Tag Archives: whining

You Would Complain If They Hung You With a New Rope – Folk Phrase

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: College student
Residence: Farmington, Minnesota
Language: English

Text:

You would complain if they hung you with a new rope

Context:

The informant heard this from their grandfather as a kid growing up in Minnesota. The example they gave me was that they might be complaining about something unimportant or trivial. Their grandfather would tell them this phrase to point out that they were whining just to complain and not because there is an actual reason to. The informant acknowledged that in those moments, they were complaining about things that didn’t actually matter. They said that their grandfather used the phrase accurately in pointing out that they didn’t really have anything to be unhappy with.

Analysis:

This phrase is associated with overly complaining about things that don’t matter. The phrase on first read doesn’t make a lot of sense. However, with some research, it is revealed that a new rope is actually a bad way to be hung. The rope should be treated so that it makes death quick. A new (untreated) rope would be inefficient and slow down the process, likely making it more agonizing to the person who is being hung. The phrase says that in the case of the listener being hung, they would still find something to complain about. If they were being hung, the type of rope shouldn’t be their most pressing concern given that they are dying either way.

This phrase seems to be a bit outdated in the US given that America does not hang people regularly. Although this practice is strong in the country’s history from wars and prisoners to racialized attacks, it is much less common today. This phrase is pulling from the shared historical memory of the country.

This phrase also reflects some American cultural values of taking what you are given or “toughening up.” Complaining is associated with someone who isn’t ready to take on the world. Being unable to complete a task without saying all the things that bother you is looked down upon, especially in the workplace. Managers look for people who get the task done, not people who spend time complaining.

This phrase is said to children who tend to be the ones complaining because they haven’t learned the cultural values yet. This means that this phrase is teaching them the way they should act within American culture. It helps them to understand that as an adult, overly complaining isn’t socially acceptable and that now is the time to change that.

Don’t Pout, There’s a Bird Coming!

Nationality: USA
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/8/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Folk Piece

“Don’t pout or a bird will land on that lip!”

 

Background

“It’s kind of ridiculous. Like, of course a bird isn’t going to land on my lip. But, like, kids are also crazy and would probably believe everything. When I started hearing this phrase so much it bothered me, but now as I’m older, I can see why my grandma might’ve said it. She is such a sweet old lady. Like all the time, all the time, she would tell me all of these little sayings and stuff. But yeah, no, I’m pretty sure half of them were to just behave better and keep still.”

Context

“Originally this was taught to me by my grandmother to stop me from pouting as a kid. Now I find myself teaching this to the kids I babysit.”

Analysis

This piece was definitely one of the more odd ones that I came across. Why is a bird landing on the lip? Is that a bad thing? What kind of bird could even land on a lip? I mean, in a sense, I get it. You don’t want some bird smacking you in the face. It just wasn’t as clear to me as many of the other proverbs and warnings and sayings that I had heard over the years.

So, I decided to do some research. It turns out, the more popular version of this phrase is “Don’t stick your lip out or a bird might poop on it!” This was much more clear to me; bird poop is something that’s much more familiar than a bird actually landing on me. It also could go hand in hand with a kid acting like they are ‘full of shit’ when they are pouting.

The participant’s grandmother was described to me as a very sweet, kind, old lady. The participant also comes from a somewhat religious family. This all said, it could be that the grandmother thought the original saying was too crude for her grandchildren, so she changed it a little bit. Clearly, though, if the informant can remember it after all of these years, it must have been pretty effective.

The variation of this piece of folklore is quite different, but it doesn’t change the true meaning of the proverbial phrase, much like most variations of proverbs. Still, you can tie back its origins to the more popular version – or perhaps the more popular version arose from this one. In any case, like many proverbs were designed to do, it will make kids behave.