Tag Archives: children’s joke

Perica i roda (Perica and the stork)

Nationality: Croatian, American
Age: 49
Occupation: water polo referee
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 14/9/2017
Primary Language: Croatian
Language: English

TK is my dad and he likes jokes. It was a part of his culture growing up and he always likes to have a nice laugh.

 

Every summer we my family and I would go to Iž for our vacation. Iž is an island in Croatia. Usually to pass time in the car on our way there we play games, tell jokes and on one of those rides he told us this one.

 

Perica and his mom are on their way to the zoo. While in the car Perica asks:

“Mama, will we see the stork in the zoo?”

His mom answers:

“Of course Perice.”

All happy and with a smile on his face Periсa replies:

“Great! I wonder if he will recognize me!”

 

This joke is funny because of the fact that storks are associated with delivering babies. Many children get siblings before they are ready for “The Talk” but their curious nature means parents have to tell them something. Because of their long history associated with babies and family, storks are an easy story to tell kids sometimes. Perica wondering will the stork recognize him because he is all grown up now and not a baby anymore as when the stork supposedly delivered him to his parents. I like this joke because it is appropriate for all generations and proves that it doesn’t have to have offensive language or be insulting to be funny.

Planetary Fun

Nationality: American
Age: 14
Occupation: Student
Residence: Sunnyvale, California
Performance Date: March 2013
Primary Language: English

“Your mom is so fat, she plays pool with the planets.”

The informant heard this joke during recess. Boys his age were trading jokes on the playground. Their juvenile jokes were not meant to be taken seriously as personal insults to each other’s mothers; rather, they were meant as non-unique, verbal teasing following the popular format of the “your mom” type of joke. The boys did not have specific targets for their teasing in mind. Instead, they shared humorous remarks that utilize blanket insults that could be applied to any target, regardless of personal qualities of the intended recipient. This type of joke telling with the “your mom” format seems limited to only children. They seemed to have performed these jests in a lighthearted spirit of fun. Moreover, this activity of swapping jokes allows for their social bonding through laughter.