Folklore

The word Folklore was first used by the English antiquarian William Thomas in 1846. Folklore A modern term for the 1 of traditional customs, superstitions, stories, dances, and songs that have been adopted and maintained within a given 2 by processes of repetition not reliant on the written 3. Along with folk songs and folktales, this broad 4 of cultural forms embraces all kinds of legends, riddles, jokes, proverbs, games, charms, omens, spells, and rituals, especially those of pre-literate societies or social classes. Those forms of verbal expression that are handed on from one generation or locality to the next by word of mouth are said to constitute an oral 5.