Tag Archives: Riddle

What happens in a minute?

Nationality: Native American
Age: 9
Occupation: student
Residence: Franklin, Tennessee
Performance Date: 4-24-2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Informant: What hap– this is a riddle, what happens once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?

Interviewer: I don’t know.

Informant: The letter ‘M’

Background:

The informant is a nine-year-old Native American boy from the Choctaw, Blackfoot, and Lakota Nations. He was born and raised in Tennessee and frequently travels out west to visit family and friends. He is in elementary school.

Context:

During the Covid-19 Pandemic I flew back home to Tennessee to stay with my family. The informant is my younger brother. I asked him is he knew any jokes or riddles.

Thoughts:

Proverbs, riddles, and.charms are three of the shorter forms of folklore. They are not necessarily confined to oral expression, having appeared in written literature for ages. The purpose of the riddle is usually to deceive its listener regarding its meaning. A descriptions is given where the answer must be deciphered. Many times riddles are used as a contest of wits. In America, riddles are very popular with children though in most cases age segregation does not apply.

“One Up, One Down” Folk Game and Riddle

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/24/2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Main Piece

Informant: This is kind of a camp riddle and game mashup and it is called One up One down. I like it because it is difficult enough to take days to figure out, so people can spend time figuring it out. One person will run it, and will introduce the riddle. They are the keeper, of the uhh game I guess. It goes in a circle, and you have three options: two up, one up one down, and two down. And so like, each person will give one of the three and try to figure out the pattern that would consistently allow them to say the correct answer. The person in charge tells them if they are right or wrong, because they know the secret to the pattern. Then it keeps going in a circle, people guess, and the keeper tells them if they are right or wrong and it keeps going until people figure out the right answer. The correct answer is based on the orientation of their arms. So right now, I would be two down, because both of my hands are in my lap. But, if I left one hand on my lap and one to rest my chin on, the correct answer would be one up one down. Basically, people overthink and start trying to guess elaborate patterns, and you kinda just win when you figure it out and you usually can’t tell the people still figuring out what the right answer is. 

Interviewer: Where did you learn this?

InformantI learned this in high school during my freshman river trip, where we would canoe down the Colorado river for four days. It was a game my group’s guide taught us, and I didn’t get it until our bus ride back. It drove me crazy, but when I got it I felt so frustrated but like I was part of a secret club!

Background

The informant is a great friend and housemate of mine, and he is a senior at USC. Coming from Oxnard, CA he and his family are very connected with their Mexican roots and he has grown up practicing and identifying with many aspects of Mexican culture. He is also a very big raver, as he enjoys going to many EDM festivals and aspires to do lighting design for different raves as well. He also identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, comfortable identifying as a bisexual man.

Context

While on a road trip with some of our other housemates the informant taught us this game and began to play it with us. At the end of the trip, I was the only one in the group who could still not figure it out. During the interview I had him explain the rules and origin of the game. 

Analysis

I think this game is a great combination of a kinesthetic folk game mixed with a folk riddle, as there is a secret pattern you have to find out in order to comprehend the game as a whole. It is also inherently folklore as the rules are never shared, you either understand the pattern of the game or you don’t. Being intended for longer trips, it also proves to be a great way to pass the time as it could take a while for players to figure it out.

One Knight, Three Men.

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: MN
Performance Date: 4/22/20
Primary Language: English

One knight, three men are on a boat sailing across the ocean. In the morning, there were four people on the boat. How could this happen?

A: Someone swam up and hitched a ride.

O: But the boat never stopped so how did this happen?

A: Someone gave birth.

O: Oh my god. Three MEN?!

A: That’s all I got.

O: In the beginning, I said one KNIGHT along with three men. There were four people on the boat from the start but one was a knight.

This riddle works with its play on words to deceive its listeners. There are a number of other versions of this same riddle. One notable version involves a King and a Queen on a boat. It’s possible that in the past this particular riddle was meant to separate those who live or have lived under monarchies from those who haven’t as many of them deal with noble families. For the informant, this is a fun riddle they like to use because, considering the way it is carefully worded, they know it will confuse people.

Escape Room Riddle

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: WN
Performance Date: 4/22/20
Primary Language: English

O: You’re in a room with no escapes. There’s a mirror and a table… What do you do?

A: You use the table to break the window.

O: But there is no window.

A: Then what do you do?

O: You look in the mirror, you see what you saw, you take the saw, cut the table in half, two halves make a whole. You can escape through the hole.

This is definitely one of those riddles where if you know it, you know it. But if you don’t, you’d never guess the right answer even if you tried. You have to have heard the full riddle before to answer it correctly. The solution is not logical at all. It’s filled with double entendres to confuse the other. Which, in turn, determines who “the other” is. Unlike most riddles, this is one that simply cannot be answered. It leaves the audience forever puzzled.

E-Y-E-S Riddle

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: MN
Performance Date: 4/22/20
Primary Language: English

O: What does Y-E-S spell?

A: Yes

O: What does E-Y-E-S spell?

A: Eyes

O: Dammit, you were supposed to say “E-Yes”!
According to the informant, this is one of those riddles that is meant to give the performer a good laugh. From my understanding, the setup is designed to detect the fool. “Eyes” is a seemingly easy word but the moment it’s spelled out for you in the riddle, logic usually goes out of the window. This can make a fool out of even the smartest of us because it’s not really about intellect, it’s about listening.