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THE PREACHER AND THE PARROT

A LADY BOUGHT A PARROT AT A PET SHOP. SHE TOOK
THE PARROT PAST A CONSTRUCTION BUILDING AND THE
PARROT HEARD ONE MAN SAY TO ANOTHER, "BRING'M UP,
BRING'M UP." THE NEXT DAY THE LADY TOOK THE
PARROT PAST A BUTCHER SHOP. THE PARROT HEARD THE
BUTCHER SAY "BALONEY, BALONEY." THE NEXT DAY THE
PARROT WENT TO THE CARNIVAL. THE PARROT HEARD A MAN
SAY "HIT A BLACK ONE, WIN A PRIZE." ON SUNDAY
THE LADY TOOK THE PARROT TO CHURCH. THE PREACHER
SAID, "THE DEVIL IS IN HELL." THE PARROT SAID
"BRING'M UP, BRING'M UP." THEN THE PREACHER SAID,
"GOD IS GREAT." THE PARROT SAID, "BALONEY,
BALONEY." SO THE PREACHER THROWS THE BIBLE AT THE PARROT
AND HITS A BLACK MAN BY MISTAKE. THE PARROT SAID,
"HIT A BLACK ONE, WIN A PRIZE, HIT A BLACK ONE, WIN
A PRIZE."

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; TAYLOR

James Callow Keyword(s): ANIMAL

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote

Date learned: 00001980'S

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Japanese custom

"Even monkeys fall from trees" means "Even smart people make
mistakes".

Where learned: JAPAN

Keyword(s): ANIMALS

Subject headings: PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor

Date learned: 00-00-1925

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Michelle's grandpa used to tell her mom when she couldn't fall
asleep as a young child that her stuffed animals got very
angry because at the stroke of midnight they came out to play.
In the morning, the animals were spread out all over the floor
so the child believed the story.

Submitter comment: Michelle said her mom used to use the same one on her and she
believed it and fell asleep.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): Stuffed animals

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Lie Tall tale
BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour

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ONCE THERE WERE TWO COYOTES. ONE WAS FROM MONTANA
AND THE OTHER WAS FROM NORTH DAKOTA. ONE DAY THE
NORTH DAKOTA COYOTE GOT HIS PAW CAUGHT IN A
TRAP. THE MONTANA COYOTE HAPPENED TO BE WANDERING
BY, SO THE NORTH DAKOTA COYOTE ASKED THE
MONTANA COYOTE HOW TO GET OUT OF THE TRAP.
THE MONTANA COYOTE REPLIED, "YOU WILL HAVE TO
CHEW OFF YOUR PAW," AND THEN WENT ABOUT HIS
BUSINESS. A FEW DAYS LATER THE MONTANA COYOTE
HAPPENED TO BE PASSING BY THE SAME SPOT AND
SAW THE NORTH DAKOTA COYOTE STILL CAUGHT IN THE
TRAP. HE ASKED THE NORTH DAKOTA COYOTE WHY HE
HAD NOT ESCAPED. THE NORTH DAKOTA COYOTE
REPLIED, "I HAVE CHEWED OFF THREE OF MY PAWS
AND I STILL CANNOT GET OUT OF THIS TRAP!"

Submitter comment: IN MONTANA THE BRUNT OF MOST JOKES ARE PEOPLE
FROM NORTH DAKOTA. NORTH DAKOTANS ARE THE
"POLLACKS" OF THE NORTHWEST.

Where learned: MONTANA ; FROMBERG

James Callow Keyword(s): ANIMALS

Subject headings: Favorites
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Stupid man or woman
Food Drink -- NORT

Date learned: 01-00-1980

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CONGESTION CURE 2

PIZZLE GREASE, WHICH IS MADE FROM THE MALE ORGANS OF A
HOG COOKED DOWN INTO GREASE AND THEN THE ORGANS STRAINED
FROM THE GREASE, WAS BOTTLED AND SOLD AS A CURE FOR A BAD
COLD AND PNEUMONIA.

Where learned: TENNESSEE ; MARTIN

James Callow Keyword(s): PIZZLE=ANIMAL PENIS

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Remedy
BELIEF -- Animal

Date learned: 00001940CA

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DIET

DOWN SOUTH PEOPLE USE TO EAT A DISH CALLED LIVER AND LITES.
THIS WAS A DISH THAT CONSISTED OF LIVER AND THE LUNGS OF SOME
ANIMAL. ANOTHER DISH THAT USE TO BE EATEN WAS CALVES BRAINS,
WITH A SIDE DISH OF HOT BISCUITS AND GRAVY.

Where learned: TENNESSEE ; MARTIN

James Callow Keyword(s): CALVES' BRAINS ; LIGHTS=AN ANIMALS LUNGS

Subject headings: Food Drink -- Food
Food Drink -- Kind of Food and Its Preparation
Food Drink -- Meat

Date learned: 00001947CA

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DR. SNIDER HEARD THE PHRASE:
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE MULE GOING BLIND,
HIT HIM IN THE HEAD WITH A LOADED LINE."
A FEW TIMES WHILE GROWING UP. HE DOESN'T REMEMBER
WHY HE HEARD IT, BUT HE REMEMBERS THINKING IT WAS A SLAVE
CONCEPT ABOUT BEATING PEOPLE INTO SUBMISSION.

Submitter comment: AFTER TELLING THIS TO ME, DR. SNIDER EXPLAINED
THAT HIS FAMILY NEVER OWNED SLAVES.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WEST BLOOMFIELD

James Callow Keyword(s): ANIMAL ; WHIPPING

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Proverb
CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- F535
BELIEF -- Mammal
PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor

Date learned: 09-12-1990

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Putting tabasco sauce on bread and feeding it to ducks can
put a curse on you. And soon something degrading will
happen to you.

Submitter comment: I learned of this story back in grade school when the
teacher scolded some of my friends for going to the pond
and feeding the ducks with bread soaked in tabasco sauce.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WEST BLOOMFIELD

Keyword(s): tabasco, hot, spicy.

James Callow Keyword(s): CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ; FUNCTION

Subject headings: Observation
BELIEF -- Animal
BELIEF -- Bird
BELIEF -- Curse

Date learned: 00-00-1983

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WHILE SITTING ON A HAY BALE AT THE 1989 MICHIGAN
RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL, A FRIEND AND I OVERHEARD A YOUNG BOY CALL
ANOTHER BOY A "FROGHEAD." CONTEXT: "WAIT UP, YOU FROGHEAD!"
BOTH OF US ENJOYED THE NAME SO MUCH THAT WE SPREAD IT TO OUR
FRIENDS. MY FRIENDS AND I STILL USE THE EXPRESSION.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Holly

Keyword(s): FROG

James Callow Keyword(s): ANIMAL NAME FOR HUMAN

Subject headings: Person / Nickname

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"Once a dog from a meat market stole a piece of meat and began to
run. On the road, he encountered a small bridge. As he looked down
into the water he saw a larger piece of meat. (Unknown to him, it was
just a reflection of the meat he had in his mouth.) As he opened his
mouth to grab the 'larger piece of meat,' he lost the piece he had.
Moral: Whoever wants more than he or she has loses the little he or
she does have."

Submitter comment: The moral loses much in the translation.

Where learned: GREECE

Keyword(s): Lesson ; Story

James Callow Keyword(s): animal fable

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Animal Tale

Date learned: 00001950CA

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3,6,9,
The goose drank wine,
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line,
The line broke,
The monkey got choked,
And they all went to heaven in all little row boat.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): Animal Drinking rhyme

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Narrative Verse

Date learned: 02-00-1992

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Dog Joke

There was a dog convention going on. The dogs were told to
check in and hang their rear-ends up on the wall for display. The
convention hall caught on fire! Dogs were yelling, "Fire! fire!,
everybody just grab a rear-end and escape!" That's why dogs go
around smelling each other's butts today, they're trying to locate
their own.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Co workers ; Michigan Consolidated Gas Company

James Callow Keyword(s): Origin of animal behavior

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote

Date learned: 00001980S

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Superstition: Animals

Eating the chicken gizzard will make you beautiful.

Data entry tech comment:

Motifs added by TRD

Where learned: Harwell, Martha

Keyword(s): ANIMAL ; Beautiful ; BIRD ; Chicken ; Eat ; FOOD ; FOWL ; Gizzard ; SUPERSTITION

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Custom

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PROVERB

Historical record from James Callow Folklore Archive.

A DOG NEVER BARKS WHEN IT SHITS.

Submitter comment:

IN OUR FAMILY WHICH WAS UNUSUALLY LARGE IT WAS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT
TO MAINTAIN SILENCE AT THE DINNER TABLE. MY POLISH GRANDMOTHER WAS
SUCCESSFUL WITH A PHRASE I DID NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND. YEARS LATER MY
MOTHER TRANSLATED FOR ME.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): ANIMAL ; FUNCTION ; SCATALOGICAL

James Callow Keyword(s): ADVICE: NEGATIVE ; DEFECATION ; FUNCTION ; OBSERVATION ; OBSERVATION ; OBSERVATION ; OBSERVATION

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Mammal
PROVERB -- Proverbial Metaphor

Date learned: 00-00-1940

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THE SQUIRREL LADY

THIS OLD LADY HAS BEEN AROUND THE VANDY CAMPUS EVER
SINCE ANYONE CAN REMEMBER. SHE JUST COMES AROUND THREE
OR FOUR DAYS A WEEK AND FEEDS THE SQUIRRELS AND SHE HAS
NAMES FOR ALL OF THEM. SHE FIGHTS FOR THE SQUIRRELS
WHEN BUILDING IS GOING ON AND THEY START TEARING DOWN
THE TREES WHERE THE SQUIRRELS HAVE THEIR HOMES. OH
YES, SHE WALKS WITH A WALKER.

Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE

James Callow Keyword(s): ANIMALS ANIMAL-LOVER ; VANDY=VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter

Date learned: 04-13-1969

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THREE, SIX, NINE THE GOOSE DRANK WINE,
THE MONKEY CHEWED TOBACCO
ON THE STREETCAR LINE.
THE LINE BROKE,
THE MONKEY GOT CHOKE(ED)
AND THEY ALL WENT TO HEAVEN
IN A LITTLE ROWBOAT (CLAP, CLAP).

Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE

James Callow Keyword(s): ANIMALS ; HUMOR COUNTING BY THREES

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Narrative Verse

Date learned: 12-05-1973

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THE PITTSBURG ORANGUTAN

ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A STORY GOING AROUND THE
HIGH SCHOOLS IN PITTSBURG ABOUT A FIGHTING ORANGUTAN.
THE ORANGUTAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BROUGHT TO A NEARBY
SHOPPING CENTER WHERE A CONTEST WAS TO BE HELD.
ANYONE WHO COULD REMAIN IN THE CAGE WITH THE ORANGUTAN
FOR TEN SECONDS WOULD WIN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. THE
RUMOR SPREAD FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS AND THE DAY CAME FOR
THE CONTEST. SEVERAL HUNDRED YOUTHS SHOWED UP AT THE
SHOPPING CENTER, BUT THE ORANGUTAN NEVER MADE IT.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT ; PITTSBURGH

Keyword(s): ANIMALS

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal

Date learned: 11-18-1968

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LEGEND OF CHRIST

WHILE OUR LORD WAS BEING CRUCIFIED, TWO BIRDS WHO
WERE FLYING ACROSS CALVARY NOTICED HIM. AS THEY SAW
HIS TORMENT, THEY SWOOPED OVER TO HIS ARMS AND TRIED
TO REMOVE THE NAILS WITH THEIR BEAKS. AFTER THEY
TRIED FOR AWHILE, THEY LEFT, BEING UNABLE TO REMOVE
THEM. THEY AND THEIR OFFSPRING WERE REWARDED
FOR THEIR COMPASSION BECAUSE THE BLOOD FROM
CHRIST'S WRISTS STAINED THEIR BREASTS AND MADE THE
ROBIN EASILY IDENTIFIABLE.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): REASONS FOR ANIMAL CHARACTERISTICS

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Bird

Date learned: 03-16-1968

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LEGEND OF THE BELLE ISLE GHOST

ONCE THERE WAS A LADY WHO WAS TAKING HER DOG FOR A
WALK ON BELLE ISLE. WHILE SHE WASN'T WATCHING HIM,
THE DOG RAN AWAY AND WAS DROWNED IN THE WATER. THE
LADY TRIED TO SAVE HIM AND WAS DROWNED HERSELF.
NOW, SOMETIMES AT MIDNIGHT, A LADY IS SEEN HOLDING
AN EMPTY DOG LEASH AND CALLING FOR HER DOG WHO
WAS DROWNED SO MANY YEARS AGO.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; BELLE ISLE

Keyword(s): ANIMALS

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter

Date learned: 06-00-1970

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THE PITTSBURG ORANGUTAN

ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A STORY GOING AROUND THE
HIGH SCHOOLS IN PITTSBURG ABOUT A FIGHTING ORANGUTAN.
THE ORANGUTAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BROUGHT TO A NEARBY
SHOPPING CENTER WHERE A CONTEST WAS TO BE HELD.
ANYONE WHO COULD REMAIN IN THE CAGE WITH THE ORANGUTAN
FOR TEN SECONDS WOULD WIN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. THE
RUMOR SPREAD FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS AND THE DAY CAME FOR
THE CONTEST. SEVERAL HUNDRED YOUTHS SHOWED UP AT THE
SHOPPING CENTER, BUT THE ORANGUTAN NEVER MADE IT.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT ; PITTSBURGH

Keyword(s): ANIMALS

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal

Date learned: 11-18-1968

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