Tag Archives: Teachings

Dad’s Favorite Sayings

AGE: 59

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 02/19/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: American 

OCCUPATION: Doctor 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: Korean

RESIDENCE: New York 

For context, my dad is a very dry and sarcastic man.

Interviewer: Are there any particular phrases you remember growing up hearing? Or any of your own that you use?

TL: “No.” [Proceeds to think of any phrases he uses]

Interviewer: Oh well I remember your most common one: “Suck it up buttercup!”

TL: “Oh yes.”

[My mother]: “Your dad loves to say ‘Don’t be a knucklehead’ to you and your sister!”

Interviewer: Oh yes! You also say “You can’t teach stupid” a lot.

TL: “Mmm.” [This is him agreeing]

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

Because of my dad’s nature, it ended up with my mother and I leading the conversation from things that we remember my dad saying. While my dad might forget the things he says (which I personally feel that it’s common for people to forget the habitual phrases and words they use), my family and I remember it quite well. My dad loves to use proverbs or phrases that teach a lesson of some sort. After the interview, I asked my father where he learned these from and he stated it was a mix of his dad, TV, and the people he grew up playing sports around in NYC. What’s even more interesting is that I find myself using one of his phrases, “you can’t teach stupid” myself when giving advice to my friends. It’s incredibly interesting how common phrases and things we hear in our environments and families become a part of our subconscious.

Even Monkeys Can Fall from Trees

Original Phrase: 원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다
Translation: Even monkeys can fall from trees.

K is a Korean American whose parents are of Korean ancestry. He is currently in college. He says that he had heard this proverb from his parents. This piece is memorable to him because he tries to take this message to heart when it comes to doing anything.

Context: This proverb came up in a discussion about proverbs. There was a back and forth between interesting proverbs and what they meant before this piece came up.

This proverb is very similar to other childhood proverbs in that it uses animals to teach children an important lesson in life. This lesson is that even the best, most specialized people can still fail. So do not be over confident. This is because monkeys are typically seen as adapted to living in trees. They spend all their time swinging from tree to tree, often looking like there isn’t a care in the world. In reality, however, these monkeys will still miss and fall from the tree. This message is pretty important to children as it teaches them to be humble about their skills. If you become arrogant and comfortable with your skills without being sufficiently cautious, you can still fail.