Tag Archives: Joke

Jokes – word play

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: Colorado
Performance Date: 02/20/23
Primary Language: English

Text:

“What are the strongest days of the week?”

            “Saturday and Sunday. The others are all weekdays.”

Context:

DT is an 18 year old from Southern California. He is currently living in Colorado while attending Colorado State University, Fort Collins. He loves telling silly jokes and, when he was younger, he even had books on jokes. This joke was told to me over the phone when I asked him for one of his favorite jokes that he had recently heard. It came from a friend of his that lives on his floor in his dorm. My informant’s friend is originally from Colorado.

Analysis:

This joke uses the homonyms “week” and “weak” to create word play. “Weekday” is used improperly to refer to the strength of the day. This play on words means the joke works better when told orally to someone rather than written out. Since the use of the words is the basis of the joke, it is likely that it only works in English. This points to the joke’s origin in an English speaking culture. It is also interesting that the two days of the week that are the “strongest” are the two days that most Americans (and other cultures) enjoy the most because they are traditionally the days off from school or work. It is also a joke with no inappropriate or crude humor.  This means it can be appreciated by children and adults alike. It can be told in many different settings to a wide variety of people and still be appreciated. Because of the nature of word play jokes, it is unlikely that it gets everyone who hears it laughing hysterically, but it is likely to produce some light chuckles from those who appreciate these types of jokes.

Joke – animal pun

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: student
Residence: Colorado
Performance Date: 2/20/23
Primary Language: English

Text:

“Why can’t a leopard hide?”

            “He’s always spotted.”

Context:

DT is an 18 year old who was born and raised in Southern California. He is currently attending Colorado State University, Fort Collins. He loves jokes almost as much as he loves animals. He told me this joke over the phone when I asked about what his favorite jokes were. He informed me that he originally heard this joke from one of his professors in an animal biology class.

Analysis:

This joke is interesting in a few ways. First, this joke uses homophones as its main tool. The use of the word “spotted” refers to two different meanings, both of which are engaged in the joke. Leopards are covered in small spots, but this word also refers to being seen because the leopard can’t hide. This joke is essentially a pun. It’s also interesting to note the complete falsity of the joke. It claims that leopards cannot hide well because of their spots, when in reality, their spotted nature helps them blend in tremendously well with their natural environment. Understanding this adds another layer of humor to the joke because it adds to the silliness. This joke was told in an academic setting in an animal biology class where many hearing it would probably understand the humorous inaccuracies, where if told to a person outside of this community, they might believe this to be an accurate joke.

Inevitable Adam & Eve

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

Original:

ادم سأل حوا: بتحبيني يا مرا

جاوبته حوا: ليش في غيرك يا خرا

Transliteration: 

Adam Sa’al Howaa’: Bit’hebeene ya mara?

Jawabat Howaa’: Laysh fi ghayrak ya khara?

Translation: 

“Adam asked Eve: Do you love me, woman?”

“Eve answered: Why? Is there anyone besides you, stupid?”

The informant is one of my family members who was raised in Lebanon by parents who spent the entirety of their lives there and gained an understanding of jokes that are told within households and gatherings.

Context:

The informant described this joke as “A very old joke told traditionally in men gathering as it’s too rude to be said in front of women out of respect” conveying that this was usually told in the public eye, yet not in front of women as it is seen as a ‘male joke’. She also stated that “They use this type of short funny jokes when men gather and drink Arak, the traditional Lebanese alcoholic drink” It is usually said by men that are older in age when choosing to discuss topics besides work and family as that was seen as “bad territory” when around family.

Analysis:

This type of male joke in Lebanese culture is most likely said in these environments to state dominance, however, in this instance, the joke refers to ‘Adam’ being the joke, therefore they are laughing at their own gender conveying that they feel safe in the space that they are in together and have developed a close bond. It is because of the irony in the story as the Christian religion encapsulates a large majority of the Lebanese population, therefore, using this type of humour allows the men to feel more connected culturally and see each other as a family. The story of Adam and Eve is most likely brought up to highlight the intimacy that a family might have with one another. However, this may be an allusion to arranged marriages as Lebanon and other arab countries have been known to use their children as transactions between businesses therefore the ‘inevitable relationship’ of Adam and Eve might have alluded to their forced marriages.

Joke/Riddle:How do you say pollo in English? And how do you say repollo in English?

Context: D also introduced me to this Spanish joke that they had learned from her childhood friends. D explained that “pollo” is chicken in Spanish, and “repollo” is cabbage in Spanish, so the joke is that people would answer chicken for the first question, and then rechicken for the second question. They told me that the joke would only make sense to people who were bilingual in both English and Spanish since it plays off of the similarities of both Spanish words and their English translations.

Analysis: After D explained the joke to me, I found it quite funny even though they thought it was silly since it was just a stupid joke they played on each other in grade school. It’s interesting how language works with jokes because they sometimes don’t work when translated. This actually reminded me of a joke that I heard from a family friend of mine that only bilingual people who speak both Mandarin and English would understand. You put up four fingers and ask the person what word you are putting up and they will usually respond with “four”. Then you bend your four fingers down and ask them again what word you are putting up and they usually get stumped, so you tell them that it’s “won-der-ful” putting emphasis on the “won” and pronouncing the “ful” similar to four. This is because the “won” sounds a lot like the mandarin word for bend is “弯”, so together it’s roughly translated to “bent four”. 

Two Jews, three opinions

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: student
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: 2/21/23
Primary Language: English

This joke comes from my sister, BZ, who converted to Judaism four years ago. 

Text:

A popular joke is “Two Jews, three opinions.” 

Context:

“This just means that Jews love to argue and debate so much that there are three opinions for every two Jews,” BZ said. “It is used when arguing and being silly.” She first heard this phrase used in “a Jewish arguing Facebook group.” She says she and her boyfriend, who is also Jewish, use this sometimes when they are arguing over things that aren’t very important. “I’m a very stubborn person with a lot of opinions so my boyfriend thinks it’s funny to say this to me when I’m ranting about something that doesn’t really matter.” 

Analysis:

I found this to be a fun and silly joke. I have heard harmful stereotypes about Jewish people being stubborn or even greedy in terms of their past as tax collectors in the Bible, so I think it’s nice that the Jewish community has kind of reclaimed their own stereotype and made it into a digestible inside joke to be enjoyed among themselves. I will say that I think this joke is best to be made by Jewish people, because I think if other groups use it, it enters back into the harmful stereotype category.