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Bad Joke || Peruvian

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Title: Bad Joke

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Gesture
  • Place Collected: Collis Center, Dartmouth College
  • Date Collected: November 12th, 2019
  • Country of Origin: Peru
  • Informant: Bailey Burke (myself)

Informant Data:

  • Bailey Burke is a Dartmouth College student graduating in 2020. She was born in New York City, but moved to Westchester, NY in 2002. She studies computer science and neuroscience, and loves to play tennis, sing, hike, and hangout with her family. She studied abroad in Peru from September 2018 until the end of November 2018. She traveled all around Peru with a Dartmouth professor and 7 other Dartmouth Students. Her school/homestay was located in Cusco, and she had two Peruvian professors in addition to the Dartmouth professor. The group would constantly explore the beautiful city of Cusco, and a lot of the students would befriend locals. She was completely immersed in the culture, and because of that, she was able to pick up on a lot of things that were unique to the natives.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: Bailey first learned about this hand gesture after watching people on her program interact with Peruvian adolescents. Even though their Spanish was near fluent in terms of conversing, they didn’t know how to properly deliver jokes, or how to nail the delivery when speaking Spanish. So it was commonly used after one of the students in the group would try to say something funny, or when someone tried to directly translate a joke from english into Spanish, but it does not mean the same thing in Spanish. It basically means that someone just told a bad joke, or that the joke that someone told did not land well. The person using this is light-heartedly making fun of the person who told the joke.
  • Cultural Context: Peru is a country in western South America, with an old and complex background. It’s the birthplace of the ancient Incan Empire, and it’s known for its natural wonders and archeological marvels. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire conquered the region, but Peru successfully gained its independence in 1824. Spanish colonization strongly influenced the culture of Peru. The sovereign state of Peru is a republic comprised of 25 regions. Talking with your hands is commonplace in peru. Peruvians are very animated, sometimes loud, and are collectively and generally not shy. Being expressive is common. According to behavior scientists in a study, in face-to-face conversations in Peru, around 55% is non-verbal and gestural (Passport To Travel Peru), supporting the idea that more than half of Peruvians converse and communicate through motions, signaling, and expression. 

Item:

  • This gesture is used after someone just told a bad joke. Someone points at the joker, and then in a swift & connecting motion, points at the door. At the same, the person pointing says “ya se fue, ya se fue.” It implies “you should leave” as a harmless joke, because the joker just delivered a horrible joke, or one that wasn’t funny. It can loosely translate to “you should just get out of here,” because the person telling the joke failed. It can also be used when someone has an idea that just isn’t good. “Ya se fue” means “he’s gone.” It can be paired with a head shake, and also sometimes is only paired with one “ya se fue” or no verbal phrase at all. Someone can also just say “se fue.” The hand can move fast, or it can be a slow motion. There is no definitive answer as for how it came to be, but Peruvians like to playfully make fun of each other. It may have something to do with the idea that instead of just letting everyone sit there awkwardly after a bad joke, Peruvians want to diffuse awkwardness and make a funny response.

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

Collector’s Comments (Interpretation): This relates to Peruvian culture because Peruvians love to make pranks and harmlessly joke around, so this parallels their vibrant energy. Generally, since the person who told the joke knows that this gesture and expression is also a joke, it is meant to make light of a funny/failed situation, and to make things less awkward. This shows that they are also witty/don’t take things too seriously, and are playful in nature.

Collector’s Name: Bailey Burke

Tags/Keywords:

  • Peru
  • Gesture
  • Bad Joke

The Shake || Trinidadian

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Title: The Shake

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Gesture
  • Place Collected: Video Call
  • Date Collected: November 7th, 2019
  • Country of Origin: Trinidad & Tobago
  • Informant: Joy-Denise Burke

Informant Data:

  • Joy-Denise Burke is my mother who was born and raised in Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad. It’s a small, third world country with a population of 1.37 million people, and is located in the Caribbean. She is of Indian descent, as her senior relatives migrated over from India. She moved to Canada at age 16 for school, where she studied art and psychology. She then moved back to Trinidad, then to Florida for graduate school, and finally ended up in New York for business school at NYU. She worked in New York after that, and then moved to Westchester, NY in 2002. Most of her family still lives in Trinidad, though, so she often visits.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: Joy-Denise learned about this gesture from men in the streets who used this gesture as a pretty woman walked by. The gesture can be used in various situations- it is used to show excitement upon seeing a beautiful woman, but it is not as much seen as harassment/is not as degrading as someone whistling or making sexual comments as a woman walks by. It is also used to show exuberance when someone puts another person in his/her place. Lastly, it can also be accompanied by a facial expression of awe to further accentuate the gesture. It may have started because it is an active gesture to demonstrate to someone else who may be far away that you see them or that you understand the situation. If done properly, there is even a sound and a wind, so it is a good way to catch someone’s attention. Trinidadians use many hand gestures when communicating and expressing feelings.
  • Cultural Context: Trinidad has a distinct culture that is influenced by the many races that came to the country over the centuries, specifically African, Indian, Portuguese, American Indian, Spanish, Chinese, and English. The island was discovered by Christopher Columbus, and remained under Spanish control until 1797 when Britain captured it. It didn’t gain full independence until 1962, so is a melting pot of races that has its own unique culture as well.

Item:

  • This gesture means “wow, look at that attractive woman” or “you just got called out and it’s clear you just got burnt.” It is performed by snapping the hand quickly so that the fingers hit each other and make a sound. You should be able to feel a breeze on your face. It varies by how fast you shake your hand- the faster you shake, the more excited you are. Trinidadians are very animated, so this is one way to show that someone or something is attractive/to show excitement nonverbally.

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

Collector’s Comments (Interpretation): This gesture relates to Trinidadian culture because Trinidadians are very animated and expressive, and this is one way to show excitement nonverbally. Trinidadians use many hand gestures when communicating and expressing feelings, so it aligns well with Trinidadian culture. Every time I have visited Trinidad, I am always amazed at how much energy everyone has, and how lively they are.

Collector’s Name: Bailey Burke

Tags/Keywords:

  • Trinidad
  • Gesture
  • Hand Shake

“Let’s Go Now” || Trinidadian

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Title: Let’s Go Now

General Information about Item:

  • Genre: Gesture
  • Place Collected: Video Call
  • Date Collected: November 7th, 2019, 12:12 pm
  • Country of Origin: Trinidad & Tobago
  • Informant: Joy-Denise Burke

Informant Data:

  • Joy-Denise Burke is my mother who was born and raised in Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad. It’s a small, third world country with a population of 1.37 million people, and is located in the Caribbean. She is of Indian descent, as her senior relatives migrated over from India. She moved to Canada at age 16 for school, where she studied art and psychology. She then moved back to Trinidad, then to Florida for graduate school, and finally ended up in New York for business school at NYU. She worked in New York after that, and then moved to Westchester, NY in 2002. Most of her family still lives in Trinidad, though, so she often visits.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context: Joy-Denise first learned this gesture in elementary school, since her friends used it when it was time to go. She has since learned/noticed that the gesture can be used for several reasons. 1) it is considered impolite to disturb someone while they are talking, so this signal could be sent secretly behind the other person’s back, so the person in view of the signal sees that you are ready to go. 2) Trinidadians like to “fete” or party and play loud music, so it is a visual nonverbal sign which allows for minimal disruption of the party. 3) It can be used in an urgent situation, to support the idea that someone wants to leave right away. For example, if one’s kids are taking their time and a parent wants to stress the importance of leaving right away, then this would be a good sign to use.
  • Cultural Context: Trinidad has a distinct culture that is influenced by the many races that came to the country over the centuries, specifically African, Indian, Portuguese, American Indian, Spanish, Chinese, and English. The island was discovered by Christopher Columbus, and remained under Spanish control until 1797 when Britain captured it. It didn’t gain full independence until 1962, so is a melting pot of races that has its own unique culture as well.

Item:

  • This gesture means “let’s go now.” It is performed by slapping the back of one’s hand into the other to make a loud sound, and then pulling the arms apart. It varies by how hard you slap the back of your hand into the other and how far you extend your arms at the end- the harder and faster one slaps, the more urgent the need to depart. Also, this hand gesture could be accompanied by facial expressions to further accentuate the urgency. It is quite popular in Trinidad amongst all classes, races, genders, and ages.

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

Collector’s Comments (Interpretation): I think this gesture relates to Trinidad specifically because Trinidadians are very expressive in general, but they also have a lot of respect for their elders/family/people they are speaking to. They never want to come across as rude by interrupting someone and saying that they need to leave. It’s a good way to catch the other person’s attention right away, as it’s very visible, and can easily demonstrate how urgent the person wants to leave. It’s an excellent visual nonverbal gesture that stresses the importance of leaving. Also, Trinidad has a wild party scene, and is known for it’s party environment and night life, so it makes sense that some would use this when the music would be too loud to hear someone.

Collector’s Name: Bailey Burke

Tags/Keywords:

  • Trinidad
  • Gesture
  • Let’s Go Now