Tag Archives: Joke

A Hair Past a Freckle

Text:

“When someone asks you the time and you don’t know what time it is because you’re not wearing a watch or don’t have your phone, my family always goes ‘Oh, it’s a hair past a freckle’ or ‘A freckle past a hair’. You use the two interchangeably just depending on whatever mood you’re in.”

Context:

OA is a 21-year-old American student at USC. She grew up in Washington. I asked her about any proverbs she knew of or sayings that were common to her. This proverb is used as a joke. “It’s something my dad did because his dad did it.”

Interpretation:

Family folklore is special because it identifies people who are in the group (your family), and those who are out of the group easily. Things that might not seem funny to outsiders could be incredibly funny to your family, or vice versa. These things can develop from specific moments, or their origins can be more fluid. My friend mentioned that this was something she says to her friends now as well, which shows that even folklore that originates as family-specific has the capacity to grow beyond families and enter into a more widespread usage. This specific proverb seems to be related to “it’s time for you to get a watch,” as it pokes fun at the person for not knowing the time and highlights our society’s reliance on time. Timeliness is very important in the United States, whereas in other cultures being on time isn’t as important. So, when someone doesn’t have a watch or isn’t aware of what time it is, people make fun of them because they should know what time it is in a society where time is everything. 

Fuck, I missed!

So, a plumber and a priest go golfing. The priest and the golfer drive up to the first hole, get all their stuff ready, get their clubs, they stand up, got their club in hand. The plumber’s up first. He goes to swing, looks at the ball, gets focused, tests for wind, stares at the hole, brings back his golf club, swings! And he misses completely, and screams out, “Fuck, I missed!”. And the priest says, “Oh, sir please, I wanted to have a good time with you, I wanted to come out here with you and play golf. Those words really make me uncomfortable, and I’d really prefer if you just didn’t say them.” So, the plumber’s like “:Oh yes, yes of course I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry priest.” So, he lines up his second shot. Club on the ground, in front of the ball, he’s got a big back swing … misses by a mile! And he says, “Fuck, I missed.” And the priest says “Sir! These words are against my faith. Please, please don’t continue with this, I can’t take it, I won’t still be out here with you.” And he says “Oh, I’m so sorry father, I’m so sorry, I really, I’ll stop.” Takes his golf club in hand, really focuses on this one, really lines this one up, he will never miss this one, swings it back … misses farther than he’s ever missed before, and he screams out, “Fuck! I missed!” And suddenly, clouds, dark looming clouds appear over the horizon, and these low, mumbling, growls of thunder, and suddenly lightning comes down, strikes and kills the priest! And you hear this loud, growling voice booming from the sky. “Fuck! I missed!”

Background: My informant recalls being told this joke by her dad, with whom she did not have a good relationship with and who she believes told it to her in an attempt to maintain his image of being fun and cool in front of his children.

Context: My informant first told me this joke in a one-on-one conversation when it was dying down, and reports that she usually says it when a conversation is stagnating.

My thoughts: I thought this joke was very funny when I first heard it, being from a Christian background myself, although it is unclear where my informant’s father heard it, as neither she nor any of her family has ever been Christian. In my interpretation, this joke pokes fun at how pious and up-tight clergy are, both by showing the priest’s annoying tendency to censor the other golf player, and by demonstrating God making the same sort of mistake (and the same sin of foul language) that the plumber makes.

Wife Joke

This, uh, lady was asking her-her husband that, uh, “which one do you like more, do you love more? A pretty woman or an educated woman?” And he says …“none of them, I love you”. (laughter) 

Context:

The speaker was sharing a joke to their family after everyone was each sharing a joke they thought was funny. As the speaker spoke, they paused at the end, making sure there was an emphasis on the punchline. 

Personal Thoughts:

This is a very interesting joke to dissect, as it not only is structured in a way to have a humorous punchline, but it also can be used to understand gender roles. The structure itself leads up to the punchline in a way that subverts audience expectations. Rather than the husband picking between the two, he essentially chooses neither, which leads him to imply that his wife is neither pretty nor educated. What this does, is also reveal how gender norms are regarded with this joke. In this case, the wife asking if her husband prefers beauty or education shows that there is a pressure for women to be one or the other, and that men may have a preference. By the husband responding that his wife is neither, it is essentially making a point that the wife did not achieve either goal that society places on her, meaning that she would not be seen as the “ideal” wife in Western culture. That being said, an optimistic view of this joke could interpret that the husband does not care for either and his wife is someone special to him. However, by looking at the sexist gender roles placed in this joke, it is making a point about what Western society views as important for women to have, and to not have that makes them a “joke”, as shown by this specific joke. 

Donkey Joke

A guy has a donkey and he uses, like, a car and he goes to the market a-and he puts rice, and you know and everything from the market on the donkey’s back. But as their walking the donkey’s just like super tired, so then he feels bad for the donkey, so he’s like “oh I’ll alleviate the weight for him” so he picks the donkey up and carries him up. (Quiet laughter)

Context:

For this performance, the speaker announced that they had a joke to share, although they jokingly insisted that it was “not a very good joke”. Nonetheless, there was quiet laughter after the joke was said. 

Personal Thoughts:

This is a joke with a unique structure, having a bit more length to it than other Western jokes. The punchline is also not as direct, focusing more on having the audience think about the punchline than it be directly said. The joke’s punchline focuses on the man taking a completely different route to get to the same conclusion, which is in this case, alleviating pain from the donkey. That being said, this is where the core of the humor of this joke is, as the humor is not in visualizing a man picking up a donkey, but the fact that the man thinks to carry the donkey rather than remove items. It is interesting to see how this joke translates in a room with many non-American audience members, as this joke heavily relies on understanding the irony in the language, which might explain the quiet laughter rather than a laugh-out-loud moment that would indicate that the joke is understood. 

Persian Taarof Joke

Alright so, um, this lady is pregnant. And you know, she is obviously gonna be due in 9 months. But you know when the 9 months pass, no baby arrives. They wait one month, nothing happens. 2 months, nothing happens. SIX months, no baby. Seven years, at some point there- we have to see what’s inside. So they go in the surgery and they open her up and they see two old men being like “No you go first”, “No you go first!”, “No you go first!”, “No you-” (laughter). 

Context:

The speaker, who is of Persian descent, is in a room with their family-friends, many of whom are also Persian. This joke is in reference to a typical Persian practice of taarof, which is essentially the back-and-forth between two individuals out of politeness for the other person. 

Personal Thoughts:

The joke landed very well in the room, which can be deduced from the fact that it was very culturally relevant to the folk community in the room. This joke has a very specific punchline that, while funny on its own, has an added layer for those that understand the concept of taarof. The joke is able to reflect how important taarof is in Persian society and how it is so common that a joke like this can be easily understood by a Persian audience. The punchline shows how the two babies are practicing taarof from the start, to the point where they cannot even get out of the womb. One can gather from this that taarof is also something that is understood from a young age, as this specific joke is making fun of the fact that it is so ingrained in the culture, to the point where it starts off when people are children. What is really interesting about this joke is how it can reveal so much, just by the punchline. There is a clear understanding that politeness is highly regarded in Persian society, where it is commonly practiced. Thus, if someone where to hear this joke from an outside perspective, even if they do not practice taarof or know the term, they can understand that there is cultural significance to being polite.