Tag Archives: money

Itch Saying Folklore

Age: 39
Hometown: Enid, Oklahoma
Location: Oklahoma

Context:
My dad was born and raised in Oklahoma and often heard these phrases from older family members and friends.

Content:
“If nose is itching someone’s thinking about you”

and

“If palms are itching you’re about to get some money”

Analysis:
These sayings show how people try to turn random body sensations into signs of something bigger, especially things they care about like money or relationships. The idea that an itchy nose means someone is thinking about you or that itchy palms are a signal that money is incoming, reflects a relationship between the body and external outcomes.

The short and memorable nature of these phrases allows for them to be passed down through generations. The fact that they also seem to be regionally specific to Oklahoma highlight that certain beliefs are more common in specific areas due to demographics such as race, class, and gender.

Nigerian first paycheck

Age: 20s Location: Chicago, IL, Background: Nigerian-American

Context: Participants (initals DA) is from a Nigerian-American household. She grew up in Dubai and now lives in a Chicago suburb. She has many siblings and is very close to her family.

Text: DA states that in Nigerian culture, the first paycheck a teen/young adult makes must go back to their parents or an adult figure. She says it’s a way of “showing appreciation and gratitude to those who raised you”. Participant mentions that everyone in her family does this. However, for her personal first paycheck she went and spent it at McDonald’s. DA says that her mother especially was not happy about it.

Analysis:

Here, a teens first paycheck serves as an offering, marking perhaps a transition from the adolescence to adulthood. A first paycheck is a time where one steps into the world of independence and financial freedom from their parents. By surrendering this first check, it’s a symbolic gesture of gratitude and the sacrifices that the family has made to get the individual to this point in their life. When the participant breaks this tradition, she, without realizing the depth of meaning behind this gesture, breaks a social contract. This moment can be a “paying back” of the life-debt to the parents so that the child can begin their own life with a clean start. This is obvious in the participant’s mothers angry reaction, which likely wasn’t over the loss of a couple dollars, but of, in her eyes, her child’s failure to acknowledge the transition point.

Indian money-giving superstition

Context: The participant, my roomate (intials NS), comes from an Indian family that now lives in the Bay Area. Both her parents were born in India and partake in the pra

Text:

NS: Anytime you give money to someone for a wedding or birthday, let’s say around $100, you’re supposed to give $101 or else it’s bad luck.

Me: Who is it bad luck for: you or the person getting the money?

NS: the recipient

Me: And what is it about adding $1 that’s ‘good luck?

NS: It’s not really the $1 but when a number isn’t whole or even its harder to divide mathematically. So it symbolizes growth and prosperity.

NS: Whole numbers are like ‘flat’ and ‘finished’ so by giving a indivisible number you’re giving out wishes of growth and endless possibilities to the person.

Me: Wow, so do you partake in this or have you just grown up with people who have.

NS: Well, I don’t really give a lot of people money haha but for the Indian holiday, Raksha Bandhan, my brother gives me an uneven amount of money?

Me: Can you explain this holiday?

NS: Yeah, so a sister ties a bracelet around her brother and in return, the brother gives her money. It’s supposed to be before the brother goes off to war, and the money would help her survive if he happened to die at war. The bracelet is also supposed to be for good fortune and symbolizes their bond.

Analysis:

The practice of adding a single dollar is a type of blessing in Indian culture. In this form of numerology, a round number represents completion or a closed cycle, which can symbolically suggest the end of a relationship, wealth, or growth. By adding one, the giver creates an uneven and indivisible number that is hard to find an even split of. This acts as a catalyst for continuity, ensuring that the gift remains open and invites future prosperity to follow. It effectively shifts the transaction from a commercial payment to a sacred offering, signaling that the bond between the giver and the receiver is meant to be undying and ever-expanding.

Folk Belief: Don’t whistle indoors

Age: 20

“This was something I definitely got yelled at for when I was younger, but Its bad to whistle in the house, or maybe just in general. You will go broke that way.

[Why is that? Just coincidence?]

“I think it comes from this old tale, or habit? Russians/ Slaves kept their money in their mouths (very poor folk who needed to hide stuff or something like that). Whistling would cause people literally lose their last dollar. I think also, it’s seen as kind of like, foolish? Like, if you’re dumb enough to just sit and whistle, you probably aren’t good with money.”

Analysis: There are many folk beliefs that include whistling as bad, mostly when it comes to whistling in a certain location. This folk belief is interesting because of how it includes the consequences of losing your money through a historical tale (or habit?), not just “generally bad luck”. Although the practice of holding money in your mouth isn’t held today, the belief still remains: transcending time and social practice. Additionally, this belief isn’t only held in people who experienced financial hardship, which is an interesting case of folklore spreading to places not within its original group (like to those who were more well off).

Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival

AGE: 20 

Date of performance: 04/30/2025

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title-   Tết Trung Thu

Context- J shares a Vietnamese festival he celebrates to commemorate the fall season— “Usually we go to this big Vietnamese church where they hold fall fest and usually you just sit around and listen to a whole bunch of live music. There’s also different performances like the lion/dragon dance and you eat moon cake. It’s a time for family to hang around and spend time with each other where you play different viet games like lotto (Vietnamese bingo) and an animal gambling game where you put money on a certain animal and roll a dice and if the dice is a picture of your animal, you win money.”

Analysis- J tells about the Vietnamese mid-autumn festival filled with games and money, paired with ritual food and performances. Specifically, the lion/dragon dance takes place. These dances are typically high energy in extravagant costumes made with bright colors as a way to manifest good fortune and deter bad spirits. The theme of good fortune is common not only throughout the Vietnamese culture, but East Asia as well. J also mentions the eating of moon cake, which symbolizes completeness and unity. Tết Trung Thu is a living example of folklore as traditions, customs, rituals and cultural identity are celebrated when the festival is celebrated. There are symbolic rituals such as the lion/dragon dance, and traditional foods like the moon cake.