The Jokes on You

There are jokes that have been around for ages, like “knock-knock” jokes, or new ones that are created everyday through everyday experiences and through the gatherings of friends. One of my favorite jokes is not an old classic one, but a new one that was created one day during one of these gatherings of friends. The creation occurred last year during my study abroad in Israel. The reason this is important to note is because half of the joke is in Hebrew and half is in English. The multilingual joke is exactly why my friends and I think it is so funny. To the normal person, they would either not understand it due to the language barrier, or not think it’s funny because it is more of an inside joke. The two languages are imperative in order to somewhat comprehend the joke. If the joke was told completely in Hebrew, it would not make complete sense. This is because not all English is translated directly into Hebrew and it would make it a bit complicated. The joke would make sense in English, but it just way more fun in Hebrew.

Here it is:

Mah haHevdel bein dag l’psanter? (What’s the difference between a fish to a piano)
Ee efshar l’Tuna Fish. (It’s not possible to “tuna fish”).

You may not think this joke is funny when you read it, but it has a lot more meaning to me. Being able to combine things that I love (Hebrew and humor) means a lot to me and being able to share this joke (even though I didn’t create it) with others means even more. It was always amusing to tell this joke to little Israeli kids because they don’t know what tuna fish is, but they understand the rest of the joke, so they think you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Jokes mean different things to different people. This joke is very funny to friends and me, but not to other people. There are many different kinds of jokes that strike and wonderful chord with some, but insult others. There are blonde jokes, women jokes, and much worse kinds. There are jokes that kids create for fun, jokes for stand up comedy, and many others. I don’t know very many jokes, but when I hear a good one, I keep it in my memory to try to pass on to others