Category Archives: Humor

Shart Proverb

  1. (laughter) He thinks h…his shart is so good and smell that he sits in front of the wind. (more laughter)
  2. When one believes in their ridiculousness so much they will attempt to pass it on to others. 

Context:

The speaker had fun with this proverb when sharing it out loud, sharing it both as a way to be informative of what a Persian proverb can look like, but also laughing at how ridiculous it is. The closest translation that the speaker found (with help from their family who was present) was the word “shart”, which is what the speaker used when performing this proverb. The family of the speaker laughed at this proverb, finding the proverb itself funny and finding it also funny hearing it come from this specific speaker, who is much older and would not normally know the word “shart”. 

Personal Thoughts:

I find this to be a really fun proverb that I learned about, mainly because it is a very unexpected one to hear that has a profound meaning. While there is humor in the phrasing of the proverb, the main idea of how one can believe their own foolishness to great lengths that they would want to sit in it and spread it to others is something that can be globally understood. Proverbs, especially ones that have more humorous or exaggerated phrasing are very interesting in that they can relate to many greater ideas, and while this may be funny to hear even in context of a conversation, there is still something to be said about why it is important, particularly in Perisan culture. One can gather from this that there is cultural significance with humility and there it is highly regarded to be humble, rather than foolishly believe solely one’s own beliefs.  It should also be noted that Western notions of the Middle East tend to depict these cultures as very reserved and conservative, which this proverb shows the exact opposite of, using crude language to make a point about a larger matter, thus not only revealing cultural significance but also subverting Western stereotypes. 

Penguin Joke

“Where do penguins like to store their money?” 

“ Where?” 

“Snow banks” 

(laughter) 

Context:

The speaker was surrounded by their family and as everyone was going around sharing different jokes to make each other laugh, the speaker decided to share this one, which led to laughter in the room. 

Personal Thoughts:

This is a joke that uses a similar structure to many jokes in Western culture, leaning into the idea of “puns”. The speaker has a clear understanding of where this joke will go, and the audience may as well, as the punchline leads to an “Ohhh” reaction from the audience. However, what makes this joke effective in how it is passed along is that it is a fairly easy joke to remember, at least in an English-speaking context. There is a clear throughline, connecting money to penguins with the “snow banks” pun. This also follows the structure of Western jokes, with a set-up and punchline, as well as a call-and-response interaction with the audience. This specific joke, as well as jokes similar, are thus often passed around as audience members who interact with the joke can then pass it on themselves, leading to multiplicity and variation of this joke. 

Wife Joke

This, uh, lady was asking her-her husband that, uh, “which one do you like more, do you love more? A pretty woman or an educated woman?” And he says …“none of them, I love you”. (laughter) 

Context:

The speaker was sharing a joke to their family after everyone was each sharing a joke they thought was funny. As the speaker spoke, they paused at the end, making sure there was an emphasis on the punchline. 

Personal Thoughts:

This is a very interesting joke to dissect, as it not only is structured in a way to have a humorous punchline, but it also can be used to understand gender roles. The structure itself leads up to the punchline in a way that subverts audience expectations. Rather than the husband picking between the two, he essentially chooses neither, which leads him to imply that his wife is neither pretty nor educated. What this does, is also reveal how gender norms are regarded with this joke. In this case, the wife asking if her husband prefers beauty or education shows that there is a pressure for women to be one or the other, and that men may have a preference. By the husband responding that his wife is neither, it is essentially making a point that the wife did not achieve either goal that society places on her, meaning that she would not be seen as the “ideal” wife in Western culture. That being said, an optimistic view of this joke could interpret that the husband does not care for either and his wife is someone special to him. However, by looking at the sexist gender roles placed in this joke, it is making a point about what Western society views as important for women to have, and to not have that makes them a “joke”, as shown by this specific joke. 

Donkey Joke

A guy has a donkey and he uses, like, a car and he goes to the market a-and he puts rice, and you know and everything from the market on the donkey’s back. But as their walking the donkey’s just like super tired, so then he feels bad for the donkey, so he’s like “oh I’ll alleviate the weight for him” so he picks the donkey up and carries him up. (Quiet laughter)

Context:

For this performance, the speaker announced that they had a joke to share, although they jokingly insisted that it was “not a very good joke”. Nonetheless, there was quiet laughter after the joke was said. 

Personal Thoughts:

This is a joke with a unique structure, having a bit more length to it than other Western jokes. The punchline is also not as direct, focusing more on having the audience think about the punchline than it be directly said. The joke’s punchline focuses on the man taking a completely different route to get to the same conclusion, which is in this case, alleviating pain from the donkey. That being said, this is where the core of the humor of this joke is, as the humor is not in visualizing a man picking up a donkey, but the fact that the man thinks to carry the donkey rather than remove items. It is interesting to see how this joke translates in a room with many non-American audience members, as this joke heavily relies on understanding the irony in the language, which might explain the quiet laughter rather than a laugh-out-loud moment that would indicate that the joke is understood. 

Persian Taarof Joke

Alright so, um, this lady is pregnant. And you know, she is obviously gonna be due in 9 months. But you know when the 9 months pass, no baby arrives. They wait one month, nothing happens. 2 months, nothing happens. SIX months, no baby. Seven years, at some point there- we have to see what’s inside. So they go in the surgery and they open her up and they see two old men being like “No you go first”, “No you go first!”, “No you go first!”, “No you-” (laughter). 

Context:

The speaker, who is of Persian descent, is in a room with their family-friends, many of whom are also Persian. This joke is in reference to a typical Persian practice of taarof, which is essentially the back-and-forth between two individuals out of politeness for the other person. 

Personal Thoughts:

The joke landed very well in the room, which can be deduced from the fact that it was very culturally relevant to the folk community in the room. This joke has a very specific punchline that, while funny on its own, has an added layer for those that understand the concept of taarof. The joke is able to reflect how important taarof is in Persian society and how it is so common that a joke like this can be easily understood by a Persian audience. The punchline shows how the two babies are practicing taarof from the start, to the point where they cannot even get out of the womb. One can gather from this that taarof is also something that is understood from a young age, as this specific joke is making fun of the fact that it is so ingrained in the culture, to the point where it starts off when people are children. What is really interesting about this joke is how it can reveal so much, just by the punchline. There is a clear understanding that politeness is highly regarded in Persian society, where it is commonly practiced. Thus, if someone where to hear this joke from an outside perspective, even if they do not practice taarof or know the term, they can understand that there is cultural significance to being polite.