Tag Archives: folk sayings

Hungarian Folk Speech: “Nem mindegy hogy idd ki a bilit vagy vidd ki a bilit”

Nationality: Hungarian-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2/20/2023
Primary Language: Hungarian
Language: American

Text: Nem mindegy hogy idd ki a bilit vagy vidd ki a bilit

Transliteration: nem → not / mindegy → whatever / hogy → to / idd ki → drink up / a bilit → a potty / vagy → or / vidd → take it out / a bilit → a potty

Translation: It’s not the same to drink a bucket of pee than it is to take it out. 

Context: As a 20-year old Hungarian student, my informant explained to me that this Hungarian saying is used to point out that “it’s not the same if you say this thing or that thing,” hence “it’s not the same to drink a bucket of pee than it is to take (pour) it out.” Clearly, these two actions are very different, but the phrase itself plays on the phonetic similarities between the words idd and vidd, which mean “drinking” and “taking out,” respectively, and how they may sound similar (being just one letter off) but have entirely different meanings. This is used in reference to when someone tries to equate two things that may seem similar when spoken, but actually have entirely different meanings.

Analysis: The vulgarity of many Hungarian sayings is particularly striking and something that I actually discussed with the informant: Hungarian jokes and folk speech have a propensity towards profanity or obscene and sexual references as a source of humor. I think it is worthwhile, then, to apply Freud, who was a native to the Austrian Empire and did much of his work near present-day Hungary, in analyzing this particular saying, which seems to reference one of the formative stages of Freudian development: the “toilet training” stage (to be referred in short as “the anal stage”) (“Sigmund Freud,” Lantz). The text itself seems to demarcate the key differences between two formative, yet very distinct, stages of human development according to Freud: the oral and the anal stages. In the oral stage, one is obsessed with the mouth, tasting, chewing, “drinking,” etc (Lantz). Whereas in the anal stage, one overcomes oral fascination and gains control over the ability to expel waste: “taking it out” or going to the bathroom to dispose of it properly (Lantz). In Freudian theory, these are two completely separate stages of psychological development, where one is the natural progression of the other. In other words, one is clearly more developed once they are potty trained than when they were an infant always wanting to chew on things. The “drinking” versus “taking it out” distinction seems to reference both the oral and the anal stages, respectively, and the Freudian undertones of these phrases further underline the differences in meaning between idd and vidd: it is clearly nowhere near the same thing to “drink” versus “dispel” human waste, as one is clearly more developmentally sophisticated and socially appropriate than the other. It is also worth noting that the idd, which means “drink,” is very similar in spelling to Freud’s theory of the id, which refers to the undesirable impulses conceived in our formative years that we must outgrow as we mature (Lantz). The Freudian undertones of Hungarian folk speech are definitely striking and a possible influence worth investigating further, since Austro-Hungary was, quite literally, the birthplace of Freudian psychoanalysis. 

References for historical research:
Lantz, Sarah E. “Freud Developmental Theory.” National Library of Medicine. StatPearls Publishing, 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557526/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2023.

“Sigmund Freud” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud.

Que te pasa calabaza? Nada nada limonada

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: n/a
Residence: California
Performance Date: 2/16/23
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish (non-native)
  1. Original Text: “Que te pasa calabaza? Nada nada limonada” (Spanish)
  2. Transliteration: “What is happening to you pumpkin? Nothing nothing lemonade”
  3. English translation: What’s up pumpkin? Nothing nothing lemonade”

Context: The informant is 18 and grew up in Barrington, Illinois. They are a freshman at USC, studying Theater and Anthropology. They learned this saying on the playground from friends in elementary school while involved in a dual language program in Spanish and English. “It’s ‘sort of like a greeting’”, the informant says, “similar to the popular English saying ‘see you later alligator, in a while crocodile’”. The informant describes that one person says “Que te pasa calabaza”, while another responds to the greeting by saying “Nada nada limonada”. 

Analysis: The informant is white, not Hispanic/Latino, but learned this saying from native Spanish-speaking children on the playground. There is a large percentage of Hispanic/Latino identifying individuals in the Chicago area (which includes Barrington), specifically those of Mexican descent. Therefore, the saying may be common in Mexican culture specifically, as well as in other Spanish-speaking countries. This saying reflects the playful nature of elementary-age children, taking delight in fun rhymes and games with their friends. Greetings are a way to indicate your relationship with another individual. Having a special saying in a shared language to exchange with your friends indicates closeness and shared culture. 

“Du gehst mir auf den Keks”

Nationality: American/German
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 4/20/2022
Primary Language: English
Language: German

Translation: you’re getting on my cookie

The informant is the daughter of 2 German immigrants. She was born in Germany, lived in France when she was young for a bit, and grew up in the US. She is now a college student.

A: The direct translation of “Du gehst mir auf den Keks” is like, “you’re getting on my cookie”, which obviously doesn’t really make sense in English but it actually just means like, “you’re getting on my nerves” or like “driving me crazy”… my parents used to say this to me all the time because I was a really annoying kid haha.

Me: why does it mean cookie…?

A: I mean, I’m not super sure….I feel like food is used in a lot of German insults I guess? It’s just something parents will say to their kids a lot ‘cause it’s like…a lighthearted way of telling someone they’re annoying. Like no one would say that if they were actually super mad so it’s like a kind of subtly funny-ish way of telling your kid they’re annoying you. 

Context: This was told to me during a recorded in person conversation.

Did you see the camel? No you did not!

Nationality: Persian
Age: 27
Occupation: Associate Banker
Residence: Laguna Niguel
Performance Date: 3/15/2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Persian

Context:

This is a proverb that is commonly used among the family and friends of my informant. My informant is a coworker from my job. She immigrated to the United States from Tehran, the capital of Iran, when she was 16 years old and has a lot of family here that she enjoys continuing her traditions with.

  • “šotor didi? nadidi,” or “شتر دیدی؟ ندیدی”
    • Transliterated proverb:
      • “Did you see the camel? No you did not!”
    • Full translation: This maxim is essentially indicating that if you see something that is obvious that you were not meant or supposed to see, then you should act as if you didn’t see it. Put in other words, its true meaning is along the lines of, “you see nothing, you hear nothing.”
    • Explanation by my coworker: “So lets say you’re trying to hide someone from knowing something that they see or hear. We use a camel in this maxim because it’s a large animal and easy to spot, obvious basically, just like something that you may have just seen or heard. So basically, you obviously saw or heard something that is as obvious as a camel, but you’re making the concious decision to hide that information.”

Thoughts: I thought it was really interesting that a camel was used as an obvious sight. It shines light on the regional uniqueness of the maxim and perhaps illustrates that the saying goes far back in history. In modernity, there a lot more large, obvious things that could be used to replace the role of the camel in the maxim, yet it persists because of its place in the history of the region.

“If You Lie Down With Dogs, You Get Up With Fleas”

Nationality: America
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 3/25/19
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Main piece:

“We have sayings like as my mama always said, she will always sit there and be like: ‘Ummm when you lay with dog you get fleas.’ So you are who yourself associate with the all times, your direct function of whoever you decide you associate with and who you are friends with.”

Background:

My informant always hears her mom say this saying to her to warn her be aware of the people who she decides to associate with. She is largely influenced by this saying as she grows up, and she is constantly aware of the people who she is friends with. She also tries to stay away from the people who she does not appreciate to avoid bad influence on her.

Context:

This piece of folklore was collected through a quick interview after class. My informant and I knew each other when we first came to the college, so the setting was really causal and both of us were relaxed.

Thoughts:

I know a similar saying but in Chinese, which is:

Original saying in Chinese: 近朱者赤, 近墨者黑

Phonetic (Roman) script: Jin zhu zhe chi, jin mo zhe hei.

Transliteration: If you go towards red then you are red, and if you go towards black then you are black.

Full translation: If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

This saying also alerts people to be aware of the people that they are associated with. The color red in this saying refers to good influence, and the color black refers to bad influence. I grow up hearing this saying multiple times. It is also in the primary school textbook and my parents say it to me often too to educate me to be a good person and to be selective of my social circle.