Pinky promise

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. 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 yubikiri (指切り, "finger cut-off") and often additionally confirmed with the vow "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").[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!"

References

  1. 1 2 Roud, Stephen (2010). The Lore of the Playground: One Hundred Years of Children's Games, Rhymes and Traditions. Random House. ISBN 9781905211517.
  2. ↑ Roud, Steve (October 29, 2010). "The state of play". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Pinky". Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms. googlebooks. 1860. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
  4. ↑ Daijirin
  5. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Pinky Promises in Korean - 새끼손가락 걸고 약속!". YouTube.
  6. ↑ "The Korean Promise 👍"약속" (yaksok) | K-Drama Amino". aminoapps.com. Retrieved Aug 6, 2020.
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