“What do you get when you breed an elephant and a rhino?”

“Elephino.”

My informant heard this joke from his counselor at Catalina Island Marine Institute when he was twelve.  He has been going to this camp every summer since he was eight, so he is very close with this campmates and his counselors.  At the end of the day, Grant’s group at camp would gather around inside whomever’s cabin was the biggest and share jokes or other funny things they knew.  On one of the days, my informant’s counselor shared this joke.

Grant believes this joke is funny because the answer to the question is a mix between the words “elephant” and “rhino,” and it is also a play on words on the phrase “hell if I know.”

This joke has no age restrictions.  It can be told by anyone to anyone, but it is probably funnier for pre-teens or early teenagers because of the use of the word “hell” which is considered a bad word to younger audiences.  Using the word “hell” in the joke makes it almost taboo for young teenagers.

I believe this joke is popular among teenagers and blue collar workers who are not well-educated and use slang.  The phrase “hell if I know” is commonly used among teenagers and blue collar workers or the lower class, which means this joke is probably more popular among these groups than it would be in the middle- or upper-class.