Offensive content Filter is ON
Your search for S570 returned 1364 results.
Something that I heard a few years ago in school was that
whenever a person got his hair cut other people would ask if that
person got his ears lowered rather than if he got his hair cut. I
guess this is just an unusual way of referring to a haircut.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ALLEN PARK
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Body part Senses SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1986
Shame, shame everybody knows your name.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1978
Unknown
Tell the truth, shame the devil.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Formula PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Date learned: 00-00-1978
Mailman's Oath
Neither rain, sleet, or snow will keep me from my appointed
rounds.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Work Commerce Business SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1935
Anyone home?
Nice home, nobody home.
Submitter comment:
This is said when someone is not paying attention or if they
don't understand what is going on, or if the person appears
to be in another world.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Formula |
Bed Bugs
Good night, sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite.
Submitter comment: This was said to me when I was sent to bed.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1966
Unknown
Some people don't believe fat meat is greasy.
Submitter comment:
This means that you are making a true statement but someone
is doubting you.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
James Callow Keyword(s): Retort to skeptic
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Formula PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor PROVERB -- Proverbial Apothegm Maxim |
Riddle
Adam and Eve and Pinch-me
Went down to the river to bathe.
Adam and Eve got drowned,
Which one of the three was saved?
(Pinch me)
Submitter comment:
When the person responds Pinch-me, the person telling the
riddle pinches the other person.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Formula tale SPEECH -- Formula RIDDLE -- Riddle Question |
Date learned: 00-00-1991
Peter Piper
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper;
A peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Speech SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1991
If you see a ghost you should say, "What in the name of the
father, son and the holy ghost do you want?" Then the ghost will
not do any harm onto you.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 03-15-1992
If you don't say "in Jesus' name" at the end of a prayer it
won't be answered.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Prayer SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 01-00-1977
God Bless You
When I was a small child my grandmother told me that the reason
a person must say, "God bless you" after someone sneezes is that,
according to American-Indian beliefs, a man's spirit escapes his
body when he sneezes. When you "bless" him his spirit returns to
his body.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ROSEVILLE
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00001960S
No Nuthin
This was a little game my grandmother played with me, and with
my children. When a special day was coming, and she had purchased
the gift for your special day, she would pose this question to you.
Would you like to know what I bought for you? Of course a young
child does, so the response was, "Yea!" Then she would smile and
hug you and say, "A no nuthin with a whistle on the end." A very
confused child then would respond, "What is that?" Grandma would
reply, "I guess you'll have to wait to find out. But, do you want
to know what color it is?" Of course a child will respond, "Yes!"
Grandma would very seriously say, "Well, it's sky-blue pink."
Submitter comment:
It has been many years since my grandmother was alive, but this
little ditty is still repeated by me and my children, and I'm sure
it will continue with my own grandchildren.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ROSEVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): GIFT GIVING
| Subject headings: | Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Game Pastime SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00001950S
Teetotaler
A teetotaler totaling tees,
Was bothered much by little fleas.
Submitter comment:
The informant thinks he heard his wife saying this one day, but
is not sure.
Where learned: NEW JERSEY ; from a friend
| Subject headings: | 730 Lyrical Verse SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00001970S
Toot Toot Chips
Anyone eating potato chips that finds a folded over potato chip
must place the potato chip to his/her lips and verbalize the sound
"toot toot." Upon doing so, you will bear good luck.
Submitter comment:
I inquired as to the reason he had just completed this
procedure and was told that this was the reason. He does this
routinely, without fail, no matter where he is, or in what company
he may be.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DEARBORN ; MOTHER
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Good luck SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00001960S
Metaphor
One saying that I learned as a child while walking to school
was "Don't Step on a Crack or You'll Break Your Mama's Back."
(Referring to cracks in the sidewalk.)
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
In our family, if any two people say the exact same words at
the exact same time (or at least pretty close) a tagging fight
breaks out. One of the persons involved tries to be the first to
tag the other and say, "Owe me a coke!" or "Owe me a beer!" This
tag fight can get so involved that they may even chase each other
down the street. The tagging fight can also last a very long time
and can be exciting to watch.
James Callow comment:
See Cf. Hand, North Carolina, 447-454. See Puckett, Ohio, nos.
21886-21946, 22259, 22319. Despite the many examples in this great
collection, none of the verbal formulas and finger rituals match
the ones in our entry.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Speaking in unison
| Subject headings: | Favorites Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Racing Chasing Fighting Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Game Verse SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1975
I come from a very large family of eleven children and there is
always a lot of teasing going on. One phrase that I remember, my
one older brother would say to my younger brother with his large
fist raised: "One punch; two black eyes, a broken nose, and a fat
lip." I am happy to say this event never did occur.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): THREAT
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank SPEECH -- Formula SPEECH -- Gesture |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Our family lived in a large three story home. When
someone in our family entered the house you would often hear,
"Upstairs, downstairs, attic!" screamed to be able to locate
whoever was home.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1970
Wake up calls: when I was growing up I never had to use an
alarm clock to get up in the morning, even in high school. My
mother was usually the one who would wake us up by quietly coming
in our room and say our name followed by: "It is time to get up",
this approach worked for my mother. But the approach always used
by my father was, "Up, up, up! Rise and shine, Morning Glories!"
Bedtime sayings: in our family we often say "Dobranoc," which means
goodnight in Polish. Another saying we would use was "Goodnight
and good fishing and don't let the bed bugs bite!"
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | SPEECH -- Formula |
Date learned: 00-00-1965