Tag Archives: proverb

“Don’t drink milk with fish”

Nationality: American
Age: 89
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Tuscon, Arizona
Performance Date: 4/20/18
Primary Language: English

BACKGROUND:

A family from Bucks County, Pennsylvania passed down the tradition and ominous warning, “Don’t drink milk with fish”. This proverb was passed down for so many generations that the actual reason not to drink milk while eating fish. The family comes from a long line of traditional Mennonites branching off into the Pennsylvania dutch community. Being so dedicated to the traditions of their community and family, every descendant of this family has refused to drink milk with fish, despite not knowing the actual reason behind it.

INTERVIEW:

The interview with my source, A, is as follows:

A: My grandmother always told me, “Don’t drink milk with fish”. Because of that, I simply haven’t done it for as long as I can remember.

Me: Is there a reason she told you not to drink milk while eating fish?

A: I don’t know actually, the saying has been in my family for so many years that its reason was simply lost. Why don’t we drink milk with fish? Who knows. I’ve asked a many people if they know of its origin but nobody knows. Regardless, we still don’t do it.

MY THOUGHTS:

I find it extremely interesting that something such as not drinking milk while eating fish is so religiously followed. This family is so dedicated to this tradition of unknown origin, that it doesn’t even consider what the actual reason for this practice is. I think this blind faith is a testament to how certain peoples are affected by the way in which family and tradition is upheld.

“Can’t never did anything…”

Nationality: American
Age: 89
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Tucson, Arizona
Performance Date: 4/20/18
Primary Language: English

BACKGROUND:

A family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania follows the strict proverb of, “Can’t never did anything…” The proverb would be uttered any time someone would claim that there was something “I can’t do.” If someone expressed their inability to do something, the family would respond with, “Can’t never did anything…” The intention of the proverb had the same basic concept, that nothing will get accomplished by simply giving up. The expression behind it, however, would frequently change. In some instances, the response was expressed in a kind, encouraging tone with the intentions of lifting spirits. Other times, the response was expressed in a stern, denial of their claim that they can’t do something, with the intention of strictly rejecting any approval of that answer.

MY THOUGHTS:

I find it very interesting how many contexts there are in which this saying can be used. My source described how the saying was typically used as a means of shaming someone for giving up easily. While this may have seemed like something that was beneficial to the recipient of this saying, I can’t help but feel like this was more of an unsympathetic way of saying, “Your best isn’t good enough”. The way in which this story was told to me (tone of voice and facial expressions) told me she felt the same way.

Wise Quote about Business Leaders

Nationality: Swedish
Age: 50
Occupation: Business Leader
Residence: Palo Alto, California
Performance Date: 04/22/18
Primary Language: Swedish
Language: English

Background information:

My dad, Anders, has been working in the realm of business since he was in his early twenties. He started working in Sweden at a tech company and then moved on to work at Hewlett-Packard when we moved to Silicon Valley in Palo Alto. Because he has been working for nearly thirty years in business, I consider him to be very experienced in corporate affairs, client interactions, and business endeavors, and know that he speaks from experience when he discusses business and management.

 

Main piece:

When I was talking to my dad, a saying that he often says truly caught my attention. Through working at various jobs throughout my life, my dad would always emphasize one saying in particular: “there is a difference between a manager and a leader—there are many managers but a few leaders”. This quote is applicable to anyone who is in the workforce as it clearly shows a divide between managers who are true leaders and are able to efficiently lead their employees and those managers that simply have the title of manager but are unable to lead. Through my dad’s experience working in various departments of business and interacting with numerous managers, as well as leading others himself, he perfectly sums up those with true management potential.

 

Personal thoughts:

Because I have seen my dad work very hard throughout my life, I know that he is extremely passionate about business and is very knowledgeable about the business world. When I was sharing my experiences with him about working various jobs, he constantly reiterated this saying, which I found a lot of comfort and sense in. I completely agree with this saying and feel that it amply sums up many frustrating experiences that individuals often face with their managers and coworkers in the workforce.

“Camaroón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente,” Mexico

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/24/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This proverb was collected from a friend, who was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico and is 20 years old. The proverb “camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente” translates into English literally as “a shrimp that falls asleep gets carried by the tide.” It is similar in meaning to the American saying “if you snooze, you lose.” It can be interpreted in terms of laziness, opportunity, or devotion, depending on the context it is used in, according to her.

 

My friend first related it to laziness. To her, the “tide” represented life since, it is always moving, and the shrimp represents lazy people who refuse to move with it. It is something that her mother always used to say to her and her siblings in order to motivate her to stay focused at school, and she thinks that it was very encouraging. As she grew up, she related it to opportunity when comparing the tide to an opportunity, and if you “sleep” on it you can miss it. It was her dad who gave it this meaning as he was encouraging her to apply to jobs and network as she got to college. When she had a bad experience with a close friend, another good friend said it to her comparing the tide to toxic people.

 

Even though I am from a Latin American country myself, I had never heard this before, but it is hardly surprising since Latin Americans have a reputation for being lazy so I could see why this would be popular. Like most proverbs, this one can be interpreted differently by different people depending on context, and I think it is really interesting how one person could use the experiences she was having at a certain time in her life to assign different meanings to a phrase she has been hearing since she was a child. It speaks to the universality and flexibility that some proverbs can have when looking at them from different perspectives.

“Más vale solo que mal acompañado,” Mexico

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/24/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This proverb was collected from a friend, who was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico and is 20 years old. The proverb “más vale solo que mal acompañado” translates into English literally as “it is better to be alone than in bad company.” It clearly comes from a place of experience, and it is about toxic people not being worth befriending just for the sake of having many friends.

 

Even though my friend had been hearing it all her life, specifically from her dad, she never really believed it. Like a lot of young kids, she believed that popularity was everything and surrounded herself with as many people as she could, even though some of them weren’t good for her. They were shallow and often mean, she says, which caused her to imitate that behavior as well just so she could “fit in.” However, when she left for college, all of those relationships immediately fell through. All her “friends” stopped talking to her, and it was hard for her to be alone at first, but her dad kept reminding her of that. She really got to know herself and learned to find peace on her own, and to be a better person. That saying has become really important to her, something that she constantly reminds herself, and she is very grateful to her dad for teaching her that lesson.

 

To me, this is also a very meaningful life lesson. I have also heard it since I was very young and I had very similar experiences to my friend’s. I think is a really powerful message that most of us forget as we let appearances and popularity define our behavior. Similarly to her, that reminder has gotten me through a lot and it has also made me learn to appreciate real friends, no matter how many of them I have.