Tag Archives: humor

Go Tile the Sea!

Nationality: Lebanese
Age: 47
Occupation: Mother
Residence: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Performance Date: February 21st, 2023
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English

Original: روح بلط البحر

Transliteration: Rooh Balit El Baher

Translation: Go tile the sea!

The informant is one of my Lebanese family members who was raised in Lebanon by parents who had lived there for the entirety of their lives and has knowledge of the type of language that is said on daily basis in the culture.

Context:

The informant describes the saying to be a “nasty-phrased comment that is usually said by the elder women of the family.” She states “that they are saying this to their husbands or men of the household that ask for unreasonable demands in the household that the wife is unable to provide.” and that this is a statement that is taken in an insult-like manner to those who might rarely hear it in public, however, she says that “it is typically said at home to close family in order to not allow people to take offence to the phrase”. The informant summarises the interaction when she states that “It is usually meant to tell the men of the household to ‘f**k off’ in a ladylike manner” as she asserts that they go tile the endless ocean floor which is ironic as it is impossible.

Analysis:

There is a comedic factor in the saying as it is a statement that allows the women of the household to mock or make fun of the men. This can possibly be taken from Lebanese culture as women are still known to take care of the children in the household today and must maintain the state of the household whilst the men are working externally. Therefore, this allows women to assert their voice in the household whilst remaining reputable and adding the comedy of impossibly demanding that the men go “tile the sea [floor]” just as they feel the pressure of the household and cannot take any more demands. The private part of the statement also allows the family to feel closer as it is a statement that can only be said to those related in order to not seem like a sinister individual and build their bonds as she asserts her dominance in the household. The endless sea floor might also indicate that the wife’s role as a mother and caretaker is as much work and complex as tiling the bottom of the ocean.

Jewish One Liners

Nationality: Israeli
Age: 77
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Delaware
Performance Date: 2022
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

Background:

The informant is my grandfather, who spent most of his teens in 1950’s and 60’s New York City. He is Jewish, and grew up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, immersing himself deep into the lore and sardonic nature of Jewish, New York humor.

Context:

These are some jokes my grandfather has told me to me over and over since I could walk. There’d be many times at family functions and events that we’d be talking and he’d break into a tirade of “Jewish jokes,” flinging out one-liners and jokes from Henny Youngman, Sid Caesar, and jokes he heard on the sidewalks in the city growing up. My grandfather told me that he and his friends would go for hours, cracking joke after joke like rapid fire, imitating the comedians on the radio.

Main Piece:

A doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn’t pay his bill. The doctor gave him another six months.

I broke my leg in two places. The doctor told me to stop going to those places.

My dad was the town drunk. Usually that’s not so bad, but in New York City?

Thoughts:

These one-liners were always my favorite jokes growing up. For me, they were my first impression of an era of post-WWII America immortalized by films and television: New York City in the mid-20th century. This was a time where many immigrants were coming to the United States and establishing identities for their communities in this new land. My grandfather moved to a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in the city after his family emigrated from Israel. Many of the jokes he heard and told with his friends during his time growing up there formed the backbone of the Jewish identity in New York City. These jokes are quick, witty, and overly masochistic. The Jewish people suffered greatly in Europe in the prior decades, and now they were forced to try and assimilate to a foreign country. These one-liners are almost a coping mechanism for the Jewish people, as they learn to laugh at pain and misfortune. A broken leg is certainly not as severe as the Holocaust, yet it mimics the misfortune and shares the experience with companions when the joke is told to a group of friends hanging out in a schoolyard.

Bake Your Own Cookie

Background provided by NN : NN was born and raised in Southern California. They were raised in a Chinese-American household and experienced many different forms of folklore. 

Context: NN was approached about folklore, they conveyed it through a telephone call. NN says that her father tells this tale whenever they are lazy. They also revealed that this particular folklore had evolved to be a joke after they learned how to cook and bake. 

Main Piece Transcription of interview (contains the context of particular performance and additional background information):

NN: “ So … like … my dad tells me this story … ALL the time. He usually tells me … when he thinks I am being … lazy, or whatever. The story kinda … always begins … with “There was once a rich man” (accompanied by air quotes) who had … like everything done for him. He never had to … umm … lifted a finger … like AT ALL. Servants … wiped his butt, like … fed him,  they did everything for him. (Pauses for effect) One, day, after he got married his, ummm … wife had to … like … uhh … visit her family for the … the … holiday. She baked her husband  a large cookie, and like put in on … a … string  and put it on around his neck. AND she left to visit her family … for … like a week. When she came back home,  she …  her husband was dead.  Like … he was in the same position … like when she left him … and like the cookie around his neck was not eaten. He was too lazy … to even lift the cookie … to like … eat … so he died. My dad would always say something, like … (deepens voice to imitate their father) “See … work won’t kill you, but being lazy will. Do you want to have someone bake your cookie for you … or what.” 

Analysis: This particular short story is has morbid humor. The laziness of the man is obviously dramatized to highlight the importance of hard work. It seems like the story is told orally and had even evolved into a joke amongst close family members. The moral of the story remains despite the context of the perfomance. It also acts as a representation of Chinese values. The lazy man can also be interpreted as subtle commentary on the partriarchal society. The wife had provided substance for her husband, but his choice led to his own demise. Another interesting layer to this tale is the financial component; the lazy man had never done anything for himself because he had the financial means to outsource all his tasks. This tale could have originated from the working-class as way of encouraging their chidren to embrace work instead of focusing on the scarcity of money.

Yo Mama Jokes

Yo mama so fat she has gravitational pull (laughs). 

Yo mama so old, her wrinkles have wrinkles. 

Context:

The informant is a college student explaining jokes that they know, bringing up a particular type of joke they would frequently do with their brother.  

Personal Thoughts:

This joke is an interesting piece of folklore as it is a part of a specific genre of jokes that have become very popular in folk communities, particularly Gen Z folk communities. While the jokes are typically short, they follow the same structure, using an insult as a way to be humorous. From this, one can also gather that there is particular importance placed on the mother, and by insulting one’s mother, that is a worse thing to do than insulting the recipient of the joke. Thus, by having this specific structure of joke, it is able to continue on in new ways, as people repeat the joke with new insults, allowing for multiplicity and variation. 

North Dakaton German-Russian Common Saying

Text

Original Script: “Hasch Hunger? Schlupf in e Gagumer”

Transliteration: “Have hunger? Slip in a Cucumber”

Translation: “Experiencing hunger? Climb in a Cucumber”

*Note, because this saying is dependant on the German-Russian word “hunger” rhyming with “gagumer,” it’s difficult to produce a “natural-sounding” English translation.

Context

The country of Germany as we now know it is of course a relatively modern sovereign state. Prior to the unification of the German states in the late 19th century, Germany existed as a myriad of different “mini-states” all with their own governing bodies and economic models. Unfortunately, this led to many Germans becoming demoralized due to religious, economic, and political hardships, and many emigrated to Russia in the 18th and 19th century. To make try and make the historical background as succinct as possible, many of these Germans living in Russia were eventually forced to leave Russia, with many settling in the northern plains of the United States.

This was the case for my ancestors on my mom’s side of the family, with my great-great grandparents settling in North Dakota. In North Dakota, there’s a heavy concentration of German-Russians living within the state, who through a combination of their prior ethnic and national heritage, as well as an amalgamation of their new American life created a unique culture and folklore. Because of the many years that many Germans spent in Russia, a mixed language emerged, that’s definitely rooted in German but contains many elements of Russian influence.

My informant heard this common saying many times growing up, usually from her mother. It’s a common saying for German-Russians living in North Dakota that’s given when somebody – usually a child – expresses hunger at a time not meant for eating. It’s a rhyme, that translated from German-Russian basically says “experiencing hunger? climb into a cucumber.” The nonsensicalness of the rhyme is meant to be a quick retort to somebody being annoying in their request to be fed. My informant also used this saying throughout her life with her own kids as well. When asked about how she would interpret the saying, she laughed and told me that there was “no deeper meaning to the saying.” It’s simply a rhyming phrase that’s quick and easy to say.

My Analysis

My analysis of this common North Dakotan saying basically mirrors my informant’s. It’s a quick retort that rolls off the tongue when one is busy with something else, and another person is being cumbersome in their declarations of hunger or requests to eat at an ill-opportuned time. The “simpleness” of the saying is the basis of the saying.

This humorous saying can also be found in Dr. Shirley Fischer Arend’s collection on North Dakotan culture.

Arends, Shirley Fischer. The Central Dakota Germans: Their History, Language, and Culture, SFA Publishing, United States, 2016, pp. 193–193.