Item: “A programmer is going to the store and his wife tells him to buy a gallon of milk, and if there are eggs, buy a dozen. So the programmer goes shopping, does as she says, and returns home to show his wife what he bought. But she gets angry and asks, ‘Why’d you buy 13 gallons of milk?’ The programmer replies, ‘There were eggs!’”
- Oral Folklore: joke
- English
- USA
Informant Data:
Anonymous is a Dartmouth computer science major, in the class of 2018, from Miami, Florida.
Contextual Data:
The informant first read the joke about two years ago on Reddit, a social media and content aggregating website. Specifically, it was posted on the r/programming subreddit, which is a fairly large subreddit with over 700,000 subscribers. Therefore, it was read and shared by computer programmers from all over the world. The joke sticks out in contrast to the normally technical posts that arise on the subreddit. Despite this, it was one of the top posts of the day.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
“If there are eggs…” transcript
Informant’s Comments:
The informant explains that this joke relies on the stereotype of programmers as very literal, so when the wife didn’t specify what to buy a dozen of, he gets the last thing she said, even though it makes no sense. This joke has been circulating amongst programmers for a while, although it has likely been in existence for much longer, just not necessarily about programmers specifically. The interviewee first heard it online, but has continued to spread it through word of mouth to beginning programmers to help lighten the mood and explain coding logic in a humorous way.
Collector’s Comments:
This joke would fall under the stereotypes category, since it plays on the common belief that computer programmers are highly logical and lack social competence, and would therefore misinterpret such simple directions. It is also interesting to note that since the joke was posted online and can be viewed at any time, the exact context of the joke is dependent upon each individual viewer. This could indicate a transition in how our society consumes and produces folklore, as our culture shifts online.
Tags/Keywords:
jokes, if-then, stereotypes