Tag Archives: idiom

“Stop dicking the dog”

Main Text:
Background on Informant:
My informant is my dad, who I have grown up around and learned many sayings from. He often uses informal phrases in everyday conversation, especially when talking about work or getting things done. I asked him about to explain one of the crazy sayings that he used to say when I was a kid, I would cringe every time he would say it. I also asked him where he had heard it first. He explained that he first heard it while working in construction and has continued using it in daily life.
Text:
Interviewer: Dad, what’s that one saying you used to say to me all the time that I hated so much? You remember it.

Informant: Oh yeah, uh, “stop dicking the dog.”

Interviewer: Right, so tell me, what does that mean?

Informant: It just means stop messing around and get to work. Like if you’re wasting time or not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, that’s when you say it.

Interviewer: Okay, so it’s like for when you’re half-assing something then? Like instead of saying don’t half-ass it, you’d say don’t dick the dog, right?

Informant: Correct.

Analysis:
This is a clear example of folk speech or specifically slang/ proverb like sayings. While functioning as a form of indirect advice, reflecting how this saying can convey guidance without hostility or criticizing someone. Instead of giving a long explanation, the phrase quickly conveys that someone needs to stop wasting time and be productive. In class, we discussed how folklore helps reinforce group identity. This example shows that clearly, as the phrase was originally learned in a construction setting and is now used in everyday family conversation. It reflects values such as productivity, discipline, and responsibility. This also demonstrates the idea of multiplicity and variation, since the phrase moves across different contexts while keeping a similar meaning.

Knocking on Wood

Interviewer: “OK, personally some rituals i’ve grown accustomed to and practice are mostly related to theatre. Superstitions such as avoiding naming the play “Macbeth” in the theatre, never wearing your costume outside of rehearsal and performance, and a created folk song that was local to my high schools theatre department. What are some rituals or superstitions you believe in?”

AB: “I always knock on wood when I say something I don’t want to jinx, I don’t really even think about it anymore its more of an automatic reaction out of fear or something”

Interviewer: “Why do you think that works, like why do you use it?”

AB: “I don’t know, it makes me feel like i’m undoing evil energy, like your correcting it before some karmic lesson is taught to you, its like proactive.”

Context: The informant learned this practice from her parents. Her parents are very spiritual and superstitious and thus this, among many other practices, have become common place in her life. She recalls using the practice of “knocking on wood” since she was very little, around 9 years old. She is unsure if this practice has a tangible affect on her life, however she still uses it as a method of providing comfort to herself, proactively “saving” herself from an event before it occurs.

Analysis: This interview highlights how folk beliefs persist even when individuals do not fully rationalize or consciously believe in them. AB repeatedly framed their practices, such as knocking on wood as accidental or habitual, suggesting that these rituals function more as a medium to grant oneself peace of mind rather than superstition. This suggests that these rituals function less as explicit belief systems but more as engrained cultural behaviors where the action of knocking on wood takes less energy than the worry that accompanies bad karma.

“When it Hits the Fan”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Language: English

Context

When thinking of possible folk speech I could include in the archive, I asked my roommates what euphemistic phrases they had heard growing up. One chimed in with “when it hits the fan,” a less offensive version of “when shit hits the fan” that his parents would use around the house growing up. It conveys the same meaning, describing a situation that has suddenly turned disastrous, but employs more polite words. Personally, I’d only ever heard, or used, the original, vulgar version, and I couldn’t find any sources on others who might’ve used this phrase.

Analysis

I think this is a prime example of when we rewrite common, colloquial phrases for a younger audience. Given that I haven’t been able to find many instances of the phrase elsewhere, it seems likely that my roommates parents and the people around him deliberately censored the phrase while he was growing up. I’d argue that de-vulgarized phrases like “when it hits the fan” allows younger members of society to participate in colloquial exchange that they would otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Despite the arbitrariness of words being considered polite or impolite, phrases like this allow children to stretch their linguistic muscles and engage in what would otherwise be too mature for them.

Bana ba motho ba kgaogana tlhogo ya tshoswane

Text: “Bana ba motho ba kgaogana tlhogo ya tshoswane”

Translation: The people of a family are to share the head of an ant.

Context:

B is a middle aged man who was born and raised in Gaborone, Botswana and lives there currently. This is a common phrase in Setswana —the national language of Botswana— used as a metaphor to express the importance of family, sharing, and putting others before yourself. 

B first learned this metaphor from his wife who came from a large single parent household (7 children) It was their reality that the only means through which to prosper is for them all to share and be giving, despite not having much to give. Caring for the entire family is more important than one single individual.

Analysis:

This metaphor is very representative of the greater Botswana community and its cultural norms. It is highly valued in Botswana culture to be selfless and to give freely. This metaphor emphasizes that it is easy to give when you are in abundance, however, even when you only have something as small as an ant’s head, you must still find it in you to share that with the family (or community). This is a distinctly non-western philosophy and way of living. In the US, it is the norm to be extraordinarily individualistic. In Botswana, however, as exemplified by this phrase, the only option is for everyone to prosper, going directly against holding one person above the rest.

Feeling “a box of birds” or feeling “crook”

To say one is feeling a “box of birds” to mean feeling good or “crook” to mean feeling bad

Context: The informant is half-Indian and half-New Zealander, with her dad being an immigrant from New Zealand. At one point, the informant’s paternal great grandmother was over for Christmas and she had caught a cold, so her family took her to the doctor, and according to the informant when the doctor asked her how she was doing she said “Well yesterday I was a box of birds and now I’m feeling a bit crook”.

Analysis: According to the informant, “box of birds” is used to describe someone who’s doing or feeling well, while “crook” is used to describe someone who is doing poorly. The informant’s family is from New Zealand, and the informant only remembers her great-grandmother being the one to use it. In doing some research, I found that “box of birds” is a common idiom in both New Zealand and Australia used to describe feeling good/doing well, due to one “feeling chirpy”, which the informant agreed was accurate to her family’s definition and context of use. “Feeling chirpy” is a similar nature-based idiom, referring to someone who is cheerful and in good spirits, similar to birds chirping excitedly. Having that much energy would logically require one to be in good health. It is unknown if both expressions were derived independently, but if so, that would indicate an instance of polygenesis, with at least two independently derived expressions relating health/energy with birdsong. It stands to reason that birdsong, like other behaviors that are consistently observed by a large amount of people would make their way into the vocabulary. Using them as comparisons would evoke a shared experience and facilitate understanding.

In the same regions, the slang “crook” refers to feeling bad or in bad health but seems as if it has less clear origins; crook comes from crooked, which can mean incorrectly or wrongly shaped, which might be where the slang comes from. Both seem to be instances of folk speech, either evolving from common