Submariner [was "thousand-yard stare"] (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

The best versions of this joke aren't shiftable, though, and I was
hoping the Irish version would have been more specific.

For example, there are a few such jokes about students of the various
SEC schools (I'm a UT Knoxville grad).

How many Vanderbilt students etc.

Three.  One to mix drinks, one to call Daddy, and one to send for the
janitor. (referring to the stereotype of Vandy students being the
Southern version of Harvard students).

How many Alabama students etc.

Five.  One to change the bulb, and four to talk about how good the old
bulb was (referring to the Crimson Tide's problems in finding a football
coach who was as good as or was a student/disciple of Bear Bryant, from
Bryant's death up until the hiring of Nick Saban.  The passage of time
and Saban's success may kill this version).

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
Behalf Of
> Robin Hamilton
> Sent: Monday, August 02, 2010 11:30 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Submariner [was "thousand-yard stare"] (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
----------------------
> -
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Robin Hamilton <robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Submariner [was "thousand-yard stare"]
(UNCLASSIFIED)
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
> -
>
> From: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
>
> > So, uh, how many Irishmen/Provos/etc. _does_ it take to change a
> > lightbulb?
>
> Here's one version (change ethnicity at will):
>
>         Three -- one to stand on the chair and hold the light bulb,
and two
> others to lift the chair and turn it around.
>
> Another (again, change ethnicity at will) on the same lines would be:
>
>         How does an Irishman work out how many horses there are in a
field?
>
>         He counts the number of legs and divides by four.
>
> While it's possible to shift the ethnic identity of the figures
against whom
> the joke is addressed -- so you could for instance replace "Irish" in
the
> version above with "Polish", and I'd guess in America by "redneck" --
> Dumb-As-Shit jokes aren't *absolutely trans-racial.  I can't imagine a
Scot
> or a Jew figuring, because anti-Scottish and anti-Jewish jokes turn on
> different stereotypes, the Scots for instance being notoriously mean
(in the
> sense of tight with their cash).
>
> Go figure.
>
> Robin
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org