Kryponite and garlic

[Wilson Gray]

So, *that's* what "the elephant joke" is! I've read and, perhaps, even
heard, this expression for dekkids, without having the foggiest.

-Wilson

On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 10:19 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Kryponite and garlic
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 9:29 AM -0500 1/3/10, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>At 1/2/2010 10:13 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>>There's a hair salon about a half mile from my house whose name is
>>>"Kryptonnite".  I have no idea why (or what's with the two n's), but
>>>I haven't seen Superman around the neighborhood, so I guess it works.
>>
>>A modernization of the following?
>
> Indeed, I had various versions of the elephant joke learned at my
> mother's knee (versions not involving vampires or garlic, but told
> with an exaggerated Yiddish accent) in mind.  No doubt Aristotle had
> his own version to illustrate the fallacy of affirming the consequent.
>
> LH
>
>>A man was invited to a new friend's house for drinks.  When he
>>arrived, he noticed strings of garlic hung at the door and all the
>>windows, and asked his host why he had put them up.  His host
>>replied, to keep out the elephants.  "G'wan!  Vampires maybe, but
>>garlic wouldn't deter elephants."  His host replied, "Well, have you
>>seen any elephants around _my_ house?"
>>
>>Joel
>>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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