Tag Archives: Joke

There’s No Crying in Baseball

Nationality: American
Occupation: Real Estate Investment and Development
Residence: Rancho Santa Fe, California
Language: English

Informant: “It comes from the movie A League of Their Own, the professional girl’s baseball league, created in World War 2 because the major and minor leaguers went off to fight in the war. Starring Tom Hank as the manager, one of the girls on the team was crying, and he said ‘there’s no crying in baseball.’ ‘Playing baseball is hard. It’s the hard that makes it great. If it was easy, everyone would do it.’ She was crying because he yelled at her. That’s kind of the background. I used it because you guys were younger, and you’d get upset about something, so I’d say there’s no crying in baseball. What I meant by that is: ‘This isn’t worth being upset about. It’s over; its ok; you learn from your mistake, and life goes on.”

Context: I asked my father about this line that he used to say a lot when I was younger. He was coaching me at the time, and as young kids do, I would cry sometimes if I got hurt. As such, he would tell me this to calm me down and keep me in a positive mindset. As he mentioned, it is from a movie about an all-women baseball league, and the line is pretty funny in context, especially when you consider how baseball is a very traditional and male-dominated sport. Tom Hanks chews out a woman on his team who had just made an error, and she starts crying, to which he responds: “Are you crying? There’s no crying in baseball.” Ever since my dad first said that I have repeated the line without knowing where it came from, and I have also heard other coaches or older men who like baseball repeat this saying.

Analysis: I think this line reflects a great deal about both the culture and attitudes surrounding baseball. Baseball has a very traditional culture, and fans of the sport tend to place a lot of value on appearances. Whether that be displaying sportsmanship or refraining from celebrating too hard on a good hit, most of this culture revolves around traditionally masculine ideas like not displaying too much emotion. I believe this is the core reason behind my father’s adoption of the saying. He found it funny, but he also wanted to instill the values of baseball that he found important. You don’t talk trash, you don’t disrespect the umpire, and you definitely don’t cry. Additionally, he wanted me to be good at the game and mentally resilient. This phrase, in my dad’s mind, served as an attempt to reframe baseball, or whatever task is at hand, as a fun challenge. However, this use of the phrase differs from what it meant in the movie, where it was less light-hearted, in my opinion.

“Meet Me at the Airport, We’re Going to Tahiti”

Nationality: American
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired

Informant Information:

Age: 63

Date of Performance: 2/18/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Retired

Primary Language: English

Residence: Alameda, California

Text:

“Meet me at the airport, we’re going to Tahiti.”

Context:

The informant, a native of Berkeley, California, has faced significant family hardships, including her mother’s sudden health crisis, her son’s chronic illness, and her brother’s child being diagnosed with autism. During particularly stressful moments, she and her siblings would jokingly text each other, saying, “Meet you at the airport, let’s go to Tahiti” or “I’m going to Tahiti right now, come join me.” This became their way of signaling that they had reached an emotional breaking point and needed a mental escape.

Analysis:

The metaphorical idea of escaping to Tahiti, an idyllic vacation destination, served as a form of humorous escapism for the informant and her family. By inviting each other to “meet at the airport” and “go to Tahiti,” they created a shared symbolic refuge—a way to momentarily detach from their struggles without actually leaving.

Tahiti, often associated with paradise and relaxation, represented the fantasy of escaping life’s burdens and finding peace. By extending this imaginary invitation, the informant and her siblings not only acknowledged their shared hardships but also reinforced their emotional support for one another. This expression worked simultaneously as a joke and coping mechanism that allowed them to communicate distress, offer solidarity, and maintain their bond through humor, despite adversity.

Folk Joke: “Make Sure You Get to the Back 40”

Age: 73
Occupation: Retired
Language: English

Informant Information:

Age: 73

Date of Performance: 2/26/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Retired

Primary Language: English

Residence: Alameda, California

Text:

“Make sure you get to the back 40.”

Definition:

Back 40 – A term referring to the undeveloped or uncultivated portion of a farm, often a hypothetical 40 acres, symbolizing overlooked or less glamorous responsibilities.

Context:

The informant’s parents, who grew up on large farms in the rural South during the Great Depression, frequently used this phrase even after moving to a more urban, middle-class area of Mississippi. The informant’s mother, for example, would say this to the father while they had a family lunch in their relatively small, half-acre yard. Despite no longer living on a large farm, the parents continued to use this folksy expression as a nod to their agricultural roots.

Analysis:

The humor stems from the irony that the informant’s family no longer had a literal “back 40” to tend, having moved to a smaller suburban lot. Yet, the phrase remained a lighthearted reminder not to overlook their less obvious or neglected responsibilities. In essence, “make sure you get to the back 40” playfully urges attention to what might otherwise be forgotten.

By using this phrase regularly, the informant’s parents preserved a cultural tradition, connecting their suburban life to their farming roots. The joke carried both nostalgia and irony, reinforcing their Southern agricultural heritage while simultaneously adapting to a new, more urban environment.

How much does it cost to get married?

Age: 20


Date of performance: 2/22/25


Nationality: Chinese


Occupation: Student


Primary Language: Chinese & English


Residence: United States

Joke:

Kid: Dad, how much does it cost to get married?

Dad: I don’t know, I’m still paying for it

Context:

Growing up, the interviewee, heard this phrase from listening to Chinese Soap Opera. They believe this joke plays on the stereotypical husband ‘hating’ his wife archetype and is commonly seen in old media. The interviewee interprets it as a dig towards a woman’s pricy needs and serves as a misogynistic comment towards wives in general.

Analysis:

While I agree with it serving as a misogynistic comment, I believe it might also play into the concept of marriage as a whole being an overwhelming price. May it be because of the wife’s choices/preferences or the cost of marriage as a whole, the whole act of having a marriage over the years has become a general burden on people’s wallets as we grow expensive tastes to accentuate our “love” for one another in physical form.

Let’s Rock ‘n Roll! – Joke

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Undergraduate Student at the University of Southern California
Residence: Icon Plaza Apartments in Los Angeles, CA
Language: Chinese

Text:

Let’s Rock ‘n Roll!

Context:

“We have this friend, [rREDACTED], who we met last year on set. He was DPing and one time before a shot, he said, ‘Okay guys. Let’s Rock ‘n Roll!’ We just thought it was so silly and corny because he just kept saying it: before starting a new shot, after breaks, and even outside of film contexts like before every ride at Disney Land. Sometimes we’d just be doing random stuff and he’d say ‘Let’s Rock ‘n Roll!’ and everyone will kinda groan in a teasing way. We now all quote him and our friend group’s name is ‘rock n roll.’ When someone uses ‘Let’s Rock ‘n Roll!’ ironically or unironically, we all know it’s kinda playing on his saying.”

Analysis:

“Let’s Rock ‘n Roll!” popularized with rock culture in the late 1900s and typically means “Let’s go have fun!” or “Let’s go!” The slang became more popular as it was commonly used in TV, shows, and radio. It makes sense that this friend would be well-aquainted with the phrase as he was a Director of Photography and their friend group consists of primarily University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts majors. It seems that the phrase originally started out as a proverb–based on modern icons–and eventually evolved in a joke on their in-group would understnad. Eventually, the joke seemed to progressed into a ritual where they say the phrase whenever the group does an activity regardless of this activity is “fun” or not.