Jokes See also Ambiguity, and Language Play

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JokesSee also Ambiguity, and Language Play

• by Don L. F. Nilsen
• and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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Joking Relationships

• Joking relationships occur between two persons
  in which one is by custom permitted and in some
  instances required to tease or make fun of the
  other.
• (Kuipers 364)
• (Radcliffe-Brown 195)

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EXAGGERATION SURPRISE

• Exaggeration and surprise are features that can
  be found in most jokes.
• Bill Dana demonstrates that the same joke can be
  told with only the details and local color
  changing, and the rest of the joke remaining the
  same.

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FIRST TELLING

• A large group is assembled in an auditorium when
  from the loudspeaker comes the message
• Will the person with New York license plate BL
  74468459030623145098725, kindly remove it? Your
  license plate is blocking traffic.

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SECOND TELLING

• Two cowboys are talking and the first one
  explains that the name of his ranch is the Bar
  Nine Circle Z Rocking O Flying W Lazy R Happy Two
  Flying Nun Ranch.
• A second cowboy asks if he has many cattle, and
  the first cowboy responds, Not many survive the
  branding.

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THIRD TELLING

• Two football players are talking and one of them
  begins describing a heroic run he made during the
  final game of the season.
• Nobody on the opposing team could tackle him.

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• Finally, they brought a cannon out onto the
  field, and they shot me with the cannon,
• and then airplanes came down with machine guns.
  They still couldnt stop me. And I finally made
  a touchdown.
• The other player indignantly interjects that
  Anybody who was in the stadium could prove that
  was a lie.
• The first player responded, There were no
  survivors.

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JOKE CYCLES

• Very often jokes occur in joke cycles. Consider
  the following joke cycles.

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ACRONYM JOKES

• These jokes are often found on vanity license
  plates or bumper stickers
• 10SNE1 (tennis anyone?)
• XQUSME (excuse me)
• 4RGRAN (for our grandchild)
• BS, MS, PhD (Bull Shit, More of the Same, Piled
  Higher and Deeper)

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LIGHTBULB JOKES

• How many New Yorkers?
• 3 One to do it and two to criticize.
• How many grad students?
• 3 2 plus a professor to take the credit
• How many Jewish mothers?
• None Ill just sit in the dark.

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• How many Los Angeles Police?
• 6 one to do it and five to smash the old bulb to
  smithereens.
• How many mice does it take to screw in a
  lightbulb?
• 2 but they have to be really small.
• How many Dolly clones?
• As many as youd like. As many as youd like.
  As many as youd like.

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LIGHT BULB JOKE VARIATION

• Whats the difference between a pregnant woman
  and a light bulb?
• You can unscrew the light bulb.

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NEW DEFINITIONS

• Artery The study of painting
• Bacteria The back door of a cafeteria
• Barium What doctors do when patients die.

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SNIGLETS

• Rich Hall invented the term sniglet for a word
  that should be in the dictionary, but isnt.
• Elbonics (el bon iks) n. The actions of two
  people maneuvering for one armrest in a movie
  theater.

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• Esso Asso (eso aso) The person behind you in a
  right-hand turn lane who cuts through the Esso
  Station.
• Pupkus (pupkus) n. The moist residue left on a
  window after a dog presses its nose to it.
• Phonesia (fo nee zhuh) n. The affliction of
  dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you
  were calling just as they answer.

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TOM SWIFTIES

• People who used to read the Tom Swift novels
  invented a new type of joke
• My name is Tom, he said Swiftly.
• This pattern is extended to
• Id like my egg boiled, she whispered softly.

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• Get to the back of the boat! he shouted
  sternly.
• Would you like another pancake? she asked
  flippantly.
• She works in the mines, he roared ironically.

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TOP TEN LIST

• In 1993 when David Letterman left NBC to move to
  a better time slot at CBS, he made a list of his
  Top 10 Things I Have To Do Before I Leave NBC.
  Here are some of the items on that list
• Drop off hairpiece at security desk.
• Vacuum out Wendell (his announcer) and write down
  his mileage.

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• Steal my weight in office supplies.
• Let my plastic surgeon step out and take a
  bowthis has been his show as much as mine.
• Get one more cheap laugh by saying the word
  Buttafuoco.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 176)

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VIRUS JOKES

• ATT Virus Every three minutes it tells you
  what great service you are getting.
• MCI Virus Every three minutes it reminds you
  that youre paying too much for the ATT virus.

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• Paul Revere Virus This revolutionary virus does
  not horse around. It warns you of impending hard
  disk attackonce if by LAN, twice if by Cgt.
• New World Order Virus Probably harmless, but it
  makes a lot of people really mad just thinking
  about it.

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EPIPHANY

• What all jokes seem to have is an epiphany. So
  here is a joke that illustrates the nature of
  epiphany
• A man has been a customer in a particular
  restaurant for twenty years. He sits down to his
  regular dinner and immediately calls the waiter
  over to his table and demands that he taste the
  soup.

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• The waiter is most apologetic and says, Im
  sorry sir. Whats wrong? Here, let me get you
  another bowl.
• Taste the soup! demands the irritated customer.

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• Again the waiter apologizes and leans forward to
  whisk away the offending bowl.
• No! demands the customer, who by now is irate
  Taste the soup.
• The humbled waiter leans over to obey and asks in
  surprise, Wheres the spoon?
• Ah ha! cries the customer.

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JOKE WEB SITES

• BUSH ON GLOBAL WARMING (BILL FERRELL TAKEOFF)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vjOjfxEejS2Yfeature
  related
• BUSH ON GLOBAL WARMING (KID TAKEOFF)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vBWdiHtv6T6s
• D.I.G. FUNNY FILES (JOKES FOR ALL OCCASIONS)
• http//www.dwarfnet.com/funnyfiles/index.shtml
• HUMAN SLINKY (HALFTIME AT CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vPw8mj_TuDTI
• KETCHUP
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vYQQD9bPrUPU
• TENNIS-BALL PIANO PLAYER
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v07brW206D84

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