Tag Archives: Quote

Sleep with Jesus and the Angels

Nationality: Mexican-American
Occupation: Student, Business
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Language: English

Informant: “My mom would say ‘sleep with Jesus and the angels’ ever since I was a kid. It definitely has roots in Christianity; my mom is pretty religious. I think it made her feel better having put us to bed saying that. But also to get us to think about god and have it on our minds when we go to bed. She used to always say the first thing you should do in the morning and the last thing at night is pray. The Jesus and the angels part, I guess, has to do with the guardian angels watching over us. Knowing that we’re protected and taken care of.”

Context: The informant’s mother would say this to him when tucking him into bed. Both the informant and his mother are Christians, and his mom is fairly devout. He interprets it as his mom’s way of blessing him before bed and getting him to become closer to God. He also believes that a piece of this was rooted in his mom’s own worry. She wanted to ensure their safety and entrusted it to God.

Analysis: This seems to be a religious saying that the informant’s mother would use to bless their child before bed. However, this saying also serves the purpose of teaching children that they can trust God to watch over them and put their faith in him for protection. It lovingly solidifies the family’s belief system.

Make it a Great Day

Nationality: American
Occupation: Student, Construction Science
Residence: College Station, Texas
Language: English

Informant: “Every single day at school, our principal would do morning announcements before school started. We’d pray, say the pledge, and sometimes students would be on it, anywho, he would always end with ‘Make it a great day…’ then he would pause ‘or not, the choice is yours.’ He would always say that. We would always laugh about it and make fun of it, but it’s true: it really is your choice. Whether something goes good or bad, it’s how you choose to respond to it that determines the outcome. So, even though we would laugh at it, I can appreciate it now. Another one was “take the hit”. Man, if you think you’re gonna fail a test, don’t try and cheat and make up for the lack of effort; just take the hit. Basically, he’s saying it’s not worth it to try to get out of responsibilities. It’s also not good to get let off when you don’t put in the effort, and I think that point applies to college and work. I can’t go BS some numbers in my construction job. That could cost someone their life. I gotta do it right. So, taking the hit would be showing up late for me. But I would never do something half-minded and do a bad job.

Context:

The informant went to a Christian school where the principal would use this catchphrase at the end of the morning announcements. He and his friends often mocked the phrase and thought it was silly, but later in his life, he now sees the value in it and what the principal was trying to impart. The phrase “take the hit” was also repeated a lot at that school, especially when a teacher or the principal thought you were being suspicious and were likely to do something wrong, like cheat on an assignment, copy a friend’s homework, etc. They would often tell you this and then not do anything to stop you or punish you for whatever they thought you were going to do. Basically, giving you a chance to make the right choice.

Analysis:

I also went to this school, and I think it is pretty clear what the principal was trying to get us to consider. He wants us to be responsible people and understand that taking the easy way out eventually comes back to bite you. Additionally, he wants us to understand that it is completely within our power to control how we react to adversity. Something bad can happen to you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad day. Of course, we would take this to the extreme with jokes like: Student 1: oh man, my dog died. Student 2: The choice is yours. However, as the informant points out, most of us understood that the message was good and have since sought to apply it to our lives, even if we mocked it back then.

There’s No Crying in Baseball

Nationality: American
Occupation: Real Estate Investment and Development
Residence: Rancho Santa Fe, California
Language: English

Informant: “It comes from the movie A League of Their Own, the professional girl’s baseball league, created in World War 2 because the major and minor leaguers went off to fight in the war. Starring Tom Hank as the manager, one of the girls on the team was crying, and he said ‘there’s no crying in baseball.’ ‘Playing baseball is hard. It’s the hard that makes it great. If it was easy, everyone would do it.’ She was crying because he yelled at her. That’s kind of the background. I used it because you guys were younger, and you’d get upset about something, so I’d say there’s no crying in baseball. What I meant by that is: ‘This isn’t worth being upset about. It’s over; its ok; you learn from your mistake, and life goes on.”

Context: I asked my father about this line that he used to say a lot when I was younger. He was coaching me at the time, and as young kids do, I would cry sometimes if I got hurt. As such, he would tell me this to calm me down and keep me in a positive mindset. As he mentioned, it is from a movie about an all-women baseball league, and the line is pretty funny in context, especially when you consider how baseball is a very traditional and male-dominated sport. Tom Hanks chews out a woman on his team who had just made an error, and she starts crying, to which he responds: “Are you crying? There’s no crying in baseball.” Ever since my dad first said that I have repeated the line without knowing where it came from, and I have also heard other coaches or older men who like baseball repeat this saying.

Analysis: I think this line reflects a great deal about both the culture and attitudes surrounding baseball. Baseball has a very traditional culture, and fans of the sport tend to place a lot of value on appearances. Whether that be displaying sportsmanship or refraining from celebrating too hard on a good hit, most of this culture revolves around traditionally masculine ideas like not displaying too much emotion. I believe this is the core reason behind my father’s adoption of the saying. He found it funny, but he also wanted to instill the values of baseball that he found important. You don’t talk trash, you don’t disrespect the umpire, and you definitely don’t cry. Additionally, he wanted me to be good at the game and mentally resilient. This phrase, in my dad’s mind, served as an attempt to reframe baseball, or whatever task is at hand, as a fun challenge. However, this use of the phrase differs from what it meant in the movie, where it was less light-hearted, in my opinion.

“Ships are safe in harbor but thats not why they’re built”

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 4/29/22
Primary Language: English

Context: Story was prompted by asking about any childhood traditions that this person had. 

Text:

“So when I was in elementary school my dad would read to me before I went to bed. One day, when reading this book… ugh I don’t remember what it was called. If I had to guess I would say Million dollar put, but that’s a reach. So we were reading, and this quote came up “ships are safe in harbor but that’s not why they’re built”.  My dad loved it, started saying it, thinking about it, and talking about it at the dinner table and everything.”

Analysis:

This piece of folklore is a piece of familial folklore, folklore that stems from a familial relationship and could then be passed down from generation to generation. Additionally, the quote’s ambiguous origins lead to much mystery existing around its true meaning. An in depth study done by Quote Investigator traces the quote back to many different authors, such as John A. Shedd , Grace Hopper, and others.

Citations:

Quote Investigator. “Tag: John A. Shedd.” Quote Investigator, 21 June 2019, https://quoteinvestigator.com/tag/john-a-shedd/. 

How About That Ride In?

Nationality: German
Age: 25
Occupation: Salesman
Residence: Pasadena, California
Performance Date: 4/15/12
Primary Language: English

“How About That Ride In?”

My informant, 25 years old and living in Pasadena, CA, was a big fan of the Hollywood blockbuster, “The Hangover”, which was released in 2009. He says that he distinctly remembers one of its most famous lines- “how about that ride in”- when the group of young men arrive in Las Vegas where the plot of the movie begins. My informant tells me that ever since the movie came out, that line has “literally become a part of American folklore for guys my age”. “I’ve heard it countless times from my buddies and other peers when we’re all just hanging out”, he says.

My informant says that this piece of folklore is used as a sort of comical relief from an awkward or dull situation. He says it is usually said when conversation is lagging or there is an awkward silence to lighten the mood and bring humor to the room. “Sometimes people say it as a joke when they arrive late to a meeting or gathering. I’ve really heard it in so many different situations” said my informant. He says that he just assumes that everybody knows that it’s a line from a movie, so it’s not ‘weird or awkward’ when somebody comes out and says it in a random situation. My informant says that he ‘laughs every time’ and that it’s ‘gotten him out of some pretty awkward situations in a funny way’. “Sometimes, when people don’t know that it’s a line from a movie, it gets even more awkward, very fast”.

My informant also says that he can use it as a sort of test, to see if this person is somebody he would like to spend time with or hang around with. He is convinced that it how they react to it will show whether or not they have a good sense of humor, and are into popular culture.

I agree with my informant, and have heard this phrase many times on my own as well. It seems like it would be a good icebreaker or funny quote just to lighten a mood. I think it is a great example of a piece of folklore that is stemmed from a part of authored literature, in this case, a film. It becomes more of a folkloric term because it is used in different contexts and to achieve different tasks than it originally was supposed to in the film. It has begun to grow and gain newer meanings among a younger American crowd.

Annotation: The Hangover, Movie, 2009