Tag Archives: Joke

“Time For Black Folks to Get Their Own Nation”

Performance Date: February 14th

B is a Black student at USC. In her free time, she enjoys dancing in a club on campus. B’s family is constantly joking around with each other. Her grandfather is credited with starting most of the proverbs, and her father adopted them.

Every time B’s father would ask B’s grandfather what time it was, he would answer, “It’s time for Black folks to get their own nation.” Now, B’s father answers the same way when B asks what time it is. B has adopted the saying as well, but she only responds with the proverb when another Black person asks her what time it is.

Family folklore is a special type of folklore because it connects a group of people together, and especially with B’s family, a lot of their family folklore is derived from their experience as Black Americans. According to B, her grandfather considers himself a “blackologist”. A lot of the proverbs made in B’s family are centered around empowering Black people, which is why her grandfather and father answer time related questions with “time for Black folks to get their own nation”. Time is an important part of American folklore, and a lot of folk speech is created from it. There is a possibility this proverb comes from “time for you to get a watch”, which is used as a way to poke fun at the person asking. In this version, however, there is no poking fun or putting someone down. There is more of an empowering, community-centered response. The fact that this proverb has been passed through generations shows that there continues to be a link between timeliness in American folklore, and more specifically, race in American folklore.

Dad Joke

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 54
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “Write if you find work” 

Context: 

My dad told me that this is something his father would say to him every time he would leave the house for school in the morning, or really any time he went anywhere. He describes it as a depression era phrase, referencing how people had to leave their homes to find work in other cities, corresponding with their loved ones if they were successful. Obviously in this context, the phrase isn’t being used literally, but in a light humorous way. My dad was elementary and middle school age when he encountered this phrase, and certainly was not expected to go out and find a job to support his family. The phrase essentially served as a repeated dad joke during his childhood. 

Analysis:

The use of this phrase as it appeared throughout my dad’s childhood can be interpreted in a few ways. If we are looking at it through the lens of humor that relies on incongruence, the joke is relatively self explanatory. The incongruence here lies in the fact that it is not typical in modern Western society to task a young child with finding a job. There is also incongruence in using a phrase from the 20’s and 30’s over 40 years later, because the language doesn’t match the time period. The appeal behind incongruent humor is it is surprising and allows us to subvert societal norms in a risk free way. My grandfather’s use of the phrase in this context could just be a simple manifestation of this concept. Additionally though, it is important to note that the origin of the phrase in the Great Depression may hold some significance. My grandfather’s parents would have experienced the Great Depression firsthand, and I have been told they were relatively poor. My grandfather grew up in the rural midwest on a farm, and his upbringing was frugal and money conscious. These Depression anxieties likely would have been transmitted to my grandfather as a result. Jokes have historically served as an outlet for releasing anxiety, often by subverting the source of anxiety, or making light of it. It’s possible that my grandfather’s use of this phrase was to cope with and release anxieties about money and survival in a capitalist society. Turning this phrase into a joke told to a child, pokes fun at, and rejects the American capitalist belief that one should constantly be concerned with making money. It makes the idea of finding work light hearted, rather than urgent and necessary to survival. 

No Te hagas Que la Virgen Te Habla

Nationality: Mexian
Age: 47
Occupation: Caretaker
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: Feb 24, 2023
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Transliteration: Do not youtself make that the Virgin (Mary) is calling you

Translation: Don’t act dumb because the virgin is calling you

Explanation/ Context: My mom would often say this to my sisters and I, rhetorically when she was driving and someone upset her on the road. “Unas veces me enojaba tanto con los carros cuando las iba a dejar a la escuela… Lo escuché primero en México cuando era niña. No se de donde se viene.” After doing some digging (asking family members to translate), the saying is mostly applied to people who pretend to act dumb or as if they don’t know what’s going on.


Translation: “sometimes I would get so mad with the cars when I went to drop [you and your sisters] off at school… I heard it first in Mexico when I was a girl. I don’t know where it comes from though.

El Conono

Context:

M, 56 was born and grew up in Tijuana, Mexico. His father is from Baja California Sur, Mexico. The capital of this state is La Paz. The people that live in this region are known as ‘Choyeros’ and they have a very niche folklore.

Text:

“Esta es una historia real. ‘EL CONONO’ era un señor que tenía labio leporino (hablaba gangoso), y era muy conocido en La Paz en los años 50’s, 60’s,70’s. Vivía con sus padres aun siendo adulto; todos lo conocían, hacía favores, barría las calles, iba por mandado, etc.

Un día fue a la iglesia con su mamá y el padre de la iglesia le dijo por el micrófono de la iglesia: 

‘Hijo, Conono, hinqué a su mamá’ y Conono voltio a ver al padrecito y le contesta en voz alta, donde todos oyeron: ‘hinque a la suya padrecito…’!”

Translation:

This is a real story. ‘Conono’ was a man who had a cleft lip (he spoke nasally), he was very well known in La Paz in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. He lived with his parents well into adulthood; everyone in town knew him, he would do favors, sweep the street, run errands, etc. One day he went to church with his mom and the Church Father said through the microphone: “My son, Conono, ‘hinque’ your mom”; Conono loudly responded: “’hinque’ your own mom, Father!”.

Analysis:

This story is somewhat of a legend because it is known that Conono was a real person from La Paz (you can google him); however, it is also a joke. In Spanish, the word hinque has multiple meanings: one, to kneel or bow, the way the father was trying to use it; or another, to thrust or bend over. The joke here is basically that Conono misunderstood the Father’s instructions and thought that he was telling him to perform a sexual act with his mom, to which he told the Father to do it himself. It’s only funny in Spanish because those listening to the joke should be able to know what version of ‘hincar’ is being used in a certain setting. Naturally, a church would not be the appropriate place to make it sexual.

Akal!

Nationality: Lebanese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2/14/2023
Primary Language: English
Language: Arabic

My informant (18), from Lebanon, describes a joke he would play on his peers as a child. “Me and my cousins used to play it. It’s not a game, well it is a game, but it’s also a joke, where you would whisper something incomprehensive at like, let’s say around a group of people, and if [someone says] “What?” I go “Akal!” […] It means “You ate it!” And then it’s like a progressive game. And whoever can get it the most gets treated to dinner, or gets to do something, or gets a favor. Usually it’s the person who falls for it the most has to do something for whoever won it the most.”

“It’s a game that’s mostly played by the younger generation of course, it’s mostly played around families. It’s kind of a tradition, to mock somebody, make a joke of them.”

In this joke,  the teller proves their wisdom and the responder proves their foolishness. This suggests that intelligence is valued in these social group. Especially interesting is the gamification element of the joke: The fact that it is an extended game leads me to believe that this game could establish a sort of social hierarchy among the children in a family. This hierarchy between children in an extended family suggests that the connection of extended family is important in the culture, and that families gather often enough for this game to be maintained.