Camouflage Pun

As we’ve discussed on previous shows, one difficult aspect of learning a second language is adapting to humor that involves plays on words. They are also called puns.  The appropriate way to receive a pun when it is told is to pretend you didn’t think it was funny.  You may stare at the pun-teller or even let out a groan (unnnhh!).  We don’t want to give punsters credit for clever wordplay, but usually we end up smiling or even laughing.  Here is a clever wordplay that most Americans would chuckle over.  The question: is it funny to you?

I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day, but I couldn’t find any. 

What's So Funny?

Do you know about camouflage clothing?  Those clothes are worn by hunters or soldiers who want to blend in with their surroundings in order to stay unseen.  

Here, a soldier wears camouflage gear and applies camo paint to his face. (source: Wikipedia)

This joke also involves a common shopping expression, "to find," which means to locate for purchase. The joke here means that the camouflage pants blended in with their environment that you were unable to see them (which is the normal purpose of camouflage clothing).

camouflage pants (for sale at macys.com)

Pun with Cannibals

As we’ve discussed on previous shows, one difficult aspect of learning a second language is adapting to humor that involves plays on words. They are also called puns.  The appropriate way to receive a pun when it is told is to pretend you didn’t think it was funny.  You may stare at the pun-teller or even let out a groan (unnnhh!).  We don’t want to give punsters credit for clever wordplay, but usually we end up smiling or even laughing.  Here is a clever wordplay that most Americans would chuckle over.  The question: is it funny to you?

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: “Does this taste funny to you?”

What's So Funny?

This joke involves a common English expression "to taste funny," which means to taste strange or odd. The line has a double meaning because the two individuals in the story are cannibals (people who eat the meat of other humans). They are eating a clown, whose job is to act funny and make people laugh.

A typical clown (photo source: Wikipedia)

Practice telling this joke, so you can share it with your American friends.  See if they laugh (or groan) at this play on words.

Amer Zahr's Boater Confirmation Number

“Boater[1] Confirmation Number”

Amer Zahr graciously gave permission for us to share this short comedy sketch with you.  Immediately below is a transcript.  After that is an explanation of the humor.

Operator: Okay, sir, we have completed your reservation.  Are you ready for your confirmation number?[2]

Customer: Sure, go ahead.

O: Okay, it’s going to be A as in “apple.”

C: Okay.

O: P as in “Peter.”[3]

C: What?

O: P as in “Peter.”

C: You mean B as in “boy.”

O: No, I mean P as in “Peter.” Not B as in “boy.” I said P, not B.

C: Huh?

O: I said P, not B.

C: Okay, whatever.[4]

O: Then it’s going to be the letter O as in the “Occupation of the Palestinian people.”[5]

C: What? Excuse me?

O: Okay, then it’s going to be the letter H.

C: What was that?

O: H! H!

C: “Etch” as in “Etch-a-Sketch”?[6]

O: H! H as in “Harry.” H.

C: Oh, H.

O: Yeah, H.

C: H.

O: H.

C: H.

O: H.

C: Fine.

O: Okay. Then, finally going to be the number 6.[7]

C: What (in the h…)?[8]

O: The number 6.

C: Sir, I cannot understand anything that you are telling me.

O: 6...6. Are you saying I can’t count?[9] 6. 6. Fine.  You want me to count? I count to 100 for you, okay? 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-32-33-34-35-36-37-38-39-40-41-42-43-44-45-46-47-48-49-50-51-52-53-54-55-56-57-58-59-60-61-62-63-64-65-66-67-68-69-70-71-72-73-74-75-76-77-78-79-80-81-82-83-84-85-86-87-88-89-90-91-92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-100. Okay? I can count to fucking 100.[10]

C: All right, sir. No need to...

O: Well, you know, I can count, okay?

C: All right. I got it.

O: Okay. Would you like me to repeat that for you?

C: Shit.

Explanations and Background: 1. A common slang term for immigrants in the Arab community is “boaters.”  This refers to new arrivals who “just stepped off the boat” into the new country (even if the immigrants arrived by airplane).  2. Many monolingual Americans are frustrated by the foreign accents of non-native English speakers answering the phone when they call for customer support.  In this case, a white American is getting a confirmation number for his reservation, and an Arab operator is handling the call.

3. The Arabic language doesn’t use the P sound, so they have a hard time distinguishing P and B when speaking English.  (In this case, “Peter” sounds like “beater.”)  Americans use words to help distinguish letters that sound alike: B/P, C/Z, F/S, M/N, B/V.

4. Americans say “whatever” when they are frustrated or don’t care.

5. Palestinians had been living in Palestine for 600 years until the United Nations created the state of Israel.  Since 1948, Israel has taken more and more of the Palestinian lands, so a persistent Palestinian conversation is how they live under foreign occupation. Here, Zahr jokes that Palestinians even bring up this subject when it is unrelated to the business at hand.

6. An Etch-a-Sketch is a child’s drawing toy.

7. Arab speakers have a hard time saying consonant clusters like the K+S sound of the letter X (like in “six”).

8. “What in the hell?” is a frustrated way of communicating confusion or lack of understanding.

9. The Arab operator is frustrated when the native speaker doesn’t understand him.  Even though he is not a native speaker, he is proud of his intelligence. He eventually “proves” his skills by counting (tediously) to 100.

10. The humor here is compounded by the operator’s repeated mispronunciation of “sikas” and “sikasty.

Invisibility Pun

Playing With Words: More Pun-ishment

As we’ve discussed on previous shows, one difficult aspect of learning a second language is adapting to humor that involves plays on words. They are also called puns.  Now, I’m a big fan of puns and actually tell them a lot with my friends and family.  The way many Americans receive a pun when it is told is to pretend they didn’t think it was funny.  They may stare at the pun-teller or even let out a groan (unnnhh!).  They don’t want to give punsters (like me) credit for clever wordplay, but usually they end up smiling or even laughing.  Here is a clever wordplay that most Americans would chuckle over.  The question: is it funny to you?

An invisible man married an invisible woman. Their kids were nothing to look at either.

What's So Funny?

This joke involves an English idiom and a double meaning.  The idiom, "be nothing to look at" is a polite way of saying someone is not handsome or pretty.  It has a second meaning where "nothing to look at" sounds like "invisible" (which would describe the children of an invisible mother and father).

Now that you understand the pun, feel free to share it with your American friends.  And be prepared for their groans.  Unnnnh!

Meta-Jokes

Some jokes are jokes about themselves.  They are called meta-jokes.  “Meta-“ means above/about.  These kinds of jokes are for very brainy people, like my son-in-law, who sent today’s cartoon to me.

The writer, Randall Munroe, is a super-geek and famous in high-tech circles.  His online cartoons involve stick characters, which are simple to draw and let the reader focus on the language of the cartoon.  He often writes about computers and math, but sometimes he does language jokes.  If you are a math and science geek, you might like to start reading his work.

This cartoon is about the difference between causation and correlation, which are important concepts in science and technology.

What's So Funny?

If you don’t understand this joke, you are not alone. Many Americans don't understand it. Let me try my best explanation to this joke about a joke.

Correlation means that two things are related to each other.

Causation means that one thing caused another thing to happen.

Just because two things are related doesn't mean that one of them caused the other. It could be that they just happened in a similar way or at a similar time. Causation always involves correlation, but correlation doesn't always involve causation.

In this case, Person A tells Person B that he used to think related things had a cause/effect connection, but after taking a statistics class, he doesn't think that. She thinks the class caused his change of mind. He says it's possible, but he isn't sure.

The joke here is that they are talking about connections and causality. He says his change in belief is connected in time (before-after) with his statistics class. She thinks the class caused the change, but he is now more cautious about making such claims.

After this long explanation, you may still not think this cartoon is funny. Share this with your friends at work. If they think it's funny, then they will appreciate it when you share the XKCD website with them.

A Priest, Minister, & Rabbi Are Drinking...

A Catholic priest

A priest, a minister, and a rabbi are friends and drinking at their favorite bar. Another bar patron comments that bringing non-believers to God isn't really all that hard. A real challenge would be converting a bear.

Many drinks later, they decide to have a competition. They would all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it.  The next week, they would get together to discuss the results.

A week goes by, and the three are reunited...at the hospital.

Father Flannery, who has his arm in a sling, goes first.  "Well," he says, "I went into the woods to find me a bear. And when I found him I began to read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy Mary, Mother of God, he became as gentle a lamb. The bishop is coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation."

Patient with arm in a cast and a sling.

Reverend Billy Bob, who was in a wheelchair, speaks up next.  In his best fire-and-brimstone speech he exclaims, " Well, brothers, I went out and I found me a bear. And then I began to read to my bear from God's Holy Word! But that bear wanted nothing to do with Scripture. So I took hold of him and we began to wrestle. We wrestled up one hill and down another until we rolled into a creek. There, I quick dunked him and baptized his hairy soul. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus."

Patient in a wheelchair with head bandaged and leg in a cast.

Then, they both turn to look at the rabbi, who is lying in a hospital bed. He is in a full-body cast and traction, with IVs and monitors attached everywhere. He is in bad shape.

The rabbi looks up and says, "Looking back on it, circumcision may not have been the best way to start."

Patient in a hospital bed with a leg in traction.

What's So Funny?

This joke has a lot of cultural aspects to it, and a lot of religious vocabulary as well.  It relates to stereotypes of Roman Catholic priests, Protestant ministers, and Jewish rabbis.

Priests are often characterized as Irish, and in fact, most of the nation of Ireland is Roman Catholic. Priests are called "Father" by members of the Catholic church. Flannery is a common Irish name. In Catholicism, priests may sprinkle holy water on people to bless them. In the joke, the priest has successfully converted his bear after putting drops of holy water on its head. Catholics mention Mary, the mother of Jesus, more often than Protestants do. The priest's superior, the bishop, will come to perform two Catholic rituals on the bear to finalize its conversion.

In the U.S., Protestant ministers are stereotyped as being loud, enthusiastic about their religion, and having Southern accents. Evangelical ministers preach "fire and brimstone" sermons with the message that if you don't believe in God, you will burn forever in hell after death.  Men in the U.S. South are stereotyped as having double names (like Billy Bob, Jimmy Jack, or Bobby Joe). Sometimes the Bible is referred to as "God's Holy Word" or "Scripture." Many evangelical ministers do not believe in merely sprinkling new believers with a few drops of water. Instead, they prefer to immerse their entire body under water in a river or a baptismal pool.

Finally, Jews are stereotyped as having New York City accents. In fact, many Jews do live in NYC. (To hear a much better NY Jewish accent than mine, check out this link.) Like Christians, Jews believe in God, but they don't believe in Jesus. One job of a Jewish rabbi is to remove the foreskin (of the penis) of young boys in a ritual that welcomes them into adult membership of the religion. This is not a good idea to try with an angry bear, however.

A Protestant minister

A Jewish rabbi

Dwayne Gill & the Stolen Tractor

Did you laugh at the joke in the video?  Read on if you didn't understand.  Dwayne Gill is a very funny man from my hometown of Detroit.  He works as a Michigan state policeman by day and tells jokes on nights and weekends. 

In his comedy club act, he talks about getting assigned to his first post—not in his urban area of southeast Michigan, but—in rural Ionia County.  There, he is assigned his first case to investigate: a stolen John Deere tractor.  He makes the mistake of asking the farmer what color the stolen tractor was. 

This is ridiculous—and funny—to anyone who lives in a suburban or rural location.  The John Deere brand of tractor is always green and yellow.  Being an urban guy, Dwayne didn’t know that tractor companies each have their signature color.

John Deere farm tractor (photo source: www.deere.com)

He extends the joke by saying, “It isn’t every day that you see a John Deere tractor rolling down Eight Mile Road [a major street of Detroit]...with M&M [famous Detroit rap singer] driving!"

In this joke set, Dwayne is making fun of differences between U.S. urban and rural cultures and what they know and don’t know.  One positive kind of humor is when the comedian makes fun of him/herself in the joke.  This is called self-deprecating humor.  As you can hear from the audience laughter, people think Dwayne is a funny guy.

Did you recently hear a joke you didn’t understand?  Write us with the details.  If we can answer it, we might feature it on our next show!

I saw Dwayne Gill live in Grand Rapids at the Sunday Night Funnies comedy club.  

Sarcasm

On-Camera Joke

Nice play, Shakespeare!  When someone makes a clumsy attempt, whether a play in sports or a household task, the sarcastic person who says this really means, “You did that really poorly.” 

What Is Sarcasm?

Sarcasm is usually thought of as cutting, biting remarks to another person.  And sarcastic people are difficult to like because their words can sound mean and off-putting.

Technically, sarcasm involves saying the opposite of what you mean.

Don’t work too hard!  This is sarcastic if said to a worker who is lazy.

Nice play, Shakespeare!  This line was referenced in the program. If you listen to the tone of voice used for these words, you’ll notice it is different than when a speaker means to sincerely compliment.  Instead, the sarcastic person means, “You did a bad job.” 

Yeah, right!   Sarcastic Americans say this when they really mean, “I don’t agree with you at all.”  Again, the tone of voice used for these words is different than when the speaker means to sincerely agree.  Below is a joke based on sarcasm.

A Joke Using Sarcasm

A linguistics professor was lecturing to the class one day. "In English," she said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages though, such as Spanish, a double negative is still a negative.

However," she added, "there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."

Background

In standard English it is ungrammatical to say, “We don’t have nothing.”  (However, this is grammatical in some non-standard varieties of English, for example, Black English Vernacular.)  In standard English, when you use “don’t” in the sentence, the word “nothing” must be changed to “anything.” 

In Spanish, the use of double negatives is required, but it just has a negative meaning: No tenemos nada.  (“We don’t have nothing.”)

In other sentences, as the professor in the joke points out to the class, two negatives can make a positive.  Here is an example.  “If the President is going to be there, you can’t not go to the party.”  In this case, “you can’t not” is the same as “you must.”

Explanation of the Joke

The linguistics student in the back used the combination of two positive words, “yeah” (informal for “yes”) and “right” to disagree with the professor in a sarcastic way.  It is only funny if the correct tone of voice is used, communicating to listeners that the speaker is being sarcastic.

Why Do People Use Sarcasm?

My personal belief about sarcasm is that it is often used by people who don’t want to risk closeness or emotional attachment.  It is easier to seem skeptical and aloof.  Guarded that way, one can always feel safe and never have one’s feelings hurt. 

Sarcasm can be very clever.  This is done when a comment starts off in a sincere direction and takes a sudden turn.  British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was known for such sharp humor.

A dreadful woman once told Churchill, “Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your tea.”  To this, Churchill replied, “Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it.”

American humorist Groucho Marx excelled at this kind of humor.  Many of his quotes can be found here: http://bit.ly/tTfEMu.  A favorite zinger is this one: “I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.”

A Word of Advice

I recommend that you use sarcasm sparingly.  And never use sarcasm in email (where there are no facial expressions or change in tone of voice to show your audience your real intent).  It is very easy to think you are sounding clever but are actually offending someone.  If you want to experiment with it, try it out with your close friends first.  Remember, it’s very hard to undo a bad impression once you make it.

William Shakespeare (photo source: Wikipedia)

Stand-up Comedy

Standing Up In Front of an Audience (All Alone)

Americans love to laugh.  They often pay money to laugh at comedy clubs.  A comedy club is like a nightclub.  But instead of singing, dancing, or doing tricks, a lone person stands on the stage and tells jokes.

Sunday Night Funnies, in Grand Rapids, MI, gives professionals and amateurs a chance to practice their joke-telling.

Telling jokes all by yourself takes a lot of courage.  Because sometimes the audience doesn’t think you’re funny.  And there you are: standing all alone.

I have a lot of favorite comedians.  One of my newest favorites is an immigrant named Joe Wong.  Joe came from China to study at Rice University in Texas.  He earned a PhD in chemical engineering, but his passion was telling jokes.  So he practiced very hard and slowly learned how to be funny to American audiences.

I fell in love with his humor when I watched a video of him saying, “Hi, everybody, I’m Joe Wong.  So…I’m Irish…”  (The humor here, of course, is that he doesn’t look at all Irish—although many Americans are…and introduce themselves that way.)

For this episode, I have included a link to Joe’s website and some videos of his joke-telling.  I hope you enjoy them.  And I hope you draw encouragement from someone who came to this country as a non-native speaker, studied and practiced hard, and learned how to make his new compatriots laugh.  Joe Wong—one of my favorite new Americans!

Famous American comedians: Sarah Silverman, Jay Leno, Bob Hope

Plays on Words

On-Camera Joke

Why can’t a bicycle stand on its own?  Because it’s two-tired.

Background

The expression “on its own” means alone, without help.

What’s So Funny?

The punch line to this joke has a double meaning.  The adjective for something with two tires is two-tired.  This expression sounds just like “too tired,” a good reason for not being able to stand up.

What Is a Pun?

A pun, also called a play on words, uses two phrases that sound alike.  Some of your American friends love to make these kinds of word plays.  The ones who don’t will usually groan when they hear a pun.  Punsters don’t really need their audience to laugh at their puns, but they do expect some form of recognition that the word play was clever.  In that regard, a simple frown, groan, or roll of the eyes are sufficient to acknowledge that something witty was attempted.

Some Examples of Puns

Which of these double meanings can you catch?

1. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still. 
2. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work. 
3. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
4. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering. 
5. Two silk worms had a race.  They ended up in a tie. 
6. Time flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana. 
7. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it. 
8. Atheism is a non-prophet organization. 
9. Two hats were hanging on a rack in the hallway.  One hat said to the other, “You stay here, I'll go on a head.”
10. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital.  When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, “No change yet.”

Why you need to know this

Americans usually appreciate a clever play on words.  Always be thinking of double meanings that their words might have.

Share with us your favorite puns in our comment section!

Crappy Diem

Today we have a sign to show you.  The photo was taken of the door of a men’s room in Grand Rapids, MI.

As you go through your day, you see many messages: signs in stores, billboards on the highway, or bumper stickers on cars.  Oftentimes, Americans use these as opportunities to employ humor.  If you don’t get it, don’t worry; just ask your friends, “What’s so funny?”  In American culture, most people are happy to explain things to you.

Do you understand the joke on this sign?  It involves a foreign language and a famous American movie.  In Latin, the expression Carpe diem means "Seize the day."  It means we should take advantage of each moment as it comes (because life is short and we may not have a second chance).  The saying was made famous in a 1989 movie called Dead Poets Society.  In the movie, an English teacher (played by Robin Williams) encourages his students to live boldly, and he teaches them the expression, Carpe diem.

The funny sign maker changed the word "carpe" to "crappy" because the word "crap" is slang for "feces" (solid waste material in the toilet).  In American English, the expression "to go" is a euphemism (polite way to say something unpleasant) for "to use the toilet."

Americans will chuckle at the sign because of the clever play on words.  They also appreciate the wisdom of using a bathroom when it's available because sometimes you really have to "go" but a toilet isn't nearby!

Taboo Humor

Telling Taboo Jokes

Something that is forbidden or highly disapproved of is taboo.  Taboo topics include making fun of any groups in American society with lower status or power. In U.S. history and culture, the dominant group has been white, heterosexual, Protestant Christian, able-bodied males from Northern European heritage—someone like me, actually. 

Taboo jokes, then, make fun of people of color, women, non-Christians, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities, or obese people.  Because my friends are members of these various groups, I don’t tell taboo jokes.

In this regard, today’s What’s So Funny? segment isn’t at all funny.

So, what do you do if someone begins to tell you a taboo joke?  If you hear a taboo joke coming, it is best to stop the person and not let him finish.  You can say something like, “It sounds like you are saying something that would offend my [black or female or gay or handicapped or whatever] friends.  I prefer not to hear those; they aren’t funny to me.”  In other words, just take a stand against this type of unkind joking.

Calling a time-out: interrupting a joke before it goes too far.

What do you do if the person has finished the joke before you realized it or before you could stop it?  It is not easy to be brave in public, to speak up when you know someone is being unkind.  In this case, there is another option.  You can simply not laugh.  Say nothing, and wait for the person to respond.  He (or she) will probably become uncomfortable and realize that this joke is not a good idea in your presence. 

There is a second option, but it is a little bit sneaky.  That is to pretend you didn’t understand the joke and ask the person to explain it.  The person will likely become embarrassed if actually needing to explain the joke point by point.  This may discourage further telling of taboo jokes.

Remember to keep your jokes upbeat and friendly.  That way, EVERYONE can laugh and think, “That’s very funny!”

Hump Day

Hump Day

Many times, advertisers will try to use humor to make us like their products.  One American insurance company named Geico has a series of funny commercials.  They finish these commercials with a line comparing how happy their customers will be.  In this case, their customers will be as happy as a camel on Wednesday.

Watch this commercial and see if you know why it’s funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LtjzQaFZ3k.

Americans are laughing at this for two reasons.

First, Geico is merging the two meanings of the word "hump." In American slang, Wednesday--the middle of the work week--is called Hump Day.  If you can get over the "hump" (or hill) that this day represents, you are coasting downhill toward the weekend--and happy time away from the office. The other meaning of "hump" is the large storage bump on the back of a camel. In this case, Geico made a pun by putting together these two different meanings of the word.

Second, the camel is perhaps a little too enthusiastic this Wednesday.  He goes from co-worker to co-worker asking about the day, pushing them, bothering them. Of course, they all know what day it is but prefer not to say because it will just encourage the camel to continue his loud enthusiasm.  Most of us have an office mate who is a little too loud or in-your-face. On one hand, U.S. office workers are rolling their eyes at the camel colleague in this commercial.  On the other hand, the four-legged co-worker is still cute in his exuberance.  And that makes us laugh.

American Sit-coms (like "Friends")

The American Sit-Com

One popular type of American television show is the situation comedy, or “sit-com” for short.  These are typically 30-minute weekly shows with regular characters living their normal, funny lives.  Viewers who follow a sit-com get to know (and love!) the characters on the show and want to see how they are doing every week.

One very popular American sit-com was Friends.  It was broadcast weekly from 1994-2004 and is now viewable in reruns.  The show is about six friends who live in the same apartment building: three women (Phoebe, Rachel, Monica) and three men (Joey, Chandler, Ross).  The program is about the lives, jobs, romances, and worries of six 20-something adults in New York City.

Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer

Learning about American humor involves understanding American cultural rules of friendship, work, dating, and many other human interactions.  Understanding the culture involves knowing American English, its slang, and its double meanings.  When you begin to understand all these things, you begin to understand why Americans laugh at sit-coms like Friends.

To increase your listening skills, we recommend you watch shows like Friends, preferably with your good American friends who can explain what’s happening on the screen.  To get you started, we have excerpted a short conversation from a Friends episode on our website under the What’s So Funny? section.  Along with the text for the conversation, we provide explanations of the jokes.  Let us know how you like this short clip, and tell us your favorite American TV show as well.

In the mean time, happy viewing, and happy laughing!

__________

View this 45-second excerpt of Friends here: (1:20-2:05)

Note: The Friends show typically happens inside the apartment of some of the six friends and sometimes at a coffee shop where Rachel works, serving coffee.  The coffee shop is called Central Perk.  (This is a play on words.  The name sounds like New York City’s famous Central Park.  The word “perk” is a verb for brewing coffee.)

Joey comes to Central Perk to tell his friends about a possible acting job.

[Joey comes into Central Perk wearing face make-up. Chandler, Phoebe, Monica are seated.]

J: Hey-hey!

C,P,M: Hey, hey, hey!

C: And this from the Cry For Help Department:(1) Are you wearing make-up?

J: Yes, I am.  As of today, I am officially Joey Tribbiani, actor-slash-model.(2)

[Rachel joins group.]

C: That’s so funny because I was thinking you looked more like Joey Tribbiani, man-slash-woman.(3)

P: What were you modeling for?

J: You know those posters for the City Free Clinic?(4)

M: Oh, so you’re going to be one of those healthy-healthy-healthy guys?(5)

P: You know, the asthma guy(6) is really cute.

M: You know which one you’re going to be?

J: No, but I hear Lyme Disease is open,(7) so…[crosses fingers](8).

C: Good luck, man.  I hope you get it.(9)

J: Thanks.(10)

 Notes:

1 – “Cry for help” is a psychological expression that means a person is troubled and doing something drastic to get attention.  Chandler is making fun of Joey.

2 – The word “slash” is a spoken form for the punctuation mark (/).  It means “and/or.”

3 – In American culture, predominantly only women wear face make-up in public.  Chandler is making fun of Joey.

4 – Patients who go to the free urban medical clinic are poor and can’t afford traditional clinics.  The CFC is creating an advertising campaign with posters.

5 – There will be two kinds of patients in the ads: healthy looking people and sick looking people.

6 – Phoebe thinks the model who portrays an asthma patient is good looking.

7 – Joey thinks no one has been assigned the role of the patient with Lyme Disease.

8 – Americans cross their fingers for good luck.  It is a superstition.

9 – The first possible meaning is “I hope you get the part.”  A second meaning is “I hope you get Lyme Disease.”  The audience laughs at this second possibility.

10 – Joey doesn’t understand the second meaning of Chandler’s comment, and the audience laughs at Joey who thinks Chandler wished him good luck in getting the job.

"The Onion" and Funny, Fake News

The Onion is a newspaper and website that presents fake news as if it were true news.  Its material is usually referred to as satire; that means its main job is not to inform but to make fun of people, organizations, and society in general.  The Onion has been published since 1988.

There are several types of humor used in The Onion.  Today, I’d like to take a look at 3 kinds of them.  The first one is represented by this headline and image:

This kind of humor falls into the category of just plain silly.  The humor comes because it balances a small element of truth (namely, that the Johnson & Johnson Co. really does make a cotton swab for personal grooming called the Q-Tip).  However, leaving it sticking out of one’s ear looks stupid and it is potentially dangerous.  Americans think this is funny because it the concept and image are ridiculous but this is presented as a serious story.

Here are two other examples of Onion humor.  

To read more Onion humor, check out their website.  Be sure to ask your American friends if they read and like the satirical humor of The Onion.

The Lockhorns: America's Most Disagreeable Couple

Today on What’s So Funny, we look at one of my favorite cartoons, the Lockhorns.  Leroy and Loretta Lockhorn have appeared in American newspapers since 1968. 

What you first need to understand is their last name.  It is taken from an expression, to lock horns.  When two male animals are fighting with each other, they will push each other with their heads, often tangling up their horns together, which just prolongs the battle.  Marriage is often depicted this same way: two people living together for years, finding something to argue about: money, sex, the children, or whose family to visit (or skip) over the holidays!

Readers find the Lockhorns funny—or don’t find them funny—because they play on certain gender stereotypes.  Often, they depict the man as lazy, drinking too much, or staring at other women.  The woman is seen as a bad driver, a bad cook, or spending too much money.  While I don’t endorse stereotypes, I do appreciate the cleverness of the writers of this cartoon.

The other thing that is nice about the Lockhorns is that, despite their differences, they seem to stick together and try to accept each other.  Maybe this is the wisdom of old age and long relationships. 

My wife and I like to read and share Lockhorns cartoons with each other.  This one is cut out of the newspaper and stuck on our fridge. 

What’s So Funny?

Did get get the joke?  This Lockhorns cartoon plays on the stereotype that American women are bossy.  Here, Loretta and Leroy answer the door to talk to a worker who is recording opinions on a survey.  Loretta assumes that her opinion is important to share right away and, furthermore, that Leroy agrees with her.  This reinforces the gender stereotype that--even though they may not have all the powerful jobs in the workplace, women are the boss inside the home.

While we may not believe in all of the gender stereotypes, we can laugh at them if they are presented in a balanced way, making equal fun of both men and women.  We can recognize the truthful part of stereotypes without applying them when we meet individual men and women in public.

For more cartoons with the Lockhorns, visit here.  

Are these stereotypes similar in your home country?  Let us know which ones you find particularly clever.

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Permission from Hearst Magazines, North American Licensing (212-969-7584).

Thanksgiving Turkey Cartoon

It’s Thanksgiving week in the United States, folks, and the family cook is shopping for that perfect bird to bring home to cook for the table full of noisy relatives.  If you live on a farm, you won’t need to go to the store to find your dinner.  Just walk out in the yard and select the largest, juiciest bird you can see.  Of course, if you can’t see at all, it will be harder to do.

Here is one of my long-time favorite cartoons.  Do you know why the farmer is wearing dark glasses and carrying a white cane?  In the United States, people who are legally blind carry a white cane (with red tip) to help them feel their way along the walkway.  The white cane is also a sign to sighted people that they should be aware of a blind person nearby.

This cartoon is funny because the farmer is blind, and the turkeys are making noises like a cow, so they won’t be taken and killed for the Thanksgiving Day meal.  Clever birds!

Have a delicious and relaxing weekend, everyone

What do you get when you cross an X with a Y?

On camera:

For all of you science students in the audience, you know that the work of genetics is to mix different kinds of characteristics to see what happens.  For example, a cross between a horse and a donkey results in a mule.  If you breed a poodle with a Labrador, you get a Labradoodle.

This principle of mixing—or crossing—two breeds is at the heart of a popular kind of American riddle.  Certain kinds of jokes have a format that Americans will recognize, so in this case, if you begin by saying, “What do you get if you cross…?” they will understand this is a riddle, and they can either guess the answer, or if they have no idea, they will say, “I don’t know” or “I give up.”

Here’s an example.

What do you get if you cross an elephant with a rhino?

Give up?

Eleph-ino!

Now, if you didn’t understand the joke, there will be an explanation on our website under the section What’s So Funny?  There, you will also find some of my favorite jokes that begin “What do you get if you cross…?”  That’s all for now.  I hope soon you can start laughing along with your American friends.

What’s So Funny?

The answer, “eleph-ino” sounds like the first half of “elephant” and the last part of “rhino.” However, it also sounds like the expression “(the) hell if I know.”  This means, “I have no idea” or “I don’t know at all.”  The curse word “hell” is usually not accompanied by “the.”  If it is, it usually works to add a sense of negation (“not at all”) as above or a sense of strong criticism or challenge (“What in the hell are you doing?”).

Since the word “hell” is considered slightly rude or strong, it is not safe to use in all conversations.  What makes this joke funny is not pronouncing the “h” in (h)ell_if_I_know and technically avoiding the use of the actual word.

This type of joke is sometimes called mix-and-match or criss-cross jokes.  Here are some clever ones.

Q: What do you get if you cross a cow with a trampoline?

A: A milkshake.

*****

Q: What do you get if you cross a cat with Father Christmas?

A: Santa Claws.

*****

Q: What do you get if you cross a turkey with an octopus?

A: Enough drumsticks at Thanksgiving for everyone.

*****

Q: What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?

A: Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.

*****

Q: What do you get if you cross a chicken with a bell?

A: An alarm cluck.

If you don’t understand some of these, ask your American neighbor or co-worker to explain them.

Beetle Bailey: American Military Humor

On camera:

In honor of Veteran’s Day, our What’s So Funny segment takes a look at humor derived from our military history.  As a people, we Americans don’t like hierarchy—some people on top and some on the bottom.  This is why we separated from England and don’t have kings and queens. 

However, hierarchy—based on wealth and status—still exists.  In order to minimize these differences, part of our cultural history involves making fun of the rich, the powerful, and the non-working class. 

One place where this is difficult to do is in the military, where strict hierarchy is everywhere.  This is perhaps why cartoonist Mort Walker chose to make fun of military officers, starting back in 1950.

Walker’s long-running cartoon is called Beetle Bailey.  If you think you know why today’s cartoon is funny to Americans, share that with our readers in the comment section.

What’s So Funny:

The enlisted soldiers have told Lt. Fuzz that the camp’s general would be giving him a promotion.  He excitedly shares this “news” with Gen. Halftrack’s secretary, Miss Buxley.  She tells him that the soldier’s are pulling his leg.  To “pull his leg” means to kid him, to tell him something that is not really true.  This cartoon is funny to Americans who like to poke fun at people who are higher than they are in the hierarchy.  Lt. Fuzz has been tricked by the enlisted men (lower than his position), and that fact has been reinforced by a secretary (who has no direct status in the military hierarchy).

Military Hierarchy

The rank of U.S. military officers (in descending order) is as follows.

• General      (abbreviated as Gen.)
• Colonel      (Col., pronounced the same as “kernel”)
• Major      (Maj.)
• Captain      (Capt.)
• Lieutenant      (Lt.)

The rank of enlisted military personnel (which is below the officers) is as follows.

• Sergeant      (Sgt., with the first syllable rhyming with “large”)
• Corporal      (Cpl.)
• Private      (Pvt.)

Here, Sgt. Snorkel (nickname: Sarge) yells at Pvt. Bailey and a fellow soldier.  The colorful symbols in the speech bubble signify strong language.

Knock-Knock Jokes

On-camera:

You’re inside your house, or you’re inside an office, and suddenly, someone knocks.  [knock, knock]  You don’t know who it could be, so you ask, … “Who’s there?”

This is the way we start a classic American joke, called the knock-knock joke.

The knock-knock joke requires participation on the part of the listener.  The joke-teller starts by saying, “Knock, knock.”  During the joke, the listener has to respond twice.  You can ask any American you know, “Knock, knock,” and he or she will play along with you because they’ve been doing this since their childhood.

To demonstrate, I’m going to ask one of our camera crew to help me with a joke.  [Chris], thanks for helping me.  Everyone, this is [Chris].  So, here we go.

Alan: Knock, knock.

Chris: Who’s there?

Alan: Boo.

Chris: Boo who?

Alan: Why are you crying?

Now, if you didn’t understand the joke, there will be an explanation on our website as well as some of my favorite knock-knock jokes for you to try on your friends.

The structure of a knock-knock joke

The knock-knock joke has five parts, as you can see above: 1. the joker, 2. the recipient, 3. the joker, 4. the recipient, 5. the joker.  Line 1. is the invitation to participate in the joke, and line 5. is the punchline.

The logic of a knock-knock joke

If someone knocks (or telephones), you can answer by asking who it is.  If the caller only gives a first name, that might not be enough information for you to know the person, so you ask “[name] who?”  In a knock-knock joke, the answer is a surprising twist on what the listener thinks of the name or word given.

What’s So Funny?

In the joke above, the listener expects the meaning to be something scary because “boo” is what ghosts say to frighten you suddenly.  The word “who?” in the response also sounds like “hoo”—which is the way English speakers represent crying: boo-hoo.  When I give the punchline, Chris turns away and says the joke is terrible.  This is an appropriate cultural response, signaling that the listener thought the joke was a little bit funny, but also a little bit corny.  “Corny” means silly or unsophisticated.  Other appropriate responses to corny jokes would be rolling the eyes or groaning (as if in pain).

Knock-knock jokes are popular with children.  Jokes are great tools to teach children the social and cultural ritual of joke-telling.  They also teach children that some words can sound alike but have different meanings.

Some examples knock-knock jokes

Knock, Knock,

Who's there?

Ada.  (pronounced /eida/)

Ada who?

Ada burger for lunch.  (I ate a burger for lunch.)

*****

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Alaska.

Alaska who?

Alaska to see if she knows the answer.  (I’ll ask her to see….)

*****

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Canoe.  (pronounced /ka’nu/)

Canoe who?

Canoe help me with my homework?  (Can you help me…?)

*****

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Banana.  

Banana who?

[Joker doesn't give the punchline but instead starts the joke again:]

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Banana.  

Banana who?

[Joker repeats this until the listener starts to get annoyed that the joke keeps repeating without end.  Then, the joker tells the final version like this:]

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Orange.  

Orange who?

Orange you glad I didn’t say “banana” again?  (Aren’t you glad I didn’t say…?)

*****

Here is a website with many clever knock-knock jokes: http://www.funology.com/knock-knock-jokes/.  If you don’t understand some of them, ask your American friends or co-workers to explain them to you.