Monthly Archives: May 2015

A Blonde, A Redhead, and A Brunette

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: April 23, 2015
Primary Language: English

Informant was a 19 year old male student who I chatted with during our Russian Modern Art class. He’s a Film and Television Production Major.

Joke:

A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette were all lost in the desert. They found a lamp and rubbed it. A genie popped out and granted them each one wish. The redhead wished to be back home. Poof! She was back home. The brunette wished to be at home with her family. Poof! She was back home with her family. The blonde said, “Awwww, I wish my friends were here.”

Collector: Who told you that one?

Informant: My younger sister told me this joke at a party. She heard it from a friend.

Collector: Why do you think you remember this one?

Informant: I find it hilarious how much people’s greatest desires can collide with one another. It reminds me a lot of instances from my own life, conflicts I’ve gotten into with my family and so on. I also love the concept that all it takes is one incompetent person with absolute power to ruin everything. If only the blonde had gone first.

This joke also plays a bit on stereotypes, seeing as “the blonde” is the one who makes the dumb mistake. I’ve heard this joke before so it wasn’t as funny as I thought it was the first time. I suppose it does just take one really incompetent person in power to screw everything up.

“Mangia vete”

Nationality: American
Age: 60
Occupation: Accountant
Residence: Denver, Colorado
Performance Date: 4/21/15
Primary Language: English

This is an Italian phrase that was used in RG’s family. However, RG does not speak Italian and only knew how to say it, not spell it. The second word of the phrase sounds like “vete”, but that is not an actual Italian word so it is most likely spelled a different way.

What does the phrase mean?

RG: My dad used to say it as something like “feed your face”. It was something he said when we were kids.

Did your dad speak Italian?

RG: “No, my grandfather was an Italian immigrant, but he didn’t want his kids to speak Italian. He said they were Americans, not Italians. Americans speak english. My dad still used some of the words and phrases though.

When would your dad use the phrase?

RG: “It was an expression for “it’s time for dinner”. It would be like “Bobby mangia fete”, “Bobby, come on feed your face”

This was a good example of how folklore is spread via word of mouth. RG had never even seen the phrase written out so he didn’t even know how to spell it. It also demonstrates how someones interpretation of  folklore is more important than what it actual means. “Mangia vete” itself doesn’t mean anything when it is spelled out. However, when it is used in the context of RG’s family, it is clear to all of them that it means “feed your face” or “it’s time to eat”.

I also found it interesting that it was an Italian phrase used by people who did not speak Italian. Although RG’s grandfather did not want his children to speak Italian because they were “Americans, not Italians”, slang from the Italian culture still became a part of their family that was passed down. Despite his grandfather’s best efforts, his family was American with a definite Italian influence. The fact that his grandfather wanted his children to be known as “Americans” is, I believe, a direct result of his being an Italian immigrant. He did not want his children to be treated any different than other American children, but at the same time the part of his Italian culture was inevitably expressed because that was what he grew up with. It’s a nice example of the blending of cultures to the point where eventually Italian phrases are used by English speakers who do not completely understand what they are saying, but they know the context of when to say it.

3 for a Dollar

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2015
Primary Language: English

Riddle:

A man walks in a hardware store and asks “How much are those?” the clerk says “three for a dollar.” The man takes one hundred, pays a dollar and walks out. What did he buy?

 

The Informant was a nineteen year old female friend that I had dinner with. I told her about the catch riddle we learned in class (what do virgins eat?) and she began telling me all of these riddles that she knew.

Collector: Wait, he bought one hundred of them for a dollar when only three are for a dollar? That makes no sense.

Informant: That’s why it’s a riddle, duh, but it does have an answer – in case you were wondering.

Collector: Did the man steal 97 items?

Informant: Nope. He paid for everything just fine and walked out.

(After several minutes of guessing and failing, she gave a pivotal hint)

Informant: You find these on the front of a house, and every house has this.

Answer via Informant: It’s the address on the house, the address is one hundred. Get it? One hundred has three numbers, three for a dollar? He bought a one and two zeros – for a dollar. Get it? He literally bought “100”. Three digits.

Collector: Did your high school friend tell you this one too?

Informant: Yup.

This riddle wasn’t quite as exclusionary as other riddles that require the person to understand certain references. This one was pretty straight forward with objects that everyone is familiar with .

 

 

 

53 Bicycles

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2015
Primary Language: English

Riddle:

A man was found murdered in a room with 53 bicycles. Why was he murdered?

 

The Informant was a nineteen year old female friend that I had dinner with. I told her about the catch riddle we learned in class (what do virgins eat?) and she began telling me all of these riddles that she knew.

Collector: He was a bad man?

Informant: No.

Collector: Did he steal all of the bicycles?

Informant: Nope, try again.

(After several minutes of guessing and failing, she gave a pivotal hint)

Informant: Think of Bicycles as a brand, not as objects. I told you this was a hard one.

Answer via Informant: Well, bicycles is a type of card – you know, poker cards…bicycle playing cards. You’ve heard of those, right? Yeah, yeah. And how many cards are in a deck? Yeah, 52. So the guy was cheating, he had an extra card… so they killed him!(Seemed a little too excited by this).

Collector: Where’d you get this riddle from?

Informant: A high school friend.

Riddles in general are very interesting considering that nothing is ever what it seems to be. You have to really think outside of the box in order to figure out the answer, but it also makes it difficult when a person is not familiar to something that’s being referenced, such as with the brand “bicycles”. I told the same riddle to my dad and he had never heard of Bicycle playing cards, which made it pretty much impossible for him to figure out the answer. So, it can be considered a way of distinguishing between groups: those that understand the references and those who don’t.

A Guy Walks Into a Bar…

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 6, 2015
Primary Language: English

Joke: A man walks into a bar. He says “ouch”.

The Informant was a nineteen year old female friend that I sat down to chat with. We were bored and telling each other jokes and she mentioned that she found this hilarious website while procrastinating on homework. This was one of the jokes that she decided to tell me.

 

Collector: Why of all the jokes did you remember this one in particular?

 

Informant: I don’t know- because it was funny. It was short and sweet, like “oh wow that makes sense”, you know? The guy literally walks into a bar – not inside the bar – but into it…it’s literal. You’re so used to jokes being set up like this that you don’t expect the twist. Creatures of habit, I guess.

 

Collector: I know this is a weird question, but does the joke mean anything to you? Like, on a personal level?

 

Informant: (Sarcastically) Yeah, I mean we’ve all walked face first into bars, it’s a pretty normal day thing to do – (normal voice) no. I just thought it was funny, that’s all. There’s no philosophical implications behind the joke or anything like that.

I don’t have much of an opinion on this joke. I do agree with the informant that it’s wonderful in its simplicity and in the fact that you don’t really expect it to go the way it does. It requires the audience to take the words literally, which isn’t usually how a joke works – which is why it works. It’s kind of ironic.