common areas of unauthored expression in the 21st century.