Tag Archives: Irish

Irish Joke

Text Transcribed from Informant

“Alright, there’s a mother and a daughter, and the daughter goes running to her mother going ‘Mom, mom, there’s some strange man at the door! And her mother goes ‘does he have a bill?’ and the daughter goes (informant chuckles) No, he’s just got a regular nose.”

Context

My informant claims that he heard this particular Irish joke from his grandmother when she was babysitting him as a young boy. My informant says that at the time he didn’t entirely understand it, because he didn’t realize that a duck’s nasal passages was referred to as a “bill.” However, his grandmother later told him the joke again when he was older, and he was able to understand it then. He says that this experience made him remember the joke, and that he sometimes tells it as small get-togethers with friends or at parties.

My Analysis

It’s somewhat strange to try and give an analysis to a simple joke – it sorts of feels like “over explaining” the joke and hence stripping the joke of its humor. But I found this to be rather funny. I thought my informant’s personal anecdote of hearing the joke for the first time and not knowing what a “bill” was almost funnier than the original text itself, but that’s most likely due to the personal connection I have with the informant. Overall though, it does remind me of other short Irish jokes I’ve heard told.

Irish Proverb

Text

“A friend’s eye is the best mirror”

Context

My informant heard of this particular Irish proverb from an Irish teacher at his elementary school, and went home to his parents that day to inquire about its meaning. My informant interprets this proverb as meaning that only somebody that knows you well can tell you the objective truth about yourself. My informant said he took this proverb to heart and thinks about it often, but doesn’t necessarily use it much in everyday life.

My Analysis

Obviously we all have self-bias, which can cloud our own self-perception and so it’s necessary that we have a close friend or somebody who knows us well that’ll tell us the truth when we need to it. I’d never heard my informant utter this particular proverb before, so it was fascinating to be able to hear from him about the proverb itself as well his interpretation of its meaning. I realize that this particular post may be rather pithy, but this cultural piece of folklore is rather succinct in its meaning.

Irish Proverb

Text

“The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune”

Context

My informant heard this particular proverb from his Irish grandfather when he was visiting his grandparents’ house in the 1960s. This particular proverb’s meaning is fairly obvious, stating that oftentimes value and merit come with age and experience. My informant said that this proverb stuck out to him, even though he doesn’t remember the context it was originally used in and doesn’t remember the proverb being used often afterwards either. My informant likened this particular proverb to the common adage about how wine gets better the longer its stored, and told me that this Irish proverb means basically the same thing.

Analysis

I agree with my informant that this proverb brings forth similarities to the common adage about how an aged wine is better than a new wine. This proverb is pretty straightforward and explicit, and easily conveys the message it wants to get across. The fiddle is a common instrument in a lot of traditional Irish music, and thus it makes sense to me why an Irish proverb would utilise this particular object.

“Bowling cows.”

E is a 35-year-old Irish female originally from Cork, Ireland. E currently runs a bed and breakfast with her husband outside out Cork, Ireland.

E performed this folklore over breakfast in the dining area of her bed and breakfast. I asked E if she had any Irish folklore she would be willing to share with me.

E: My husband has this saying, it’s an old Irish thing. Um, if-if you eat all your dinner basically and you’re full of, you’re gonna-you’re full of energy and now you’re feeling really strong and all that, and “I could bowl cows against the hill!” Is what it is, this old saying he has. And he was telling my German friend recently he was just-basically is you feel.. really strong that you could take on anything you could do anything. “Bowl cows against a hill” like in other words you’re gonna just, push the cows up the hill kinda thing. But, it doesn’t really make sense but it’s just a saying you know?

Reflection: To me, E’s saying invokes the same kind of emotion as other sayings like ”I’m on top of the world” or ”I feel like a million bucks” to express the feeling of self-empowerment one feels after eating a good meal. Even though E asserts that the saying doesn’t make sense to her, it at least makes sense within a geographical and cultural context. As E and her husband both live in a rural farming community and tend to livestock themselves, it makes sense that E’s husband’s expression of strength would have something to do with exerting power over something he toils over on a daily basis (cows).

The Irishman and his brothers

BACKGROUND: My informant, BH, was born in the US. The following piece is a joke he learned from his father (who is of Irish descent). BH currently is a comedian and loves to hear jokes from other people in order to “steal them for his own stand-up.” This joke is one he stole from his dad.

CONTEXT: This piece is from a conversation with my friend where we exchanged jokes.

BH: Okay so, a man walks into a bar —

Me: (laughs) Oh God —

BH: A man walks into a bar and orders 3 drinks. When the bartender brings him his drinks he starts drinking them one sip at a time. When he’s done with the drinks he slams his glass on the table and orders three more. And — And the bartender is like “Dude, I can give you three drinks one after the other and they’ll stay cold. You don’t have to drink them all at once.” Then the man explains that he’s drinking 3 drinks because he has two brothers — one in America and one, I don’t remember, somewhere else — and every night they all drink three drinks in celebration of each other. The bartender shrugs and gets him his drinks. So a few weeks pass. The guy comes in again but this time order two drinks. The bartender notices and is like “Oh, did one of your brothers die?” and the guy takes a long sip out of both of his glasses and says “No but I quit drinking.” 

THOUGHTS: At first I didn’t really get the joke, but BH eventually explained to me the stereotype of Irish people being avid drinkers. With that information, I finally understood the punchline — the man in the joke claims to have quit drinking only to continue showing up to the bar every night to drink by the pair. BH elaborated further on the stereotype, bringing to my attention that the joke could also be that a real Irishman would never give up drinking. Regardless, it is interesting how people have paired humor with alcohol. “A man walks into a bar” jokes are some of the most iconic jokes right behind knock-knock jokes.