Author Archives: Genevieve Marino

Hebrew Racing Joke

אני נהג מרוצים כי אני הנהג ואתם המרוצים

Phonetic Translation: A-nee na-HAGh me-roo-TSEEM kee A-nee ha-na-HAGh ve-a-TEM ha-me-roo-TSEEM

L: which means I’m a race car driver because I’m the driver and you’re the pleased people. It is a pun that works in Hebrew and not at all in English. I guess because race and fulfilled are the same.

Context

Both of the informant’s parents were born in Israel and they speak in Hebrew together as a family. The informant claims to have heard this joke from their Grandfather.

Analysis

As the informant pointed out, this joke is based on a play on words that calls attention to the homonym מרוצים, which means both satisfied and race. Jokes that involve a play on words are often used to communicate wit and mastery of a language. In the case of Hebrew, a language that is so uncommon, it might be even more important to be able to demonstrate such mastery.

That’s my Jawn

Text

“Jawn” – slang term used to mean friend as in “That’s my Jawn.”

Context

Informant grew up in Philadelphia, and used this folk slang to refer to friends. They suggested that this slang word might be specific to Philadelphia.

Analysis

The term ‘Jawn’ appears to be the version of the name John filtered through the accent associated with the region of Philadelphia. This is reminiscent of the name ‘John Doe’ that is often used in place of an unknown name in the US. In this way, Jawn could be a version of John, which is being used in place of an unnamed person.