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Sat 28 May, 2005 11:38 pm
I love idioms and I give my 8th grade students extra credit if they can tell me ones I might not have heard before. I have my list at school, but I remember a few.
The Portuguese have a tradition that when you come to see a newborn for the first time, they say, "Ugly Baby!" (I don't have the Portuguese words handy.) The purpose of that is to "trick" the devil into not messing with the baby; presumably, the devil is not interested in ugly babies.
Another student told me that in Mexico when someone says something they weren't supposed to say because it was a secret, they say, "Your bird flew away."
I'll have to get my list from school and share some more.
Many cultures avoid praising babies for that very reason. The Chinese often call their babies "Turtle" so that demons will think it's only an ugly turtle. The cuter the baby, the worse the nicknames!
This notion really does transcend culture.
My african name is Yanga
I was called this after my grandfather. His older brother died whilst young and tradition was to call the next born something foul so that the spirits would not bother with him.
Therefore Yanga translates loosely as:
The scum that accumulates at the bottom of a waterfall
lol
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