Category Archives: Cheers

Kipsalana Cheer

Title: Kipsalana Cheer

General Information about Item:

Customary: Verbal, Cheers

English

United States of America

Informant Data:

Robert Purvis was born on May 27th, 1997 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He got into swimming because his two sisters were swimmers and inspired him to start. He started swimming year round at age 6 at his local club, the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester. He is now a sophomore at Dartmouth and is a butterfly specialist on the varsity swim team.

Contextual Data:

Robert learned this cheer from his captains within his first month on the team. It is taught to all incoming freshmen on the team. This is a video of the team after practice teaching the freshman the day before their first met.

Item:

The men’s team cheer reads as follows

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Kipsalana

Informant’s Comments:

“No one knows what this cheer means anymore or where it originated from. I once spoke to a ’76 about it and he said the same thing, that no one knew the origin or meaning of the cheer.”

Collector’s Name: Robert Purvis

Tags/Keywords:

folklore, swimming, water sports, men’s swimming, cheer, verbal, customary, ritual

“Who Dat”

Who Dat

Informant:Libby Flint, age 59, New Orleans resident of 36 years, originally from Upstate New York and Vermont. Collected May 22, 2016 and recorded on iphone.

Verbal Lore: folk speech, slang, chants, cheers

English

United States of America

Context: a phrase used by Saints (The New Orleans Football team) fans and often used to describe those same fans

Transcript:

“‘who dat’ are saints fans the cheer is ‘who dat say dey gonna beat dem saints’”

Informant: Erin Fell, age 21, New Orleans, LA. Collected on May 22, 2016 and recorded on iphone.

Transcript: “Next, “Who Dat?” That is the, uh, rallying cry of (New Orleans) Saints fans everywhere. It comes from “who is that” or “who is that that says they can beat the Saints?” Right so the chant goes Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints?”

Collectors commentary:

Keywords: Who Dat, Saints, Football, New Orleans

Bid Day Chant

Bid Day Chant

Informant info
- Junior in sorority at Penn State University
Type of lore (verbal, material or customary), Genre, Subgenre
- Verbal
Language
- English
Country of Origin
- United States
Social / Cultural Context
- This chant is sung at Bid Day to attract new members to the sorority and a bonding experience with all of the younger girls who have received a bid.
- Transcript (if verbal lore)
  - “Pi Pi beta phi p-i-p-h-i Pi phi. P for I for beta phi for I just love pi beta phi”
Informant’s comments
- This is chanted continuously on Bid Day every year. It is a sense of pride for our sorority as we try to attract new members amongst the crowd of all sororities
Collector’s comments
- The sorority and the informant are kept anonymous. Similar folklore was recorded at Dartmouth.
- This version of verbal folk is seen throughout the country as a traditional welcome into the house. Over the years and across national organizations, the location of performance, song choice, and dances used during the recruitment process vary greatly, but they all contain key reoccurring components such as full house involvement, matching outfits (potentially material lore), and synchronized dance moves (Texas A&M video below of examples of Bid Day “Door Chants” from 2014 and Colorado State University from 2009).