|
An elephant joke is a joke, almost always an absurd riddle or conundrum and often a sequence of such, that involves an elephant. Elephant jokes were a fad in the 1960s, with many people constructing large numbers of them according to a set formula. Sometimes they involve parodies or puns. Four examples of elephant jokes are:〔〔 :Q: Why did the elephant paint its fingernails red? :A: So it could hide in the strawberry patch. :Q: How can you tell that an elephant is in the bathtub with you? :A: By the smell of peanuts on its breath. :Q: How can you tell that an elephant has been in your refrigerator/ice box? :A: By the footprints in the butter/cheesecake/cream cheese. :Q: What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? :A: Time to build a new fence. ==History== In 1960, L.M. Becker Co of Appleton, Wisconsin, released a set of 50 trading cards titled "Elephant Jokes". Elephant jokes first appeared in the United States in 1962. They were first recorded in mid-1962 in Texas, and gradually spread across the US, reaching California in early 1963. By July 1963, elephant jokes were ubiquitous and could be found in newspaper columns, and in ''Time'' and ''Seventeen'' magazines, with millions of people working to construct more jokes according to the same formula.〔〔 Both elephant jokes and Tom Swifties were in vogue in 1963, and were reported in the US national press. While the appeal of Tom Swifties was to literate adults, and gradually faded over subsequent decades, the appeal of elephant jokes was mainly to children, and has lasted. Elephant jokes began circulation primarily among schoolchildren, and have been discovered afresh by subsequent generations of children, remaining, in Isaac Asimov's words "favorites of youngsters and of unsophisticated adults".〔〔 Asimov discusses one particular elephant joke that he states is notable for the exceptional sophistication of its humor. The joke was told in the aftermath of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby, who had walked into Dallas police headquarters carrying a gun, and, in Asimov's words, while still maintaining the absurdity necessary for elephant jokes "carried a quick overtone of chill rationality":〔 :Q: What did the Dallas chief of police say when the elephant walked into the police station? :A: Nothing! He didn't notice. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elephant joke」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|