Tag Archives: language

Unlucky #4

Nationality: American

Chinese folklore considers the number 4 to be unlucky because the pronunciation of “four” in Chinese sounds like the pronunciation of the word “death”.

The informant is an American who previously lived in Shanghai for two years and attended an international school.

G explained that while living in Shanghai she noticed that some buildings didn’t have a fourth floor. After realizing this omission, she began to notice that the number four was avoided culturally if possible. She asked some school friends about it and they explained that in Chinese folklore it’s unlucky to use the number 4 because it sounds like the word death. G found this superstition to be interesting and continued to notice it, but she never believed in it herself.

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.

Impart means promiscuous party in China

Nationality: China
Age: 20
Occupation: Student/Rapper
Performance Date: 2/21
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Text:


“‘Impart’ is a more universal folk language that has just been created not for long. But it’s a folklore that’s widespread in China. It is because impart is a homophone for the word ‘yin pa’ which directly translates as promiscuous party.”
“I think it’s because people in China think we don’t study and do sex every day.”


Context:


FG is a USC student who studies History and Economics. He is currently in Ireland. FG and I are both considered international students in China. International students can also mean students who study internationally, rather than foreign students. F thinks that the Chinese use word “impart” as “promiscuous party” signifies the stereotypes mainland China has toward international students. They think international students are all rich second generations that paid their way to education who don’t study and who have sex every day.


Analysis:


“Impart,” yin pa,” or “淫趴.”


I don’t really agree with F’s perspective. I don’t think it’s a stereotype toward the Chinese international student, but more toward the American people. People who use “impart,” as promiscuous party is often making jokes. The goto phrase is “ni men kai impart bu han wo,” or “你们开impart不喊我,” which means “why do you have a promiscuous party without me?” This is obviously more trifle than serious.


There is a rising trend of English homophones with Chinese words as a new genre of folk speech in China. I think this is due to the rising level of education and globalization through social media that had connected the two cultures closer. Another example of an English homophone in Chinese is “lash,” which is similar to the Chinese word “la shi”, or “拉屎” which means shit in China. I wonder why it’s always the sordid words that get popular with their English homophone.

Tiger in Chinese Knock Knock Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, California, United States
Performance Date: 2-23-2023
Primary Language: English

Text:

Informant: knock, knock

Me: Who’s there

Informant: Lao

Me: Lao who

Informant (chuckling): You just said tiger in Chinese.

Context:

The informant made this joke in 2nd or 3rd grade while learning Chinese. The joke is based on the fact that the Chinese word for tiger 老虎 (Lǎohǔ) is pronounced very similarly to “Lao who?”

The Informant notes that it is the only joke they’ll have on hand should someone ask them for a joke. I did just that and thus received this joke.

Analysis:

Though original, this joke clearly fits into the wider genre of jokes and riddles connecting similar sounds/pronunciations to their divergent meanings across languages. Especially with children (likely because they are learning and seeking to understand the languages they hear and speak), it is common to see linguistic exploration like this. there is also the common desire among young speakers to have a trick to their words or a “gotcha” as their punchline.

El Conono

Context:

M, 56 was born and grew up in Tijuana, Mexico. His father is from Baja California Sur, Mexico. The capital of this state is La Paz. The people that live in this region are known as ‘Choyeros’ and they have a very niche folklore.

Text:

“Esta es una historia real. ‘EL CONONO’ era un señor que tenía labio leporino (hablaba gangoso), y era muy conocido en La Paz en los años 50’s, 60’s,70’s. Vivía con sus padres aun siendo adulto; todos lo conocían, hacía favores, barría las calles, iba por mandado, etc.

Un día fue a la iglesia con su mamá y el padre de la iglesia le dijo por el micrófono de la iglesia: 

‘Hijo, Conono, hinqué a su mamá’ y Conono voltio a ver al padrecito y le contesta en voz alta, donde todos oyeron: ‘hinque a la suya padrecito…’!”

Translation:

This is a real story. ‘Conono’ was a man who had a cleft lip (he spoke nasally), he was very well known in La Paz in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. He lived with his parents well into adulthood; everyone in town knew him, he would do favors, sweep the street, run errands, etc. One day he went to church with his mom and the Church Father said through the microphone: “My son, Conono, ‘hinque’ your mom”; Conono loudly responded: “’hinque’ your own mom, Father!”.

Analysis:

This story is somewhat of a legend because it is known that Conono was a real person from La Paz (you can google him); however, it is also a joke. In Spanish, the word hinque has multiple meanings: one, to kneel or bow, the way the father was trying to use it; or another, to thrust or bend over. The joke here is basically that Conono misunderstood the Father’s instructions and thought that he was telling him to perform a sexual act with his mom, to which he told the Father to do it himself. It’s only funny in Spanish because those listening to the joke should be able to know what version of ‘hincar’ is being used in a certain setting. Naturally, a church would not be the appropriate place to make it sexual.