Tag Archives: folkspeech

“What the Freak?”

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Language: English

Context

The informant claims that they were the original source for this saying, and truth-be-told I haven’t heard it anywhere else. Around the time of origination, the word “freak” was making its rounds on the internet. In particular, the song “Nasty” by Tinashe had gone viral, and the lyric “is somebody gonna match my freak?” had become a popular TikTok audio. This led to the word’s more frequent usage, and since it’s aurally similar to the words “frick” or “fuck”  in the phrase “what the frick” or “what the fuck,” that’s probably how it snuck itself into the informant’s vocabulary. 

“What the freak?” is most often used immediately after a person says something tabooistic or off-color. It is mostly synonymous with “who said that?”, the implication being that someone other than the speaker had said something weird, and the speaker is reacting to them. “What the freak” is almost certainly euphemistic in nature, and could be an example of a minced oath, a phrase watered down from a more vulgar starting point (in this case, “what the fuck”).

While the phrase has been recorded online, this particular use of “what the freak” that highlights the absurdity of a statement seems to originate from my friend group.

Analysis

This is definitely not a widespread phrase. Only the informant, our housemates, and even myself are the only ones I’ve heard use it, or at least this specific use-case. But I don’t think it diminishes its value as a piece of spoken folklore circled amongst a close, tight-knit group. It speaks to a level of comfort we all share as friends and roommates, and highlights the safe, weird space we’ve created together. When someone says “what the freak,” it immediately sparks laughter and joy in our living room. I think that speaks to the power of folk speech as a means of creating a community identity.

Might is Right

Nationality: Kashmiri, Indian
Age: 62
Occupation: Physician
Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
Language: English

Text: Might is Right.

Context: Informant first heard this proverb at Hahnemann University Hospital located in Philadelphia. During informant’s time as a medical student, a fellow classmate commonly relayed this proverb in reference to the dominating presence of attending physicians. Informant describes a situation in which he informed an attending that they made a misjudgment in a patient’s charts. The attending physician dismissed the informant’s suggestion and made an effort to criticize most of their input after this interaction. Informant was first told this proverb when discussing the situation with the classmate. Informant interprets this proverb as a means of justifying the power dynamics associated with medical school and residency. Informant believes that the hierarchy of power, which is based on years of experience, can be used to undermine others opinions, even if accurate.

Analysis: I believe it is important that the informant first heard of this proverb when they came to the United States. It highlights the power dynamics that are prevalent in many professional settings throughout the country. Even in politics, this proverb holds true. With the informant, I discussed the power of the current President, Donald Trump. We discussed how this proverb, and the way it in engrained into American culture, allows for President Trump to take action on things he may be uninformed or objectively incorrect about. Because of his might as President, as well as a dominating businessman and internet persona, he is able to do things that would typically be frowned upon. This idea extends into other groups of people as well. The rich are always right because of their wealth. The educated are always right because they are educated. The United States is always right because of our power. The American culture has engrained this proverb into its institutions and people, and it exists both explicitly and secretly in many interactions.

Funny Burmese Pun

Nationality: Burmese

Primary Language: Burmese

Other Language(s): English, Chinese

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Performance Date: 02/17/2024

A.N is 19 years old, and is currently a USC student who’s originally from Yangon, Myanmar. She is my current suite mate and has been a friend since middle school, since we are from the same hometown and school. I asked her if she uses or is familiar with any sayings, proverbs, jokes or folk speech within our culture. 

“Yes, when I was really young, probably when I was like in my elementary years, my family members said this saying to me really often. It’s a really funny saying, you probably know it too. Whenever I would trip or hurt myself, they say “ချီတုံးမတ်တတ်ထ ခဏနာကြပြောက်” (pronounced as “chi tone ma ta hta, kana naa kyaut pyaut”) *laughs*. It directly translates to “Poop stand up, in a bit, it won’t hurt anymore”. I think my older family members said this as a joke to make me laugh and distract me from crying out of pain right after I trip. Obviously, the saying is absurd and doesn’t make sense, but to a kid, it’s a really funny image to be distracted by. They don’t say it anymore to me because I’ve grown up but they have said it to my sister when she was younger too.”

Since I am also Burmese, I’ve heard this folk speech before. I don’t remember it being said to me, probably because I was too young to remember, but they’ve said it to my younger brother as a child. It sounds pretty jarring in English but it makes a lot more sense in Burmese, since the sentence flows like an alliteration. On top of just a joke, I interpret this folk speech as a clever word play in Burmese language, and is used by protective parents that cherish their children.

A Latin-x Proverb directed at Women

Informant Info:

  • Nationality: Mexican
  • Age: 22
  • Occupation: full time student
  • Residence: Los Angeles
  • Primary language: English
  • Relationship: Friend

Text:

“Calladita te ves más bonita”

English translation: “The more quiet you are, the prettier you look”

Context:

ES grew up here in Los Angeles, but her parents are from Mexico. The proverb pertains to her Mexican culture and household. She first heard the proverb above from her grandmother. Her grandmother would tell her “Calladita te ves más bonita” as a form of advice. ES told me, “I always interpreted it meaning that oversharing can be dangerous from listening ears, or the less you say the better.” She also told me that she remembers her and her aunt would use the phrase as a comeback in a lighthearted way to make each other laugh. ES pointed out that she never had realized it before, but the phrase is targeted towards girls/women. 

Analysis:

I also grew up hearing the proverb in my culture, and I greatly identified with the informants take on the phrase. When discussing the proverb with her, I too realized that it is a saying that isn’t really said to men/boys. In Spanish the ending of a word is meant to distinguish between genders. If the word ends with ‘a’ it is usually feminine. The words ‘calladita’ and ‘bonita’ end with an ‘a’ and are feminine. If it were targeted towards men, the words would end with ‘o’ and be considered masculine. Growing up, I never heard the saying told to my male companions. Sometimes in Latin-x culture, there can be a lot of toxic masculinity or “machismo.” Machismo means a sense of strong masculine pride, male overbearing control over the wife and family, and sexist ideology. Younger I didn’t really associate toxic masculinity with the saying, but now from an older, more mature point of view, I can acknowledge that it is present. ES and I were having a conversation about how in our latino culture, it is very much embedded into women from a young age to sit still, look pretty, and be quiet. Of course, we aren’t trying to stereotype our culture from this lens, we are simply acknowledging some patterns we noticed. 

“…got the keys”

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: Student at USC
Residence: Thousand Oaks
Performance Date: 2/20/2023
Primary Language: English

Background: This is a saying that was popular in a Californian middle school in the early 2010s referencing American Pop Culture.

Informant: I remember this being a popular phrase said around my Californian middle school. It’s almost a way of saying that someone has the skills, abilities, and the intellect that others lack. May be a reference to a DJ Khaled song, but I’m not entirely sure. Overall, it’s a really jokey thing to say. For example, if the whole class was having difficulty on a math problem, but one student knew the answer, another student may remark, “he’s got the keys.”

Analysis: I believe that this saying is limited to the informant’s middle school because I have asked around other Californian students and no one has heard of the saying. The song mentioned by the informant is “I Got the Keys” by DJ Khalid featuring Jay-Z and Future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFLSOIufuhM.