Pinky swear
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To make a pinky promise, or pinky swear, is a traditional gesture most commonly practiced amongst children involving the locking of the pinkies of two people to signify that a promise has been made. The gesture is taken to signify that the person can break the finger of the one who broke the promise.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The tradition appears to be a relatively modern invention, possibly as a continuation of older finger traditions.[1][2]
Prevalence worldwide
In North America, it is most common amongst school-aged children or adults and close friends and has existed since at least 1860, when the Dictionary of Americanisms listed the following accompanying promise:
Pinky, pinky, bow-bell,
Whoever tells a lie
Will sink down to the bad place,
And never rise up again.[3]
Pinky swearing has origins in Japan from 1600 to 1803, where it is called Script error: No such module "Nihongo". and often additionally confirmed with the vow Script error: No such module "Nihongo".[4]
Recently, in South Korea, the hooked pinky has been followed by a "seal", wherein the thumbs touch each other while the pinkies are still hooked.[5][6]
In Taiwan, stamping after hooking pinkies has been commonplace for over 30 years.
In Belfast, Northern Ireland it is referred to as a "piggy promise".[1]
In Italy, a similar tradition is called "giurin giurello" or "giurin giuretto/-a".
In Maharashtra (India), this concept similarly using Marathi calls this "Gatti fu".
There is also another pinky swear promise made between children in the Isle of Man. It goes:
Make friends, make friends,
Never ever break friends,
If you do,
You'll catch the flu,
And that will be the end of you!
See also
References
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- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Daijirin
- ↑ Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Cbignore
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
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