Abstract
Jokes, like euphemisms and slang, provide a means of discussing subjects that are sensitive. They are a means of broaching difficult topics, as well as a means of asserting influence, where the teller dares to transgress the accepted boundaries of topics for conversation. Through jokes, we dispel discomfort and break tension, and allow ourselves to express socially unacceptable and non-politically correct opinions. They are used to gain knowledge, test boundaries, and utilized as power-play in verbal exchanges.
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Notes
- 1.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Paramount Pictures, 1999): ‘Well, I’m sorry, Wendy. I just don’t trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn’t die’ (Mr Mackey to Wendy Testaburger).
- 2.
Oxford English Dictionary Bloody Mary: (1) A nickname for Mary Tudor (1516–1558), Queen Mary I of England (1553–1558), daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon [1657]; (2) A cocktail containing vodka, tomato juice, and other (usually pungent) flavourings, typically served with a celery stalk or similar garnish [1939].
- 3.
Urbandictionary (2003) logs Vampire Teabag as ‘Another name for a tampon, specifically a bloody one.’
- 4.
www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2005/12/08/1836110.htm, accessed 30 June 2009: (UK court trials 1981) ‘Twenty-nine-year-old barmaid Sandie Craddock got off a murder charge after stabbing another worker to death when she pleaded diminished responsibility because of PMS. The judge accepted the argument that PMS was a mitigating factor in the incident because it turned Craddock “into a raging animal each month”.’
(UK court trials 1981) ‘Christine English [36] killed her married lover when she rammed him against a pole with her car after a fight. The court was told English had an aggravated form of PMS which contributed to a drop in blood sugar and an over-production of adrenalin before the incident. The court reduced the murder charge to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.’
(UK court trials 1988) ‘Anna Reynolds [18] killed her mother by hitting her on the head with a hammer. At her trial, it was argued that she suffered from PMS, which led to the temporary loss of control and impairment, reducing her culpability. The murder charge was reduced to manslaughter.’
References
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Freud, S. (1905) 1976. Sigmund Freud: Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious. Trans., and ed. J. Strachey. 1960. A. Richards, rev. edn 1976. London: Penguin Books. The Pelican Freud Library Vol. 6. Original edn S. Freud (1905) Der Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewußten. Vienna: F. Deuticke.
Laws, S.K. 1990. Issues of Blood. The Politics of Menstruation. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Phipps, A., and I. Young. 2015. “Neoliberalisation and ‘Lad Cultures’ in Higher Education”. Sociology 49(2): 305–322.
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Wilson, C.P. 1979. Jokes: Form, Content, Use and Function. London: Academic Press.
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Newton, V.L. (2016). Mentioning the Unmentionable: ‘Only Joking…’. In: Everyday Discourses of Menstruation. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-48775-9_9
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