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<TITLE>RE : SV: query: taboo against 3 people in picture</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>It's the same as the English saying "one's lonely, two's company, three's a crowd"<BR>
<BR>
Steve Hewitt<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
-------- Message d'origine--------<BR>
De: Discussion List for ALT de la part de Pedro Martins<BR>
Date: mer. 22/02/2012 15:26<BR>
À: LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG<BR>
Objet : Re: SV: query: taboo against 3 people in picture<BR>
<BR>
In Portuguese (at least, in European Portuguese), there's the expression:<BR>
"um é pouco, dois é bom, três é demais", which means "one is too few, two<BR>
is good, three is too much". It is regularly used when a situation arises<BR>
in which the norm is exactly two persons (being in a couple, for example)<BR>
and a third person wants to -- or finds himself in a position that make<BR>
others think he might -- be part of it.<BR>
<BR>
Pedro<BR>
<BR>
On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 13:36, <vfriedm@uchicago.edu> wrote:<BR>
<BR>
> Consider also the taboo against three on a match (for lighting cigarettes).<BR>
> I have heard that the belief dates from WWI trench warfare. The<BR>
> explanation was that by the time the third person had lit up, the enemy had<BR>
> time to aim and fire.<BR>
> But the taboo itself was well known when i was in college.<BR>
> Victor<BR>
><BR>
> ---- Original message ----<BR>
> >Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:37:25 +0900<BR>
> >From: Discussion List for ALT <LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG> (on<BR>
> behalf of David Gil <gil@EVA.MPG.DE>)<BR>
> >Subject: Re: SV: query: taboo against 3 people in picture<BR>
> >To: LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG<BR>
> ><BR>
> >Jan,<BR>
> ><BR>
> >Yes, even Indonesian has similar expressions. However, in the case of<BR>
> >'three is a crowd' and such, I think the implicature is clearly that<BR>
> >four (and above) would be even worse, whereas in the case of the<BR>
> >3-people-in-picture taboo, a common way of solving the problem is to<BR>
> >invite an additional person into the picture -- the taboo is<BR>
> >specifically for three.<BR>
> ><BR>
> >David<BR>
> ><BR>
> ><BR>
> ><BR>
> >> Dear David,<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Hailing from a different part of the world, your query made me think of<BR>
> such phrases as 'Three is a crowd' and 'Ménage á trois', which suggest that<BR>
> three is one too many.<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Best,<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Jan<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----<BR>
> >> Från: Discussion List for ALT [<A HREF="mailto:LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG">mailto:LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG</A>]<BR>
> För David Gil<BR>
> >> Skickat: den 22 februari 2012 13:14<BR>
> >> Till: LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG<BR>
> >> Ämne: query: taboo against 3 people in picture<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Dear all,<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Apologies for posting a non-linguistic query, but I'm interested in<BR>
> checking whether the non-linguistic feature in question correlates with a<BR>
> particular linguistic area, so perhaps all you field linguists out there<BR>
> can contribute some of your experiences.<BR>
> >><BR>
> >><BR>
> >> In many parts of mainland and insular Southeast Asia stretching into<BR>
> New Guinea, there is a taboo against three people posing for a photo. One<BR>
> or two is fine, four, five and up is fine, but three is a no no. In some<BR>
> places the taboo is strong, while in others it's just something people joke<BR>
> about. Sometimes it is said that the person in the middle will meet<BR>
> misfortune or die.<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> I have encountered this taboo in Cambodia, Sumatra, Borneo, Palawan,<BR>
> Luzon, Sulawesi, Maluku, and on a recent trip to the Baliem Valley in the<BR>
> Papuan highlands. (Though not in Java or the lesser Sunda isles.) The<BR>
> areal distribution suggests that the taboo must be older than the advent of<BR>
> photography, perhaps extending back to drawings and paintings; the<BR>
> antiquity of the taboo is further supported by its presence amongst the<BR>
> Papuan highland Dani, whose first contact with the outside world was only<BR>
> in the 1940s (and it seems implausible that they would have picked up the<BR>
> taboo since then).<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> My question is: where else is such a taboo present? Are you familiar<BR>
> >> with it from any other parts of the world? I would greatly appreciate<BR>
> >> both positive and negative data (the latter always being harder to<BR>
> obtain reliably). I am particularly interested in delimiting the extent of<BR>
> the area listed above: does the taboo exist further east in New Guinea and<BR>
> into the Pacific? What about north into China, or west into South Asia?<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Thanks,<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> David<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> --<BR>
> >> David Gil<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Department of Linguistics<BR>
> >> Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Deutscher Platz 6,<BR>
> D-04103 Leipzig, Germany<BR>
> >><BR>
> >> Telephone: 49-341-3550321 Fax: 49-341-3550119<BR>
> >> Email: gil@eva.mpg.de<BR>
> >> Webpage: <A HREF="http://www.eva.mpg.de/~gil/">http://www.eva.mpg.de/~gil/</A><BR>
> >><BR>
> >><BR>
> >><BR>
> >><BR>
> >><BR>
> ><BR>
> ><BR>
> >--<BR>
> >David Gil<BR>
> ><BR>
> >Department of Linguistics<BR>
> >Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology<BR>
> >Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany<BR>
> ><BR>
> >Telephone: 49-341-3550321 Fax: 49-341-3550119<BR>
> >Email: gil@eva.mpg.de<BR>
> >Webpage: <A HREF="http://www.eva.mpg.de/~gil/">http://www.eva.mpg.de/~gil/</A><BR>
><BR>
<BR>
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