My informant is a 30-something-year-old Marine Corps vet who lives in the Inland Empire and owns an HVAC business. I called him on the phone because I know that in the Marine Corps little Johnny jokes are very popular. I asked the marine vet to tell me about his favorite little Johnny Joke. There is no exact location for this joke because Marines move all over the country/world for duty stations; but he said he heard this joke at Camp Pendleton, Ca.
Informant: This is a joke I heard in the Marine Corps,
Little Johnny and his grandpa are going on a fishing trip, and as they’re driving down the road, Little Johnny’s grandpa pulls out a cigarette. Little Johnny sees his grandpa smoking a cigarette, leans over and says, Hey, hey, Gramps, you think I could get one of them cigarettes? His grandpa looks over at Little Johnny, thinks about it, and says, well, I don’t know, Little Johnny, can your dick touch your butthole? Little Johnny looks at him a bit confused and says, no. So Gramps says, I guess you’re not old enough. So, they get to the lake and they start fishing. A little while out there on the lake and Johnny’s grandpa gets a little thirsty, so he opens up a beer, starts drinking a beer. Little Johnny leans in and says, Hey Gramps, you think I could have one of those beers? Gramps says, Well, I don’t know, Little Johnny. Can your dick touch your butthole? Little Johnny says, no, it can’t. Grandpa says, well, I guess you’re not old enough. Little while later goes on and Little Johnny gets hungry, so he pulls out the lunch that his mom made him, pulls out his cookies and starts eating some cookies. His grandpa leans in and says, Hey, Little Johnny, do you think I could get one of those cookies? Johnny says, well, I don’t know, Grandpa. Can your dick touch your butthole? His grandpa sits up very proud and says, Why, yes, it can. So Johnny says, good, go fuck yourself. These are my cookies.
Interviewer: That is a good one. Why do you think marines like little Jonny Jokes?
Informant: I dont know, they tend to be like inappropriate jokes kinda vulgar seems like a good fit with marines i guess.
Analysis: Little Johnny jokes are about a mischievous and clever child character who loves to challenge authority with intelligence and humor. The recurring theme of a child character outsmarting an authority is fits well in military environments like the Marine Corps, where daily life is heavily structured around rank and authority. Marines are constantly moving between different duty stations where these stories and jokes are shared orally around the ashtray or “smoke pit” helping Little Johnny spread quickly all across the world. The humor also reflects a cultural pattern common in military settings where irreverent or shocking jokes help build camaraderie. Marines operate within strict hierarchies, jokes that symbolically flip authority figures or make them look foolish become a way to release stress and hostility between the ranks.
Splitting the Pole (walking)
Main Text:
Superstition: Splitting the Pole
Background on Informant:
My informant is a 20-year-old who was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and is currently serving in the United States Air Force stationed in Ramstein Air Base, Germany. We know each other through a Counter-Strike Discord group. I asked him about any superstitions he believes in or practices, and he brought up the idea of “splitting the pole.” He explained that he first learned this superstition from a friend in elementary school, and that his friend had learned it from his parents.
Text:
Interviewer: Do you believe in any superstitions?
Informant: Yeah, splitting the pole when walking because it’s bad luck.
Interviewer: Splitting the pole—can you explain what that means?
Informant: When you’re walking with someone and there’s a pole or sign, you have to go on the same side as them, or it’s bad luck.
Interviewer: Where did you first learn that?
Informant: One of my friends told me when I was around 9 years old.
Interviewer: Do you know where it came from?
Informant: Not really, I think his parents told him.
Interviewer: Why is it considered bad luck?
Informant: Because it kind of means you’re separating from the person you’re with. It’s like symbolic of your relationship with them.
Analysis:
This superstition is a form of customary folklore because it’s a behavior people follow in everyday life. It represents symbolic thinking, where physically separating around an object is believed to represent separation in a relationship. This connects to the idea of sympathetic magic where symbolic interaction can affect the outcome. The superstition is passed through both horizontal transmission, friend to friend, and vertical transmission, parent to child, which gives understanding to how these superstitions may persist over time. It also functions to promote social awareness, since following the superstition leads to a heightened sense of relational awareness leading to more of a considerate and cohesive experience.
Religious Riddles
Main text:
Religious riddles
Background on informant:
My grandmother is a deeply devout Christian whose faith is woven into her everyday life. Much of the folklore she shares is rooted in her faith, whether it’s Christian riddles or her love for worship music.
Informant: Ohh, I have a good one for you.
Interviewer: Ok, let me have it.
Informant: What is more powerful than God, more evil than the devil, all poor people have it, and if rich
people ate it, they would die?
Interviewer: I don’t know, what is more powerful than God?
Informant: NOTHING!
Interviewer: Ok..
Informant: Nothing….
Interviewer: Ohhhh I get it. Dang that’s a good one.
Informant: My congregation liked that one too.
Analysis: This riddle does more than just make you think, it’s a way for my grandma’s faith community to reinforce their belief in their community values centralized around God’s power. In class, we talked about how folklore keeps group values alive, this is something fun that also reminds everyone that nothing tops God. So, through a simple riddle, they’re passing down what they believe, in a clever and engaging way that wont be forgotten.
Ancestral Lucky Bracelet Norse
Main Text:
Material Folklore: Lucky Charm Bracelet
Background on Informant:
My informant is a 40-year-old student from California. I know him from discord and we play video games together. He told me about his lucky family bracelet that his Norwegian grandmother gave him.
Interviewer: What is the object, and what does it look like?
Informant: It’s a bracelet made of round stones on a strip of leather.
Interviewer: Where did you get it?
Informant: It was a gift from my grandmother, passed down from her grandfather.
Interviewer: Who told you it was lucky?
Informant: My grandmother told me it has been passed down for generations, and when I wear it, I have all my ancestors looking out for me.
Interviewer: What ethnicity are you?
Informant: Norwegian
Interviewer: So like Viking Norse tradition?
Informant: Yeah, I guess but I don’t like worship Odin or anything.
Interviewer: When did you start believing it brought you luck?
Informant: When I started wearing it. I don’t know if it’s because I became more aware of my luck, or if it actually works.
Interviewer: Why do you think it brings luck?
Informant: I’ve noticed little things out of the ordinary happening consistently, and they usually benefit me.
Interviewer: Do you use it in specific situations?
Informant: No, I wear it every day.
Interviewer: What if it breaks it must be so old?
Informant: It has broken in the past the stones are the significant part, My Grandma said if it ever breaks to collect the stones and put them on a new strip of leather.
Interviewer: Do you feel different when you don’t have it?
Informant: Yeah, I feel kind of naked and vulnerable. I’ve gotten so used to having it I can’t even remember the last time I wasn’t wearing it.
Analysis:
This is an example of material folklore because it’s a physical object that has some meaning and is believed to bring luck and protection. The bracelet isn’t just something he wears, it represents a connection to his family and ancestors tied to Norse traditions. This ties into sympathetic magic, where an item can change outcomes based on its special properties it represents. The bracelet and belief were passed down through vertical transmission, since it was his grandmother who gave it to him. The fact that he says he feels naked or vulnerable without it shows how it functions as a source of comfort and protection.
That’s What She Said
Background on Informant:
My informant is a friend I went to high school with, who would be considered a millennial. He is in his mid-thirties, works as a longshoreman, and spends a lot of his free time playing video games. He is also a fan of The Office. Since high school, he has regularly used a phrase that can turn an ordinary sentence into a sexual one, commonly known as “that’s what she said.”
Text:
Interviewer: Alright, so you have been saying that’s what she said since high school. Where did you hear it first, and what does it mean?
Informant: *laughs* It’s just when someone says something normal and you turn it into something sexual, like if someone says this is really hard, you just go, that’s what she said.
Interviewer: Where did you hear it first?
Informant: The Office….. or school, but I know that the Office definitely made it stick.
Interviewer: So you heard it a lot in school too?
Informant: Oh yeah in the early 2000’s everyone was saying it.
Interviewer: Do you still use it a lot?
Informant: Yeah, its almost like an addiction now, if I hear anything even remotely sexual, its like a compulsion at this point.
Interviewer: Do you still hear other people say it?
Informant: Yeah, but not nearly as much, now when someone else says it, I get excited, *chuckles* like we are long lost family or something.
Interviewer: So when someone else knows your phrase or joke you get excited?
Informant: Yeah, its like we are on the same team or something.
Analysis:
This joke or phrase is verbal folklore that relies on shared cultural knowledge. The Main group for this phrase is millennials, as it became widely popular through the hit television show The Office, although that is not its origin. The show made it more popular and then it was repeated and shared through peer-to-peer or horizontal transmission. He describes the phrase as a compulsion, like an itch he must scratch, this demonstrates how repeated use of folkloric terms can embed themselves into regular speech. The joke relies on timing and capitalizing on the opportunity to turn a simple sentence into a sexual one. He mentioned that when he hears someone else say it, he gets excited, which shows how the phrase causes a sense of connection or cohesion within the folkloric group. Although it isn’t used as much, it still holds meaning within the groups that still use it. This is a really great example of how something that started mass marketed ended up working its way into a small niche group of people who now use it.