Tag Archives: high school

Folk Belief

Nationality: African-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hillsborough, NJ
Primary Language: English

“We were in the park, this was in New Jersey…um like I think it was in Junior year of high school I’m not positive. Um, we had to go play outside because Serena, my friend who I was playing with, her mom didn’t like the idea of us playing Ouija board in the house and she thought it was kinda eerie just because…I guess it’s ‘cause she believe that it works, that you could recall spirits and she didn’t like the idea of having it in the house or of us playing it in the house so she made us go outside. So went to a park that was right by her house…me, her and my friend Christine… and we started playing with the Ouija board. We started asking “Is there anyone there? Is there anyone there?” and the pointer started moving. I don’t remember who we talked to or what they said or anything but pretty soon I got stung by…I don’t know what I got stung by. I just assumed it was a hornet or something but it could have been a little bit from a bug and it hurt really badly and I still have a scar from it actually but um…anyway, it was just really weird and it kinda freaked me out just ‘cause… I guess, of her mother making us leave and everything… so I already had it in my head that it was, you know, could be a bad thing that we were playing Ouija boards but….prior to that, um…we had played in her basement and it was just me and Serena I think when we played then. And we asked “Is there anyone there? Is there anyone there?” And it started moving and somehow or other, I think she asked “What year did you die?” And it had said the same year that her uncle just died…and she started asking it some more questions and she figured out that it was her uncle. And um, I think she asked for his initials…the initials of whoever we were speaking to and it was her uncle’s. And then she was asking a couple of questions like how her cousin was – her uncle’s daughter – and uh…whether or not he had seen or spoken to her grandmother who had died and she was just asking a couple of questions like that and…I didn’t really ask any questions because I didn’t really know him. I think it was that experience that made me believe it a little more because I don’t think that she would, you know, pretend…you know how they say people can push it but I don’t think she would have done that which is why it made me believe that it might be real. Plus with that whole sting thing. It was really scary, it wasn’t like he was freaking us out or anything…it was just kinda eerie, just kinda the thought that her uncle’s spirit could be like in the room with us. And the other time, it was just really strange…’cause I’ve never been stung by a bee or anything before and it would itch a lot afterward and I didn’t know what it was. It was just really weird and it left a mark.”

I think the Ouija board is a good example of folk belief because to some people it may be just a game but to others, it really is a way of communicating with the dead. Zakiya’s friend’s mother refused to let them play in her house because she believed strongly in the Ouija board and was afraid to “invite” the dead into her house. Perhaps this is out of fear that they may accidentally welcome evil spirits to their home. People who don’t believe in the Ouija board, however, may be skeptical about it and think people are just pushing the pointer themselves. Zakiya trusts her friend and doesn’t think she’s the type who would play such a prank but it could also very well be that her friend believes in the Oiuja board so much that she is subconsciously pushing it without intending to.

More information about the Ouija board as it relates to adolescents’ search of self-identity can be found in:

Tucker, Elizabeth. “Ghosts in Mirrors: A Reflection of the Self”. Journal of American Folklore: 2005.

Joke – American

Nationality: german
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hinsdale, Il
Performance Date: April 29, 2008
Primary Language: English

Joke- American

Question: What does one lesbian vampire say to the other?

Answer: See you next month!

Chris grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois. He first learned this riddle from a senior member on his high school track team during his junior year. He said that the person told it in the locker room after practice one day for no reason other than he thought he was funny. This was not a track team joke, or one that had particular significance for any track team ritual. He just thinks the person told it because he thought the joke was funny.

This is Chris’ favorite dirty joke because it is funny and it makes someone think. After hearing the answer to the joke, he said he didn’t get it at first, but when he heard the explanation he thought it was a great joke. He explained that it’s funny because both vampires are girls and they have their periods once a month. They only see each other once a month because, without getting into too many details, vampires suck blood and a woman’s period, which occurs once a month, involves blood. He mainly uses it if people are sitting around telling jokes, but if someone were to ask if he had any good dirty jokes or good jokes in general, he would tell them this joke (provided the person asking was a friend, as it could be quite an offensive joke).

I find it interesting that Chris first heard this joke in a locker room after a track workout. I think this says a lot about the joke and the nature of the joke. It is probably funnier to guys than girls, as guys don’t have a period and it’s a lot easier to make fun of something that one doesn’t experience. The setting where this joke took place implies that it is a dirty joke and shouldn’t be said around family or in serious situations.

The joke is risqué, as the meaning of the punch line infers sexual organs of the female body, and in teenage boys, nothing is more interesting than that. That could be another reason why it was told in a locker room full of adolescent males. They are in the peak of puberty and their sex drive is very high, so this joke is much funnier (and interesting) to them than if it were a joke about two gay males.

As for why the lesbian animal has to be a vampire, this is a reference to a woman’s period. Once a person understands the meaning of the joke, many elements of the joke become much more clear, and with this knowledge, it is easy to see why the animal must be a vampire.

Practical Joke – USA

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Scarsdale, NY
Performance Date: April 22, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Practical Joke—USA

“During the first day of practice on the varsity Ice Hockey team at Scarsdale High School, the seniors stole all of the freshman equipment (during a team meeting) and hid it in a closet at the rink.  When the freshman saw that their gear was gone, the upperclassmen acted clueless and suggested that it was stolen.  Finally, right before practice began, the seniors brought the equipment back and everyone found the whole ordeal hilarious.”
I first learned about this practice joke when it was performed on me during my first practice, freshman year.  Unfortunately for me, everyone had me and the other 3 freshman on the team convinced to the point that we were all extremely upset that our equipment had been stolen.  The practical joke was believable because the four of us had all put our equipment in the same locker room, right next to the entrance of the rink.  The rink is located in a somewhat dangerous and crime ridden section of town, and it was therefore believable that someone might have come in quickly and stole our stuff without being seen.  Furthermore for us freshman, it was our first practice on a varsity team and all of us were nervous, not knowing what to expect.  We had been warned that the first practice would be physically difficult, but there were all kind of stories that went around about freshman getting abused during their first varsity practice.  Fortunately, that was not the case.  But the upperclassmen certainly scared us all.

This practical joke occurs virtually every year from what we were told.  While nobody knows exactly which senior class started it, the tradition is kept alive year after year.  This is a great example of folklore because it supports Von Gennup’s theory, which recognizes the importance of practical jokes as a right of passage (Lecture 2/7/08).  He noted that practical jokes were usually present during the liminal period of someone’s life; a life transition like a marriage or initiation to a team or society.  The rational behind this is that you know that you are a member of this “group” when you know the practical jokes that have been played on everyone else.  Just as Von Gennup theorized, the practical joke that was played on myself and the other freshman came during our liminal period, when we were in the process of becoming members of the team.  After the joke was played on us, we now expect it and are “part of the team.”

Catch Riddle – California

Nationality: Brazilian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Palos Verdes, CA
Performance Date: March 25, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Portuguese

Catch Riddle—USA

“If you ask someone to say I’m a Math Debater! Five times fast, it sounds like they are saying I’m a Masturbator!”

Marcelo informed me that this was one of his favorite riddles because it works every time, and because everyone always gets a good kick out of it.  He first heard it from one of his close friends when he was a junior at his high school, Palos Verdes Peninsula High in Southern California.  It is a pretty simple catch riddle; a way of getting someone to say something that they ordinarily would never, and is vulgar, inappropriate and hilarious.  Usually when someone performs the riddle, he or she does it in front of a large group of friends so that the victim will feel more embarrassed and sometimes even humiliated.  From Marcelo’s personal experience, the victim usually gets really red in the face and buries his face in his hands.  Right after this victim utters the phrase five times fast, there is a pause in the group, and everyone looks at each other, and then bursts out into laughter.  Though Marcelo does not know where the riddle originally came from he believes that he’s heard the same catch riddle throughout California, both southern and northern, so it likely originated somewhere on the west coast.  Either way, he has been using on kids at USC ever since he started school here in August 2007.

Saying – Hillsdale, New Jersey

Nationality: Italian-American
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hillsdale, NJ
Performance Date: March 19, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

Saying—USA

“Just Work.”
Michael first heard this saying in his hometown of Hillsdale, New Jersey.  He played Varsity football all throughout high school, and had a very close relationship with his coach.  His coach had a way with words; his favorite saying was always “just work.”  He would use this all the time; if someone was struggling through a weightlifting session, he would look him in the eyes and tell him to “just work.”  If the team was messing around during practice, his players always got serious when he would tell them that it was time to stop messing around by telling them to “just work.”  Though Mike originally heard this saying exclusively during some sort of sporting event or physical activity, he now applies it to just about everything he does.  As he has explained to me, telling someone to “just work” is like telling them to disregard everything else, all erroneous and potentially detrimental distractions, and just get something done.  He has applied this to a number of situations—from writing a paper to finding a job.  “Just work” is a saying meant to encourage.

Though Michael is unsure where his coach picked up the saying, he understands that other statements that have the same meaning have been around for a while, Nike for example, used to popularize its products with the slogan “just do it.”  To me, “just work” is a terrific saying because it is so versatile yet is simple and to the point, but bears immense significance.