The Informant is in his mid-30’s, he specializes in freelance business, and I know him through my affiliation with a gym off campus.

Him: Okay, here it is. So an old woman walks into work one day and she has a black eye. Her coworkers all know that her husband is kind of a macho-dude and a tough guy, so they think that maybe he beat her up or something. But people are too afraid to ask. Until one guy steps up and asks her about her black eye. He says, “Hey, Maude, what happened to your eye?” and then she says, “I was jumping rope, bra-less.”

Me: Where did you get this from?!

Him: One Thanksgiving my uncle was super drunk and just telling tons of dirty jokes. I must have been about 15 or so and that one always stuck with me.

Me: Where did he get it from?

Him: I’m not actually sure.

Me: Do you tell it to people now?

Him: Oh, yeah! I tell it to my nieces and nephews all of the time. They don’t get it yet, they’re really little, and my sister always gets mad at me when I tell it to them because it makes them think about things they shouldn’t be thinking about at 8 or 9 years old *laughs*. I’m THAT uncle.

Me: And so was yours!

Him: You’re right!

Analysis:

This is a type of dirty joke that is probably told among families when there’s a bit of alcohol involved. Or perhaps at networking parties to break the ice. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this joke, but the first time I heard it it was definitely a vehicle used to begin conversation in an awkward situation.

On another note, it’s a commentary on the anecdotes of aging. In America, aging it looked upon as a dreary, depressing process, the only benefit of it being the supposed gaining of wisdom. However, jokes like these allow us to laugh at the process of aging and make light of the situation. This is also another type of “catch riddle” where the punchline is not what the listener expects.