Folk Speech: “That’s for George” 1 folklore

Genre: Folk Speech                                                    
Canice Santos
September, 7, 2001
San Francisco, CA (restaurant)

“George,” “That’s for George”and “George’s” portion, (superstition magic)

(related to“Let George do it” often used as a neck riddle).

My aunt Canice, who lives in Forest Knolls, Ca., said she first learned about “George” from her immigrant Irish parents when she was eight or nine years old when they were living on 131 Third Ave. in San Francisco, ca. 1946. 

Canice is the youngest child of a large family of four girls and four boys. But there was no “George”in the family; he was a fictional character that her father, (Bernard Reilly, born in 1890, Granard, Co. Longford, Ireland) often referred to as “George.” Where he got the character from, we don’t know. He worked for the San Francisco County jail and I speculate that he probably picked up many sayings from cops and inmates. 

According to J.H. Brunvand in “The Study of American Folklore,” (p. 101), this modern proverb, possibly a variation of using a saint’s name,“Let George do it,” may have referred to “the tradition of calling railroad porters by this name.” The man who owned our summer home was a railroad man.

My aunt Canice said the contexts for using the saying, “That’s for George”were varied, though they seemed to revolve around food. With ten people and the possibility of friends unexpectedly joining them at the dinner table, there was often an extra dinner plate set for the unknown guest. If there was an extra portion left over (a rarity), it was promptly claimed as George’s portion (probably invented by the parents to prevent an outbreak of internicene sibling squabbling.).

Canice explained that George’s portion probably was related to Depression lore when food was scarce. The family was able to provide for family and friends. Her daughter Sineád added, “My mom taught me to cook with George in mind,” she always peeled an extra potato for “George.” This reminded them and my other aunts of other food-related sayings: “Leave it for the clean-up man.” 

We have a Thanksgiving custom, we set an extra plate at the table for the unexpected guest—a guest during the holiday was good luck. My aunts explained that the custom of “George” as the mythical extra guest. But I never understood that the extra place was for him, as my grandmother didn’t use the saying. 

Elijah was sometimes mentioned, but more often, it was a mythical McGregor. (Collector’s note: my grandparents’ families survived the Great Irish Potato Famine of 1848, and we have odd quirks associated with food, including sharing and saving food as if there was a great residual fear of running out of food. The end result is that the stored food eventually goes to waste. I think my grandmother (whose grandparents would’ve been survivors), felt residual guilt because her family survived the Famine when so many had died...)