There is a pig, a cow, a horse, and a sheep. They all decide to go to 7-Eleven. The pig goes in first, then walks out in crutches and a broken arm. The cow walks in and comes out with a black eye and a twisted ankle. The horse walks in and comes out beaten up as well. But then the sheep walks in and walks out fine. Why is this? Because 7-Eleven “bud a yang.”

My informant learned this joke from his Chinese teacher. The punch line of the joke is actually in Chinese. The phrase “bu da yang” has two meanings. One meaning is “don’t hit sheep.” The other meaning is “never close.” Thus, this joke is actually a type of pun on the Chinese phrase. Because 7-Eleven “never closes,” they also “don’t hit sheep.” It is not uncommon these days to hear jokes that combine two languages. Chinese people especially love to tell jokes with in both English and Chinese. One joke that also combines both English and Chinese is one that I heard from my father. The joke is, “you bei er lai.” This phrase is actually an idiom. The idiom itself means that one should always be prepared so that if anything should happen, a person will still be okay. However, it is a common joke for Chinese people to say “you bei er lai.” The “bei er” sounds like the American word, “bear.” The word “you” means “there is,” and the word “lai” means “coming.” Thus, the entire phrase turns into the joke “There is a “bei er” coming.”