Category Archives: Humor

Chinese, Japanese, Look At These, Hit My Knees

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Queens, NY
Performance Date: April 17
Primary Language: English

“I had an ummm…. sort of racist I mean it was very racist, I think this might have been in the Devils Rejects, was it in the devil’s rejects? I think it was anyways I did the same thing as the people in the Devil’s Rejects did in elementary school… not murdering people… but this demented nursery rhyme… it went sort of like ‘Chinese, Japanese, look at these hit my knees*’ it was very racist and I think that’s why we did it and even the Japanese kids in our class did it…. ummmmm…. We knew it was bad and we did it anyways (laughs)”

*note the informant does motions with his hands when he says “Chinese” he stretches his eyes length wise, “Japanese” he stretches them width wise, “Look at these” he motions towards his chest as if to insinuate breasts, “Hit my knees” fairly self explanatory, the speaker hits his knees.

I found this one interesting because it’s a rhyme that’s clearly at the level where it’s made for kids. It’s very intentionally crude as sort of a taboo rhyme. It was a horrible non sensical thing to say but it whoever said it felt like they were breaking rules. This probably added to the fun of the rhyme.

Macalaster Joke

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: St. Paul, MN
Performance Date: 3/1/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Bengali

Informant Description/ Context of performance: My friend was telling me about her school’s unofficial chant that is a running joke amongst the student body.

Original Script:

Drink blood, smoke crack

Worship Satan

Go Mac!

 

Conclusion (written by Interviewer): This joke originated a few years ago and became pervasive across campus in Macalester. Now every student knows this running joke which serves as the unofficial chant for the school campus.

Mkulima

Nationality: Tanzanian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Tennessee
Performance Date: 03/07/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Kiswahili

Informant Description/ Context of performance: My friend grew up in Tanzania. This was a proverb that was very common from her mom’s village/ tribe. Her mom’s tribe is called Shagha, and her family dialect is Kimachame, which is a clan language. This joke has been told for several generations.

Original Script: Mkulima

Translation: You’re a farmer.

 

Conclusion (written by Interviewer): If a friend or neighbor comes to your house, as soon as you’re done cooking a meal, you call them a farmer because they come to reap your harvest. It suggests that they came just in the knick of time to get food. It is meant to be playful and mocking, sarcastic if anything. My friend says her mom would always say it, and then insist on her guest eating the food. Now, my friend always calls me farmer when I happen to walk into the apartment as she finishes making food. It is a running joke between us as well.

 

Hood Vulture

Age: 38
Occupation: None
Residence: None
Performance Date: April 11, 2017
Primary Language: English

My informant is Slim, a homeless man from downtown Los Angeles who often hangs out outside Spudnuts Donuts on Figueroa Street. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, never straying too far from the South Central area.

Hey Slim, do you have a joke for me?

Slim: “Um… yeah. Yeah, I know a joke. Uh… what do ya call a police helicopter in LA?”

I don’t know. What do you call a police helicopter in LA?

Slim: “Ya call it a hood vulture! They just… uh… flyin’ over lookin’ for some brothas to eat!”

Slim here illustrates what I would think many people growing up and living in South Central feel not only whenever they see a police helicopter in the sky but also whenever they see policemen on the ground in the city. Obviously, there are countless police brutality scandals that happen every year, and Slim’s joke represents what many of the subculture of inner-cities are worried about. When asked if South Central has its own culture, Slim replied, “Um… yeah. I would say definitely yeah. We have our own way to do things, I think.” So as a result, this joke comes to display the inner-city and, especially, the South Central mindset towards police.

Yellow Cow – The Brazilian Shut Up Song

Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 20
Residence: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: Portuguese
Language: English

Informant:

Ricardo is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and currently lives there “for 75 percent of the year.”

Original Script:

A vaca amarela fez cocô na Ranela,

quem balar primeiro come bodo o cocô dela.

Summary:

Ricardo: “It’s about a yellow cow that, like, took a shit in a pan (laughs), and whoever speaks first or next has to eat all her shit.”

Context:

Ricardo: “It’s a song you sing whenever you want everyone else to be quiet.”

My Thoughts:

To me, the way Ricardo describes the song is extremely funny. It’s a song, so I thought it would be something that kids would sing when they want everyone around them to be quiet, but the fact that there are curse words in it makes me think otherwise. I am sort of confused about who would be the people singing this song.