pinky swear
{{Short description|Gesture signifying a promise}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2024}}
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.{{cn|date=May 2024}} The tradition appears to be a relatively modern invention, possibly as a continuation of older finger traditions.{{Cite book|last=Roud|first=Stephen|title=The Lore of the Playground: One Hundred Years of Children's Games, Rhymes and Traditions|publisher=Random House|year=2010|isbn=9781905211517}}{{Cite news|last=Roud|first=Steve|date=October 29, 2010|title=The state of play|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/30/children-play-games-playground}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42UPAAAAYAAJ&q=pinky|title=Pinky|publisher=googlebooks|work=Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms|access-date=2013-05-25|year=1860}}
Pinky swearing has origins in Japan from 1600 to 1803, where it is called {{Nihongo||指切り|yubikiri|"finger cut-off"}} and often additionally confirmed with the vow {{Nihongo|"Pinky swear, whoever lies will be made to swallow a thousand needles."|指切り拳万、嘘ついたら針千本呑ます|"Yubikiri genman, uso tsuitara hari senbon nomasu."}}Daijirin
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.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/28pUzpLVpYo Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150905042611/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28pUzpLVpYo Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28pUzpLVpYo| title = Pinky Promises in Korean - 새끼손가락 걸고 약속! | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=https://aminoapps.com/c/k-drama/page/blog/the-korean-promise-yagsog-yaksok/V0Ph_7u5PRzZwlRdXQ4dJqrdYNV0bPQ|title=The Korean Promise 👍"약속" (yaksok) | K-Drama Amino |website=aminoapps.com|access-date=Aug 6, 2020}}
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".
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
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commonscat-inline}}
{{Gestures}}
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