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Whiskey Joke

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Title: Whiskey Joke (Christina Wulff)

General Information about the Item:

  • Verbal Lore, Joke
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Germany
  • Informant: Jean D.
  • Date Collected: 10-25-18

Informant Data: 

  • Jean D. is a 52-year old female attorney who was born and raised in the United States and does not speak German. She currently lives in Virginia.

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: Jokes originating in other countries are passed from culture to culture through oral traditions.  As many people from Germans have married American servicemen and assimilated into the United States, they have brought with them lore, including jokes.
  • Social Context: This specific joke was told to the informant from her 75-year-old German-American neighbor.  The neighbor was born in Germany and married an American serviceman.  Since she has lived in the United States for almost 50 years, she says she considers herself an American.  In addition, the neighbor shared that most of the jokes that she is sent today via email from her friends and family in Germany are sent in English, not in German.

Associated File: 

Informants Comments:

  • “My neighbor told me that even though this joke is old-fashioned and sexist, she still finds it funny because it indicates that the wife was unaware of what her late husband was doing.  When asked to relay any German jokes that she knew, she said that she didn’t know too many and probably needed to find some funnier friends!”

Collector’s Comments: 

  • I agree that the joke is sexist. It could be turned around to have the husband discovering what “medicine” his late wife used to take.  But, it also a representative of Germany being a traditional, patriarchal society.  And, the joke still works when translated into English.

Collector’s Name: Christina Wulff

Tags/Keywords

  • Verbal Lore
  • Joke
  • Whiskey Joke from Germany

Government Officials Joke

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Title: Government Officials Joke (Christina Wulff)

General Information about the Item: 

  • Verbal Lore, Joke
  • Language: German
  • Country of Origin: Germany
  • Informant: Siegfried Wulff
  • Date Collected: 10-20-18

Informant Data:

  • Siegfried Wulff is a 53-year-old male commercial pilot. He was born and raised in the United States by German parents and spoke German before he spoke English.  However, having lived, studied, and worked in the United States for his entire life, English is his primary language.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Germans have a great interest in world politics.  They enjoy discussing world news and events at work and at home. Their discussion often take on a bantering or debating manner or tone.
  • Social Context: This specific joke was told to the informant at home when he was a child by his father.  It is one of the few jokes that he remembers his father telling.  His father was expressing his opinion, through humor, that he did not believe that government officials or politicians have a good work ethic.

Associated File: 

Transcript/Translation: 

  • The English translation of this joke is as follows:  What is the busiest day for a politician or government official?  Monday, because they have to tear off two pages from their daily calendar.

Informants Comments:

  • “My father did not have a very good sense of humor.  He was an engineer who liked to speak about intellectual topics. However, he did not think that politicians worked very hard.  In his opinion, they only really worked for themselves.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • It was interesting to see that criticism of politicians is a common theme and source of jokes in many cultures.

Collector’s Name: Christina Wulff

Tags/Keywords

  • Verbal Lore
  • Joke
  • German joke on politicians/government workers

Political Joke

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Title: Political Joke (Christina Wulff)

General Information about the Item:

  • Verbal Lore, Joke
  • Language: German
  • Country of Origin: Germany
  • Informant: Peter Wulff
  • Date Collected: 11-1-18

Informant Data: 

  • Peter Wulff is a 52-year-old male engineer. Although he was born and raised in the United States, after college, he moved to Germany and has been living and working in Buchen, Germany for the past 25 years. Peter is married with one son and now primarily speaks German at work and at home.

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: Germans have a great interest in world politics.  They enjoy discussing world news and events while at work and at home. Their discussions often take on a bantering or debating manner or tone.
  • Social Context: This specific joke was told to the informant at work.  Although the informant is fully integrated into German culture and life, he is still viewed in some respect as an “American.”  As such, given the current political environment in the United States, he is approached daily by his German co-workers about the latest political news/scandal.  Oftentimes, these are in the form of jokes, such as the one that he provided.

Associated File: 

Transcript/Translation: 

  • The English translation of this joke is as follows: Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump go before God trying to get into heaven.  God asks each of them, “What do you believe in?” George W Bush says: “I believe in freedom, American culture and a better life for all.”  God says ok, you can come in.  Barack Obama says he believe in democracy, equality and freedom for all people. God says ok, you can come in. Then God asks President Trump: “What do you believe in?”  President Trump responds: “I believe that you are in my seat!”

Informants Comments:

  • “I hear jokes everyday about American politics, and in particular, about Donald Trump.  The jokes are told to me in both English and German.  This joke in German translates well into English.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • I have heard this joke in English as well.  It was interesting to see that American politics plays such a role as a source of humor in Germany.

Collector’s Name: Christina Wulff

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Lore
  • Joke
  • German joke on American Politics

Children’s Jokes

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Title: Children’s Jokes (Christina Wulff)

General Information about the Item: 

  • Verbal Lore, Joke
  • Language: German
  • Country of Origin: Germany
  • Informant: Remy Wulff
  • Date Collected: 11-1-18

Informant Data: 

  • Remy Wulff is a 12-year-old elementary school student in Germany. Remy was born in Germany and has lived there his entire life. Although he can speak some English, his primary language is German, which he speaks in school and at home.

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: In some parts of Germany, such as where the informant lives, most school age children do not use cell phones or have social media.  Therefore, they must obtain lore, such as jokes from other sources.
  • Social Context: Unlike many of his American peers, Remy does not have a cell phone or use social media.  He does watch TV, including some American shows translated in German, such as  “The Big Bang Theory.”  He also enjoys watching cartoons and reading books.  He learned the jokes he told in this video file from cartoons and from his friends at school.

Associated File: 

Transcript/Translation: The English translation of the three jokes that Remy tells is as follows:

  • What is white and goes up the mountain?  An avalanche that is homesick!
  • What is the most dangerous bite for a poisonous snake?  When it bites itself on the tongue!
  • What is orange and goes down the mountain?  A “hiking tangerine”

Informant’s Comments: 

  • The informant loves to learn new jokes, but is very shy to tell them.  (So, for the video, pulled his hat over his eyes!)

Collector’s Comments: 

  • I thought that the jokes were similar to ones that you would hear American school children tell and enjoy. The informant explained to me that in the last joke, the work “hiking tangerine” or “vanderine” is a word play/made-up word of hiking with the ending of tangerine.

Collector’s Name: Christina Wulff

Tags/Keywords

  • Verbal Lore
  • Joke
  • Children’s Jokes in German

Divorce Joke

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Title: Divorce Joke (Christina Wulff)

General Information about the Item: 

  • Verbal Lore, Joke
  • Language: German
  • Country of Origin: Germany
  • Informant: Colin M.
  • Date Collected:10-16-18

Informant Data:

  • Colin M. is a 24-year-old financial analyst who was born and raised in the United States.Colin learned German in a German Immersion elementary and high school program and has practiced German on his travels in Europe.

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: In Germany, divorce is now a more accepted occurrence than in previous generations. Like many cultures, divorce is often a source of content for jokes.
  • Social Context: The informant first heard the joke told to him in a bar in Germany, by an older gentleman.

Associated File:

Transcript/Translation: 

  • The English translation of the joke is as follows: What do women and hand grenades have in common?  When you pull the ring off, your house goes away.

Informants Comments:

  • “I think this joke is sexist, but a bit representative of the culture in Germany, especially of an older generation.  The joke was told to me in a bar by an older man, and I am not sure if he would have been telling it to me if there were any women around to hear.”

Collector’s Comments: 

  • I agree that the joke is sexist, and a bit representative of a more traditional male-centric German society. It is also interesting that divorce is a common thread in humor of many cultures and nations.

Collector’s Name: Christina Wulff

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Lore
  • Joke
  • Divorce Joke in German