Tag Archives: saying

They got their money’s worth

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 42
Occupation: Office Clerk
Residence: Torrance, Ca
Performance Date: 4/22/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Me sacaron el kilo”

English:

They took the penny out of me.

This saying is akin to the American saying “They worked me to the bone.” It’s more or less saying that the employers got their money’s worth out of the employee and that the employee is exhausted. My informant is a cuban resident who has lived in the U.S. since she was a baby, but has many family members from whom she has picked up sayings such as these from. As the majority of her relatives all have backgrounds as field workers and maids, it makes sense that this saying has been passed down in the family.

 

I don’t believe it

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 42
Occupation: Office Clerk
Residence: Torrance, Ca
Performance Date: 4/21/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“A otro perro con ese hueso”

English:

To another dog, with that bone

This cuban saying is inferring that the speaker doesn’t believe whatever the listener has said. It’s more or less saying that the listener ought to try telling their story or lie to someone else more likely to believe it. My informant heard this when she was younger and got in trouble for lying about going somewhere. Her mother, a cuban immigrant, replied with this metaphor.

 

Want and Communism

Nationality: Cuban
Age: 42
Occupation: Office Clerk
Residence: Torrance, Ca
Performance Date: 4/22/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Al que quiere azul celeste, que le cueste.”

English:

To the one who wants sky blue, let it cost them- If you want something specific in life, its going to cost you.

This metaphor has deep ties to the communist idea of not wanting more than everybody else. The idea in communist culture that someone may want more or something special or different is, of course, not uncommon, but this saying is a sort of caution about the price of desiring better than what others settle for. My informant, having grown up in a family full of cuban refugees, heard this metaphor from two of her elder cousins regarding higher education. In this context, it was more or less a warning as to the amount of time, money, and effort it takes for one to get a higher education, though it was not neccessarily a dissaproval.

This metaphor seems to stem from the dying of clothing in Cuba, and how certain shades had to be mixed carefully and took considerable time,money, and effort to create instead of simple, naturally occuring shades that most citizens wear.

Life’s a bitch, and then you die!

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Camas, Washington
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

“Life’s a bitch, and then you die!”

Folk saying

When I complained about upcoming exams, my informant told me, “Life’s a bitch, and then you die!”

My informant explained its importance to him: “My dad and his dad said this. It has been the quote I’ve associated with both of them because it represented their easygoing view on life and it conveyed the message to me to not take life too seriously and instead roll with the punches and accept it for what it is.”

 

Used to put people’s troubles in perspective, this proverb assuages people’s worries by illustrating that pain is prevalent in life, but since death is inevitable, there is no use in worrying about things (especially trivial things).

“Girl with the look”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: 3/14/12
Primary Language: English

The informant is a friend from high school. He originally created the expression “girl with the look” on one of the first days of senior year when he saw a girl he was very attracted to. He didn’t know her name so he just called her the girl with the look. The expression quickly became a kind of inside joke within our friend group and rather than ask each other who we were interested in at school, we might ask who each other’s girl with the look was. The expression expanded out a little and other people at our school started using it, too. Another variant is “girl with a look” meaning simply a girl you’re attracted to, whereas “girl with the look” implies infatuation at first sight almost. For girls and gay guys, “guy with the look” also became a thing, though it was never used as much.

My informant liked the expression because it was a way to refer to someone without using a name, which kept it kind of secret and exclusive to those that knew what was being talked about. It kept the discussion within the friend group and also bonded us together by having our own phrase. I like it for the same reasons. Because it started out in one group, it created a sense of community and exclusivity within the group. And even though it’s a new piece of folklore, it did grow to have multiplicity and variation.