Tag Archives: rhyme

Blue the Glue Ghost

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: University Student

Informant Information:

Age: 18
Date of Performance: 3/25/2025
Language: English
Nationality: American
Occupation: University Student
Primary Language: English
Residence: Hayward, California

Text:

“Once upon a time, there was a ghost named Blue who would steal people’s shoes. Every time he did, he left a trail of glue behind. The police followed these sticky clues from house to house and apartment to apartment until, after three weeks of shoe thefts, they finally found Blue. When they caught him, he was released back into the spirit world. And that was the end of Blue.”

Context:

The informant recalled that her mother used to tell her this tale before bed. It served as a form of childhood entertainment and likely helped ease the transition into sleep with its mysterious yet harmless narrative. She believes her mother created the story herself, indicating a form of generational oral creativity.

Analysis:

“Blue the Glue Ghost” functions as a bedtime folktale with mild suspense and whimsical absurdity. It demonstrates the creativity of parental storytelling and the way minor mischief (stealing shoes) is framed through a playful ghost figure. The use of rhyme and alliteration (Blue/glue/clue) adds charm and memorability, making it ideal for oral transmission. Though it lacks the typical “moral” of traditional tales, it emphasizes curiosity and resolution, which keeps children engaged.

Up the apples and pears

Age: 19

Text: Up the apples and pears

Context: My informant explained that growing up, her grandmother used to refer to the stairs as the “apples and pears.” For example, her grandmother might have said “Alright, I’m going to go up the apples and pears.” My informant explained that her grandmother learned this from her mother who was born in London. She also clarified that her grandmother usually only used this phrasing around their family as most people, especially in the United States, would not understand what she meant. 

Analysis: Cockney is a rhyming slang primarily used by individuals from the East End of London who have historically made up the working class of the city. “Apples and pears” is one of many terms in this slang where Cockney individuals replace a word with a phrase that rhymes with it. This slang has historically been used amongst Cockney individuals to create a sense of community and social solidarity. This slang has also likely been used as resistance towards authority as non-Cockney individuals have a difficult time understanding what they are saying when the slang is being used. 

Sana, Sana, Colita de Rana

Age: 20

AGE: 20
Date of performance: Feb 20
Informant Name: AM
Language: Spanish
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: English
Residence: Santa Ana

Text:

“Sana, sana, colito de rana. Si no sana hoy, sanara mañana”

Context:

According to the teller, it translates to: “Heal, heal, tail of frog. If you don’t heal today, you’ll heal tomorrow.” It is a phrase that parents tell their children whenever they got hurt, essentially wishing them a faster healing. They learned it from their parents, specifically their mother, who would “rub her hand over the cut or scratch” whenever they got minorly injured.

Analysis

Although this quote is one of many variants, they all follow the same strand of silliness and nonsense. When I heard this phrase, I thought it was silly and funny, and wondered why adults would say this to their children. Then I thought that perhaps that was exactly why they said this phrase. It is so nonsensical and lighthearted that the child who got hurt could perhaps laugh and forget their pain for a little. This goes hand in hand with the practice of distracting little kids with a more engaging, eye-catching stimulant to take their attention off of more serious, dire matters. Furthermore, frogs are known for their regenerative abilities, thus signifying the manifestation of quick healing. By saying this phrase, the parents are reassuring their child that no matter what, it will heal.

Girls Go to College Rhyme

Text: “Girls go to college to get more knowledge. Boys go to Jupiter because they’re more stupider”

Context: My childhood friend said this long forgotten phrase to me recently in a discussion about childhood rhymes. We were talking about when were we in elementary and middle school we learned a bunch of silly rhymes that didn’t make much sense but were somehow memorable. She mentioned that she remembered this phrase because it implied women are smarter than men, something she ponders frequently.

Interpretation: During our discussion, I noted that many of these rhymes we were recalling seemed to center around gender. I found this interesting because we learned and repeated these rhymes only when we were children but not as adults. The idea and societal concepts of gender are constantly changing, especially when you’re a child, so the prevalence of these rhymes seems to signify the shift from the family sphere to the school/public sphere. I think these rhymes represent a time in a child’s life when they begin to develop relationships outside of their family and look for ways to relate to their peers.

Elementary School Rhyme 

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: College student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 2/23/2023
Primary Language: English

M is a 19 year old college student. She grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and shares a rhyme she learned in elementary school when she was in the cafeteria at lunch.

“Like elementary school on the playground you and your friends would draw a little teddy bear on one hand and scribble on the other and you’d say “This is Teddy. Teddy says hi” then you’d SMACK the other hand and say “this is Teddy when a car goes by.””

I’ve heard the same rhyme, except in California we drew a stick figure and would say “This is Steve.” This and other childhood games actually reveals a morbid fascination kids seemed to have. A lot of childhood rhymes are actually very violent in nature and play on really dark humor. I think this may be a way for kids to feel like they’re rebelling, to feel more mature. They joke about taboo things that their parents and teachers might not like them talking about because it makes them feel more adult. Maybe it also helps them make light of real topics that are actually quite frightening for children. They know death is a real thing, but they don’t want to think about it, so they make light of it.