Tag Archives: rhymes

New Canaan, Connecticut, “West is the best, South is the mouth, and East is the least.”

Text:

When A was in elementary school in New Canaan, Connecticut, there was a saying for her school, “West is the best, South is the mouth, and East is the least.”

Context:

In New Canaan, CT, there were three elementary schools that existed in this town. A went to West, and their saying for the other schools was “West is the best, South is the mouth, and East is the least.” She would hear/learn about these sayings in places like the bus and playgrounds of her school. Students would say it if ever interacting with the other schools, but it was very much a kid saying – as in parents were not aware of the saying. Suddenly, in middle school, when the schools merged, there were new sayings from the other schools. East would say, “East is the beast, West is the one with the hairy chest, and South is the mouth.” A did not know if there was a South version, as she did not interact with them as much.

Analysis:

This saying is a form of children’s playground folklore that reinforces group identity and rivalry. By declaring “West is the best” and diminishing the other schools through rhyme, students created a sense of pride and belonging while establishing playful social hierarchies. Because the phrase spread among students without adult involvement, it demonstrates how children create their own social boundaries through shared jokes and repetition. When the schools later merged during middle school, and new versions emerged, it demonstrates how this kind of folklore adapts to changing social dynamics; which ultimately allows students to form identity and competition in a new shared environment and at an early age.

Find a penny, pick it up, all the day you’ll have good luck

Text: “Find a penny, pick it up, all the day you’ll have good luck”

Context: Informant is 79, white, female, living in North Idaho. To this day if she sees a penny she’ll pick it up and smile, thinking of the old phrase. She can’t remember where she learned this but thinks she was very young. 

Analysis: This is folk speech that invokes magic “supersition”, picking up the penny means good luck and the specific outcome is having that luck all day. Coins are often used in magic superstitions, tossing a coin in a well, a penny having a bad luck side. It’s especially interesting because coins operate in a weird state in our economics, they are our most tangible form of money but have little in the way of monetary value especially now to the point of becoming almost obsolete. I believe it’s this inbetween between worthlessness and value that makes it the perfect thing for superstition to focus on. It has value, thus is special, but not enough to covet or protect Thus we assign them superstitious values. But more than that it’s something that clearly brings my grandmother joy, it’s an event you can’t control and thus that superstition brings that joy almost randomly. The rhyme in the saying also makes it feel whimsical, which could be a reason it’s stuck around for my grandmother.

Sana Sana Colita de Rana

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Miami, Florida
Performance Date: April 28th, 2021
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main Piece: 

“Sana sana colita de rana

Si no sana hoy

Sana mañana”

Transliteration:

“Heal, heal, tiny frog tail

If it doesn’t heal today

It will heal tomorrow”

Translation:

“Heal, heal, tiny frog tail

If it doesn’t heal today

It will heal tomorrow”

Background: 

My informant is one of my friends who lives in Miami, Florida, and is of Cuban and Iranian heritage. As a child, my informant could always expect to hear this from her grandmother whenever she got hurt. “Sana sana colita de rana” is a popular rhyme often told to small children across Latinx culture as a way to console them after injuries (like falling and scraping their knees, for example). Along with the song, my informant added, “my family always accompanied it with a kiss on the appropriate wound, so I think it’s kind of the equivalent of when Americans are like ‘kiss your boo boos’.”

Context: 

This childhood rhyme came up when I asked my informant if she knew of any Cuban sayings. I listed a different variation of this rhyme as an example, which she was able to recognize and provide the version she’d grown up hearing. 

Thoughts: 

I remember hearing this rhyme all the time whenever I got hurt as a kid, though I heard it differently. In Mexican culture, or at least how my mother told it to me, the rhyme went “Sana sana colita de rana, si no se te quita hoy se te quita mañana,” which translates to: “heal, heal, tiny frog tail, if [the pain] doesn’t leave you today, it will leave you tomorrow.” Either way, hearing the rhyme brings back nostalgia from when I was little. I agree with what my informant said about kissing the wound being equivalent to what American parents might do, and I think the addition of the rhyme also adds to the notion that this performance is mostly a placebo effect.

That being said, I think the rhyme is an important part of children’s culture, particularly in the way that the content doesn’t make sense; what does a frog’s tail have to do with healing, for example, a scraped knee? Why a frog, specifically, and not a medical professional? The nonsensical element here is key to children’s folklore because it allows them to comprehend the world in a way that only their folk group could understand and readily accept. However, another way to look at it is that the silliness of the rhyme helps the child focus less on their pain and more on trying to understand the contents.

For another variation, see Licea, May 12, 2019, “Sana Sana Colita de Rana – Spanish saying”, USC Folklore Archives).

Chic-ory Chic

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Nationality: American
Age: 79
Occupation: Retired, Former Jeweler
Residence: Kelseyville, California
Performance Date: May 1, 2021
Primary Language: English

Background:

My informant, who is my grandmother, learned this nonsense rhyme from her mother, who used it as a lullaby when she was a young girl. She has since passed it on to her children and grandchildren, remembering it as a source of nostalgia and for the satisfaction of its recitation. I also remember that my mother sang it to me when I was younger!

Context:

My grandma sings this tune quite often in times of relaxation when joking around is warranted. Specifically, I remember her using it as a lullaby for my cousins and me when we were growing up. I also remember that my mother sang it to me when I was younger!

Main Piece:

“Chic-ory chic chala chala,

Checkoleroma in a bananica,

Balacawalaka can’t you see?

Chic-ory chic is me!”

Analysis:

I think this nursery rhyme has been passed on because of its short length and rhythmic structure, which both work to make it easier to memorize. While it might not have any significant meaning, there is something to be said about the fact that nonsense rhymes like this one can exist and persist over time simply because they’re satisfying to the ear. In the text of the rhyme, alliteration, consonance, internal rhyme, and end rhyme can be recognized. By jamming all of these writing strategies into such a short piece of speech, it is made into something quite nice to hear.

Leaves of Three

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Performance Date: April 7
Primary Language: English

“Leaves of three, let it be. If it’s shiny, watch your heiny. If it’s hairy, it’s a berry”

This piece of folklore is a saying to talk about how to identify poison oak. If it has three leaves or is shiny with oil, watch your heiny, meaning that it is likely poison oak. If the plant is hairy, it is a berry bush. This piece of folklore is performed typically outdoors and used for a very practical sense. It is a teaching tool to enable people to identify poison oak, whose oil will cause rashes on anyone who touches it with bare skin.

            The subject learned this piece of folklore from Boy Scouts. It embodies the type of preparedness and learning the boy scouts emphasizes and is a very practical way of remembering the qualities of a poison oak plant. The subject learned it from their Scoutmaster during a camping trip. The subject, of course, made use of it as a practical saying which is its intended purpose. They remember it because of their interest in the outdoors when they were younger, which was the reason they joined Boy Scouts in the first place.

            This saying is not just a warning for kids. It represents technical education through oral folklore. Typically, something like this would just be told by another person or read in a book. Instead, this saying was created in order to help people remember their qualities. Because of this, it takes on a different form and really represents the importance of passing down knowledge to the younger generations.