The Role Of Background Knowledge and Pragmatic Aspects in Understanding Jokes.
ABSTRACT
Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya menganalisis tentang latar belakang dan
aspek pragmatik yang terdapat dalam lelucon. Lelucon dapat membuat kita
tertawa, rileks dan bahkan dapat menjadi obat untuk mengurangi stress karena
dapat mengendurkan urat saraf. Saat membaca sebuah lelucon, kita ingin agar
lelucon tersebut dapat membuat kita tertawa. Akan tetapi, acapkali sebuah lelucon
tidak dapat di pahami karena terdapat sesuatu yang tidak kita ketahui didalamnya.
Kita cenderung mempertanyakan elemen apa yang membuat lelucon menjadi
lucu. Oleh karena itu, saya menganalisis topik ini dalam tesis saya untuk
mengetahui pengetahuan latar belakang yang dapat membuat lelucon menjadi
lucu dan dimengerti.
Selain latar belakang pengetahuan dalam menganalisis lelucon, saya juga
menganalisis berbagai aspek pragmatik terdapat dalam lelucon. Aspek-aspek
tersebut di antaranya yaitu referring expressions, say something off record,
maxims, particularized conversational implicatures. Say something off record
dapat diaplikasikan melalui petunjuk, menggunakan metaphor, irony, dan
rhetorical questions, overstatement, dan ellipsis. Adapun, maxims (bidal) yang
terdapat dalam analisis ini yaitu maxim of relevance dan maxim of quantity.
Berbagai aspek tersebut juga dapat menolong dalam memahami sebuah
lelucon karena pragmatik adalah ilmu untuk memahami makna yang
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dikomunikasikan oleh penutur kepada mitra tutur melalui ujaran dan acapkali
terjadi kesalahpahaman di antara mereka. Kesalahpahaman itulah yang menjadi
sumber kelucuan dalam sebuah lelucon. Oleh karena itu, aspek pragmatik dapat
menolong para pembaca dalam memahami sebuah lelucon.
Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya berharap para pembaca dapat memahami
pentingnya peranan latar belakang pengetahuan dalam memahami suatu lelucon
dan peranan aspek pragmatik membantu memahami lelucon sekaligus membuat
lelucon tersebut menarik untuk dibaca sehingga kita dapat menikmati lelucon itu
dengan baik
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ...............................................................................................................
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................
ii
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................. iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study .............................................................................
Statement of the Problem .............................................................................
Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................
Methods of Research ....................................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ...........................................................................
1
4
4
5
5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND
PRAGMATIC ASPECTS IN UNDERSTANDING
JOKES ........................................................................................................
9
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION .................................................................... 31
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 37
APPENDICES:
The data of the jokes .................................................................................... 39
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APPENDICES
No.
The Kinds
of Jokes
Jokes
Linguistic
Form
Pragmatics
Aspects
Knowledge
Needed
Say
something
off record
giving
“hints”
St. Patrick
Angering the Irishman
1.
Three Englishmen were in a bar and spotted
an Irishman. So, one of the Englishmen
walked over to the Irishman, tapped him on
the shoulder, and said, “Hey, I hear your St.
Patrick was a drunken loser.”
“Oh really, hmm, didn't know that."
Puzzled, the Englishman walked back to his
buddies. “I told him St. Patrick was a loser,
and he didn't care.” The second Englishman
remarked, “You just don't know how to set
him off...watch and learn.” So, the second
An Ethnic
Englishman walked over to the Irishman,
Joke
tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hey, I
hear your St. Patrick was lying, cheating,
idiotic, low-life scum!”
“Oh really, hmm, didn't know that.”
Shocked beyond belief, the Englishman went
back to his buddies. “You're right. He's
unshakable!”
The third Englishman remarked, “Boys, I'll
really tick him off... just watch.” So the third
Englishman walked over to the Irishman,
tapped him on the shoulder and said, “I hear
St. Patrick was an Englishman!”
”Yeah, that's what your buddies were trying
to tell me.”
39
“Hey, I hear
your St.
Patrick was a
drunken
loser.”
“Hey, I hear
your St.
Patrick was
lying,
cheating,
idiotic, lowlife scum!”
“I hear St.
Patrick was an
Englishman!”
Maxim of
Relevance
Racial Dog Name
2.
A guy is sitting outside a pub balling his
eyes out when a cop comes up and asks
what's wrong. “My dog is trapped inside;
he's sitting under a table surrounded by
black men.” So, the cop said, “just call
him.”
The guy now crying even more said, “I
can't you call him.” The cop said, “Alright
what's the dog's name?” Now a wreck, the
guy stuttered, “n-n-nig---.”
An Ethnic “N-n-nig---.” Referring
Joke
Expressions
“Nig”
Three Nuns Meet St Peter
Three nuns died and went to purgatory
(between heaven and hell). Then ST. Peter
went up to them and said, “Before any of
you can enter heaven you must answer one
question.”
3.
Therefore, ST. Peter went to the first nun
and asked, “How long did it take for God to
create the world?” the nun replied, “Seven
days.” So there were bells ringing and
fireworks, and ST. Peter said, “You may
now enter heaven.”
Then ST. Peter asks the second nun, “Who
were the first man and woman?” The nun
replied, “Adam & Eve.” So there were
bells ringing and fireworks, and ST. Peter
said, “You may now enter heaven.”
A
religious
joke
“oh my,
that's
really
hard”
A Dirty
Joke
Then he asked the third nun, “What was the
first thing that Eve said to Adam?” and the
nun said, “Oh my, that's really hard”, then
there was bells ringing and fireworks.
40
Referring
Expressions
The first
thing Eve
said to
Adam
The Greedy Texan
4.
5.
Four guys are flying to Japan in their own
jet. One is a Texan, one is a Mexican, one
is a French man, and the other is an
Englishman. A radio transmission says to
throw out all the luggage because there is
too much weight to land. So they do. Then
they get another transmission that says
three will have to jump out because there is
still too much weight. So the French man
goes to the door and says, “Viva Le
France.” and he jumps. The Englishman
says, “Long live the King.” and he jumps
out. So the Texan and the Mexican go to
the door. They look at each other, and the
Texan grabs the Mexican and throws him
out the door and says, “Remember the
Alamo!”
After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II
of Russia, a government official in Ukraine
menacingly addressed the local rabbi.
“I suppose you know in full detail who was
behind it.”
“Ach,” the rabbi replied, “I have no idea,
but the government’s conclusion will be the
same as always: they will blame the Jews
and the chimneysweeps.”
“Why the chimneysweeps?” asked the
befuddled official.
“Why the Jews?” responded the rabbi.
41
Referring
Expressions
The Battle
of Alamo
An Ethnic
Joke
“Remember
the Alamo!”
An Ethnic
Joke
The
“Why the
Particularized Assasination
Jews?”
Conversational
of Tsar
responded Implicatures Alexander II
the rabbi.
of Russia
Death of an Engineer
An engineer dies and reports to the pearly
gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says,
“Ah, you’re an engineer – you’re in the
wrong place.”
So the engineer reports to the gates of hell
and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets
dissatisfied with the level of comfort in
hell, and starts designing and building
improvements. After a while, they’ve got
air conditioning and flush toilets and
escalators, and the engineer is a pretty
popular guy.
6.
A Profession
One day God calls Satan up on the
Joke
telephone and says with a sneer, “So,
how’s it going down there in hell?” Satan
replies, “Hey, things are going great.
We’ve got air conditioning and flush toilets
and escalators, and there’s no telling what
A
this engineer is going to come up with
Religious
next.”
Joke
God replies, “What??? You’ve got an
engineer? That’s a mistake -- he should
never have gotten down there; send him up
here.”
Satan says, “No way. I like having an
engineer on the staff, and I’m keeping
him.”
God says, “Send him back up here or I’ll
sue.”
Satan laughs uproariously and answers,
“Yeah, right. And just where are YOU
going to get a lawyer?”
Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton & Ernesto
Zedillo (Mexican President) are in France
in a restaurant.
42
“Yeah,
right. And
just where
are YOU
going to
get a
lawyer?”
Say
Something
The General
Off Record
Characteristics
indicating
of Lawyer
Rhetorical
Questions
7.
8.
The waiter asks “Le apperitif?”
All of them answer “oui!”
The waiter looks at Zedillo “Le tequila?”
Zedillo: “oui!”
The waiter looks at Yeltsin “Le vodka?”
Yeltsin: “oui!”
Finally the waiter looks at Clinton, “Le
whisky?” Clinton: “DON’T MENTION
THAT BITCH”
“DON’T
A Political MENTION
Joke
THAT
BITCH”
Maxim of
Relevance
“Le
whisky?”
Referring
Expressions
The history teacher wanted to award
some of her students with a prize of going
home early on Friday. So she said,
“Anyone that answers the following
questions first with the correct answer gets
to go home!”
Little Johnny thinks to himself,
“Man I really need to go home early.”
The teacher asks who said, “Ask not
what my country can do for me but, what
can I do for my country?” Mary raises her
hand first and says, “John Kennedy.”
The teacher says correct, “You may
go home.”
Next she asks who said, “I have a
dream.” Peggy raises her hand and says
“Martin Luther King.” “Correct.” says the
teacher. “You may go home.”
“Damn I wish those bitches had
kept their mouths shut.” Says Little Johnny.
“Who said that?” asks the teacher
angrily.
“Bill Clinton! See you Monday,
Teach” answers Johnny going out the door.
A Kid
Joke
A
Political
Joke
“Damn I
wish
those
bitches
had kept
their
mouths
shut.”
Says
Little
Johnny.
Referring
Expressions
Bill
Clinton’s
Affair
Maxim of
Relevance
“Who said
that?”
Turkey Roll
9.
A new young blonde bride calls her mother
in tears.
She sobs, “Robert doesn't appreciate what I
do for him.”
“Now, now,” her mother comforted, “I am
sure it was all just a misunderstanding.”
“No, mother,” you don't understand.
“I bought a frozen turkey roll and he yelled
A Blonde
Joke
43
a frozen
state
Referring
Expressions
The
Stereotype
of Blonde
People
and screamed at me about the price!”
“Well, the nerve of that lousy cheapskate!”
says her mom.
“Those turkey rolls are only a few dollars.”
“No, mother it wasn't the price of the
turkey, it was the airplane ticket.”
“Airplane ticket.... What did you need an
airplane ticket for?”
“Well mother, when I went to fix it, I
looked at the directions on the package and
it said - ‘Prepare from a frozen state,’ so I
flew to Alaska!”
10.
A Catholic priest says to a rabbi: “It seems
to me that if the Creator made pork, He
must have made it for a purpose. It must be
a sin not to use it then, don’t you think?
When are you finally going to try it?”
The rabbi replies: “At your wedding.”
A
Religious
Joke
“At your
wedding.”
Say
Something
Off Record
indicating
Ironic and
using
Rhetorical
Questions
An Ethnic
Joke
“Well if
you all
aren’t
drinking
beer, then
neither
shall I. ”
Say
Something
Off Record
using
Rhetorical
Questions
and Ellipsis
Something
that
Catholic
Priest and
Rabbi is
prohibited
to do
Guinness
Beer
Beer Machismo
After the Great Britain Beer Festival in
London, all the Presidents of the brewers
decide to go to the pub for a drink. The
Coors President said, “Can I have the only
beer made with Rocky Mountain Spring
Water: a Coors, please.”
The bartender gave him the drink.
11. Then the Budweiser President orders, “The
King of Beers -- Budweiser.”
The bartender proceeds with the order.
The Amstel President walks in and orders
“The Finest Beer ever.”
The bartender gives him an Amstel.
Then the Guinness President says, “I’ll have
a coke please.”
The bartender is taken aback by this but
gives the coke to him anyway.
44
All the Presidents looked over at him and
said, “Why have you ordered a coke?”
He replied, “Well if you all aren't drinking
beer, then neither shall I.”
Our family was dazzled by the
sights and the bustling crowds during a visit
12. to Manhattan. “This is the city that never
sleeps.” I told to my 11-year-old daughter.
“That’s probably because there’s a
Starbucks on every corner.” she observed.
A Kid
Joke
“This is
the city
that never
sleeps.”
Say
Something
Off Record
indicating
Metaphor
Starbucks
Maxim of
Relevance
Irishman Declares War
Saddam Hussein is sitting at home when the
phone rings. He picks it up and says
“Hello”. The voice at the end of the phone
says “Hello Mr. Hussein, it’s Paddy here.
I’m just ringing to let you know that we’ve
declared war on your country.” SH smiles to
himself, “Come on Paddy”, he says,
“there’s no point you declaring war on us,
you wouldn’t stand a chance.” Paddy
replies, “No, no, we’ve had ourselves a
meeting, and we've decided to declare war
on you.”
So SH says, “OK Paddy, now listen, I’ve
13.
A Political
got an air force of over a thousand planes,
Joke
what kind of air force you have got to match
that? It’d be over in no time.” So Paddy
says, “Well my lad’s got himself a hot-air
balloon, and my brother used to work at an
airport.” Hussein laughs, “Oh come on,
you’ve not got a hope”. “Hold on a sec, Mr.
Hussein,” Paddy says, “we’ll just have a
quick meeting.” So off he goes and has a
quick meeting. “Are you still there Mr.
Hussein? Yes, well we’ve had our meeting,
and we’ve decided that we’re still going to
declare war.”
So SH says, “Right then Paddy, well you
know, as well as the air force, we’ve also
got about a thousand tanks. How are you
45
“Well, it’s
those 10
thousand
soldiers you
see. We
can’t declare
Say
war on you Something
Off Record
because
indicating
we’ve not
Overstate
got the
facilities to
keep all
those
prisoners!”
Saddam
Hussein
Robert Blair
‘Paddy’
Mayne
going to match that.” “Well,” Paddy says,
“I’ve got an old Austin, and my cousin
down the road has got a tractor.” “Get real,”
says SH, “that’s no match at all.” So Paddy
says, “Hold on, I'll just go and have another
meeting.” “Are you still there Mr. Hussein?
Yes, well we’ve had our meeting, and
we’ve decided that we're still going to
declare war.”
SH thinks this is just amazing, “Well how
many soldiers have you got Paddy?”.
“Well,” says Paddy, “There’s me, my kid,
me 4 cousins, and they all had sons, and
there’s Bill down the road.... I reckon I
could get together about 30.” Laughing
openly now SH replies, “Come on Paddy,
I’ve got 10,000 highly trained fighting men
at my disposal. I think you’d better go and
have another meeting.” “I will”, says Paddy,
“I will.”
“Are you still there Mr. Hussein? Yes, well
we’ve had our meeting, and we’ve decided
that we’re not going to declare war on you
after all.” “At last,” replies SH, “What made
you change your mind?” “Well, it’s those
10 thousand soldiers you see. We can’t
declare war on you because we’ve not got
the facilities to keep all those prisoners!”
We were celebrating the centenary of our
church and several former ministers and the A Kid Joke
bishop attended the ceremony. At one
point, our minister gathered the children at
the altar for a talk on the importance of the
A
day.
Religious
14.
He began by asking, “Does anyone
Joke
know what the bishop does?”
There was silence at first, but finally
one little boy answered gravely, “He’s the A Profession
one you can move diagonally.”
Joke
Referring
Expressions
Bishop
A
Profession Doughnuts
Joke
Looking Into Their Eyes
15.
A policeman pulls a man over for speeding
46
Maxim of
Relevance
Maxim of
Relevance
The
Bishop’s job
in the
Church
Police’s
habit of
Eating
and asks him to get out of the car. After
looking the man over he says, “Sir, I
couldn't help but notice your eyes are
bloodshot. Have you been drinking?”
Doughnuts
The man gets really indignant and says,
“Officer, I couldn’t help but notice your
eyes are glazed. Have you been eating
doughnuts?”
A Setback in Iraqi-American Relations
Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush meet
up in Baghdad for the first round of talks in
a new peace process. When George sits
down, he notices three buttons on the side
of Saddam's chair. They begin talking.
After about five minutes Saddam presses
the first button. A boxing glove springs out
of a box on the desk and punches Bush in
the face.
A
Practical
Joke
Confused, Bush carries on talking as
Saddam laughs. A few minutes later the
second button is pressed. This time a big
boot comes out and kicks Bush in the shin.
Again Saddam laughs, and again Bush
16.
carries on talking, not wanting to put off the
bigger issue of peace between the two
countries. But when the third button is
pressed and another boot comes out and
kicks Bush in the privates, he's finally had
enough, knowing that he can’t do much
without them functioning well. “I’m going
back home!” he tells the Iraqi. “We’ll finish
these talks in two weeks!”
“What
Baghdad?”
A
Political
Joke
A fortnight passes and Saddam flies to the
United States for talks. As the two men sit
down, Hussein notices three buttons on
Bush’s chair and prepares himself for the
Yank’s revenge. They begin talking and
Bush presses the first button. Saddam
ducks, but nothing happens. George
snickers. A few seconds later he presses the
47
Say
Something
Off Record
indicating
Rhetorical
Questions
The Fight
Between US
and Iraq
second button. Saddam jumps up, but again
nothing happens. Bush roars with laughter.
When the third button is pressed, Saddam
jumps up again, and again nothing happens.
Bush falls on the floor in a fit of hysterics.
“Forget this,” says Saddam. “I’m going
back to Baghdad!”
Dubya says through tears of laughter,
“What Baghdad?”
17.
18.
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Kent!
Kent who?
Kent you tell who it is?
Q: How many blondes does it take to screw
in a light bulb?
A: It shouldn’t take more than one person
to do this task, regardless of hair color.
48
An AntiJoke or
AntiHumor
Kent you
tell who it
is?
Maxim of
Relevance
A Blonde
Joke
It
shouldn’t
take more
than one
person to
do this
task,
regardless
of hair
color.
The
Maxim of Characteristics
Quantity
of Blonde
People
The Similar
Pronunciation
of Kent and
Can’t
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Laughing constitutes one method to become healthy. Researchers find out
the advantages of laughing. Those are reducing stress, lowering blood pressure,
making us relaxed and happy as well as helping the process of healing. Therefore,
laughing is the best medicine and thus makes us live longer. There are various
ways to get laugh and one of them is through enjoying a joke.
A joke is something that makes us laugh because it is silly and ridiculous;
besides, it is sometimes illogical. There are some kinds of jokes. The first is a
political joke. A political joke is a joke which is concerned with satire and usually
involves nations, politicians and governments.
The second is a profession joke. The kind of joke is a joke portraying
certain professions such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, etc.
The third is an ethnic joke. An ethnic joke is a joke which is intended to
make fun of cultures, races, or countries in the world. This type of joke is often
racist and frequently offensive but is not intended to hurt or insult the victim.
(http://www.ahajokes.com/ethnic_jokes.html)
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The fourth is a blonde joke. This joke tells about the stereotypes of blonde
people, both women and men. The stereotypes of blonde women that will be revealed
in this joke are unintelligent, sexually promiscuous, or both. The blonde jokes are also
found as offensive as the other stereotypes jokes are.
The fifth is a religious joke. A religious joke is a joke which tells about
religion and God. The joke is also based on the stereotypes associated with people of
certain religions. For example: Nun jokes and Jewish jokes, joke on classical religious
subjects such as crucifixion, Adam and Eve, St. Peter at The Gates, etc. joke that
collide with different religious denominations: “A rabbi, a medicine man, and a pastor
went fishing…”; letters addressed to God. (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Joke)
The sixth is an anti-joke or anti-humor. The form of this joke is usually
riddles. Anti-joke or anti-humor is a joke that is not funny; on the contrary, the
punchline, the funny part of the joke, does not happen. For example, “Why did the
chicken cross the road?” and the answer is “To get to the other side.” The effect of
anti-joke is common and mundane. Anti-joke writing usually prefers a full stop to an
exclamation mark to make the effect of the joke dry and the tone is not humorous.
(http://www.articleworld.org/index.php/Anti-humor)
The seventh is a kid joke. A kid joke is a funny joke for people of all ages,
either for kids or for adults. The joke is typically made by children and young adults
because of their straightforwardness or innocence, which make people laugh.
(http://www.ahajokes.com/kids_jokes.html)
The eighth is a practical joke. A practical joke is a joke played by someone to
make
the
victim
feel
embarrassed,
humiliated,
or
discomfort.
(http://www.answers.com/topic/practical-joke) The example of a practical joke is she
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glued the teacher’s book to the desk (Longman, 1998: 1049) or someone put a custard
pie in somebody’s face.
Last but not least is a dirty joke. “Dirty joke is a joke about sex or something
disgusting.” (Longman, 2000: 774). They reveal about taboo things and sometimes
about sexual activities.
Understanding a joke is not as simple as it appears to be. Many jokes need
interpretation of what the speaker or the writer is trying to tell through their
utterances. As a result, we need knowledge about it. The knowledge is Pragmatics,
which is concerned with the meaning of the writer’s or speaker’s saying in order that
the reader can interpret the meaning. (Yule, 1996: 3) Pragmatics is also needed to help
build the funny element of the jokes.
A lot of jokes have implicit meanings and come from the cultures, nations, or
groups, which we are not familiar with; accordingly, the role of background
knowledge is very significant as it is the way to comprehend a joke. The definition of
background knowledge itself is “Our ability to arrive automatically at interpretations
of the written and the unsaid”. (Yule, 1996: 85) In interpreting jokes, we initially will
have to find out the topic of the jokes and then try to find the background knowledge
about the particular topic. If we do not have adequate background knowledge about
the topic of the jokes, we will not be able to comprehend the jokes thoroughly.
There are some other aspects of Pragmatics to help understand jokes, such as
referring expressions, say something off record, particularized conversational
implicatures, and maxims. Referring expressions identify something to the reader. Say
something off record shows ‘hints’, use metaphor, overstatement, rhetorical questions,
being ironic, or use incomplete utterances. Maxim is a rule to make our conversation
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required by the other; whereas, particularized conversational implicatures is the
further meaning which is not stated and needs certain knowledge to understand it.
To know further about how significant background knowledge and pragmatic
aspects in understanding jokes, I intend to analyze, “The Role of Background
Knowledge and Pragmatic Aspects in Understanding Jokes” in my thesis. By
understanding the significant role of background knowledge in jokes and knowing the
pragmatic aspects in jokes, I hope the readers know where the pragmatic aspects in
jokes and they can comprehend the jokes thoroughly and indirectly they may get
information about other cultures, nations, or groups.
Statement of the Problem
The problems that I will analyze:
1. What is the linguistic form that makes the joke funny?
2. What is the role of background knowledge to help understand the joke?
3. What is the role of Pragmatic aspect that helps the joke to become funny?
Purpose of the Study
The purposes of constructing the research are:
1. To know the linguistic form that makes each joke funny.
2. To know the role of background knowledge to help understand the joke.
3. To know the role of Pragmatics aspect that helps the joke to become funny.
Methods of Research
In gathering the data, I look for some jokes in the Internet and magazines.
Then I select the jokes which need background knowledge and pragmatic aspect to
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understand it. Afterwards, I classify and analyze the jokes. Finally, I write a research
report.
Organization of the Thesis
My thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
contains the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the
Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is the
Theoretical Framework; it deals with the explanation of the linguistic area and the
approaches used in analyzing the data. Chapter Three is the analysis of the jokes that I
have gathered, and Chapter Four is the Conclusion, in which I write my personal
comments and opinions of the findings. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and
Appendices.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the jokes, I arrive at a conclusion that the role of background
knowledge is significant to help us comprehend jokes. It is certain we will not be able
to comprehend a joke thoroughly without being aware of the funny element of the
joke. Accordingly, we need background knowledge to understand the joke. For
example, the joke entitled “The Greedy Texan”, which tells about a Texan who
pushes a Mexican out of the plane and says, “Remember the Alamo”. If we do not
have any background knowledge about the phrase “Remember the Alamo”, we surely
will not understand why the Texan pushes the Mexican and what motivates the Texan
to say the phrase. Therefore, the background knowledge plays an important role to
know the battle between the Texan and the Mexican known as “Remember the
Alamo”. Therefore, we can understand the reason why the Texan throws the Mexican,
which makes the joke become funny.
Aside from the background knowledge, the roles of pragmatic aspects are also
significant to help us understand the funny elements of the joke. The pragmatic
aspects are referring expressions, say something off record, particularized
conversational implicature and maxims. The joke entitled “Racial Dog Name”, taken
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as an example, contains pragmatic aspects such as referring expressions which
refers to the word ‘Nig’.
The pragmatic aspects also make the jokes interesting because jokes have
implicit meanings. It needs our interpretation to understand what the joke writers
are trying to tell us the funny element of their jokes. For example, the joke which
tells about a family goes to Manhattan. The parent is perplexed at the Manhattan
people’s being busy doing their work. The parent calls Manhattan ‘the city that
never sleeps’. The parent uses say something off record showing metaphor. In this
joke, we need our interpretation to understand the phrase ‘the city that never
sleeps’, which means the Manhattan people are extremely busy as if they do not
have enough to sleep.
In particular, it is found that each joke contains different pragmatic
aspects. In a political joke, it is found that this joke uses referring expressions,
maxim of relevance, say something off record indicating overstate, say something
off record indicating rhetorical questions. It is concluded that most of this joke
uses the referring expressions and maxim of relevance. It is because the referring
expressions identify the nations, the government, or the politician that become the
source of the joke. For example, the joke which tells about Bill Clinton’s
mishearing the word ‘Le whisky’ to ‘Lewinsky’. The referring expression of the
joke is ‘Le whisky’ and ‘Lewinsky’. ‘Le whisky’ refers to a name of alcoholic
drink, Whisky, and ‘Lewinsky’ refers to Bill Clinton’s affair. The joke also
violates maxim of relevance because the irrelevant topic between Bill Clinton and
the waiter.
It is found that the pragmatic aspects in a profession joke are saying
something off record showing rhetorical questions, referring expressions, or
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maxim of relevance. It is concluded that this joke tends to use maxim of relevance
is to build funny element of certain profession because the role of the profession is
made to be irrelevant. In the analysis, there are two jokes which violate maxim of
relevance but the purpose is different. First, the joke which tells about the bishop’s
job at church, the irrelevance is built because of the misinterpretation between the
ministry and the little boy. The job of bishop that the ministry means is that
bishop as a highest priest; on the other hand, the little boy thinks bishop as a piece
in chess game. Second, the maxim of relevance in “Looking into Their Eyes” is
caused by the driver’s diverting the police’s accusation. The driver does not want
to be blamed for having drunk alcohol so he diverts the police’s accusation to
making the conversation become irrelevant.
In an ethnic joke, it is found that the pragmatic aspects needed are saying
something off record giving ‘hints’, showing rhetorical questions and ellipsis,
referring expressions, or particularized conversational implicatures. It is pointed
out that say something off record is often used because it reveals something racist
indirectly to refer to the point of culture. The purpose is to make it funny or to
compliment themselves indirectly. For example, the joke entitled “Angering the
Irishman” tells about three Englishmen, who want to make an Irishman angry.
They mock St. Patrick using off record giving ‘hints’ to make the Irishman aware
of the fact that they are mocking him indirectly. Another joke showing say
something off record is the joke entitled “Beer Machismo”. The Guinness’
President’s utterance, “Well if you all aren't drinking beer, then neither shall I.”
shows say something off record using rhetorical question and ellipsis, which
indicate that Guinness beer is really ‘beer’ and different from other beers.
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It is found that the pragmatic aspects in a blonde joke are referring
expressions, and maxim of quantity. A blonde joke uses referring expressions to
refer to the blonde people because it centers on the stereotype of blonde people
such as dumbness, reliance on their looks more than their brain and sexually
promiscuous. Those characteristics refer to the blonde people. A blonde joke also
uses maxim of quantity in order to explain more to the reader how dumb blonde
people are.
In a religious joke, it is found that the pragmatic aspects of this joke are
referring expressions, say something off record showing rhetorical questions and
ironic, or maxim of relevance. A religious joke tends to use say something off
record in order to reveal something sensitive concerned with certain religion. For
example, the joke about a Catholic priest and a rabbi is prohibited to do. The
Catholic priest challenges when the rabbi will eat pork. The rabbi answers he will
eat pork when the Catholic priest marries. The joke indicates irony because the
Catholic priest must not marry as well as the rabbi is prohibited to eat pork. The
rabbi’s answer also uses rhetorical questions and not need to be answered.
It is found that the pragmatic aspect in an anti-joke or anti-humor is maxim
of relevance. The joke can be categorized in this kind of joke because the
punchline, the funny part of a joke, is irrelevant. Maxim of relevance makes the
jokes funny because the irrelevance between the participants. However, in the
anti-joke the irrelevance sometimes does not make the joke funny because it is a
joke that is not funny; on the contrary, the punchline, the funny part of the joke is
not humorous.
It is found that the pragmatic aspects in a kid joke are referring expressions
and say something off record showing metaphor. The kid joke usually violates
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maxim of relevance because children tend to be straightforward, innocent and
their mind is different with adult’s mind so that maxim of relevance is likely to
occur.
In a practical joke, it is found that there is no pragmatic aspect in this joke
because the joke is played physically not in verbally while Pragmatics is a study
which interprets the speaker’s meaning through the speaker’s utterances so that
there is no pragmatic aspect.
The last is a dirty joke. It is found that the pragmatic aspect of this joke is
referring expressions. The referring expressions shows something taboo about sex.
For example, the joke entitled “Three Nuns Meet St. Peter”. Three nuns die and
before entering the purgatory, they have to ask St. Peter’s question. Two first nuns
answer the question correctly and just one nun left. St. Peter asks “What was the
first thing Eve said to Adam?” and the nun answers “Oh my, that’s really hard.”
St. Peter allows her to enter the purgatory. The word ‘that’s’ refers to two
meaning. First, refers to the St. Peter’s question. Second, refers to Adam’s penis,
whereas the meaning ‘hard’ has two meaning either difficult or not soft.
On the whole, it is found that pragmatic aspects support background
knowledge in understanding jokes. The role of background knowledge is
significant to know what a joke is about through histories, influential people,
certain culture, characteristics of group of people like the Nigger and the blonde
people. Meanwhile, the role of pragmatic aspects is to help understand what the
participant is trying to tell through their utterances in a joke so that we can
understand jokes thoroughly. For example, the pragmatic aspect of the joke,
which tells about the assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, is particular
conversational implicatures. Through pragmatic aspects, we know that the rabbi’s
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answer, “Why the Jews?” is to show that the Jews do not kill Tsar Alexander II of
Russia and they have nothing to do with the assassination.
I hope this thesis make the readers aware of the significance of the role of
background knowledge in understanding jokes as well as the role of pragmatic
aspects help and make jokes interesting to read. After reading this thesis, I hope
the reader, who is reading a joke, know the background knowledge of that joke
and enjoy the joke through pragmatic aspects.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown P, Levinson S C. Politeness, Some universals in language usage.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1987.
Dictionary of English Language and Culture. Longman. 1998.
Foley, Linda. Reader’s Digest May. 2004: 143.
Lampe, Lillie. Reader’s Digest Dec. 2004: 47.
Longman Advanced American Dictionary. Longman. 2000.
The Cultural Library with an Encyclopedic Index Vol. 9: Famous People of All
Time. Parent’s Magazine’s Cultural Institute. 1965.
Thomas, Jenny. Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics. London:
Longman. 1995.
Webster’s Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridge. Second edition – deluxe
color. 1979.
Yule, Thomas. Discourse of Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Yule, Thomas. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Internet websites:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_in_iraq)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Hryniewiecki)
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(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Blair_Mayne)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein)
(http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Stereotype)
(http://www.ahajokes.com/ethnic_jokes.html)
(http://www.ahajokes.com/kids_jokes.html)
(http://www.answers.com/topic/practical-joke)
(http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm)
(http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hussein.html)
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02255a.htm)
(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blonde+jokes)
(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nigga)
(www.jewfaq.org/kashrut/htm)
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Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya menganalisis tentang latar belakang dan
aspek pragmatik yang terdapat dalam lelucon. Lelucon dapat membuat kita
tertawa, rileks dan bahkan dapat menjadi obat untuk mengurangi stress karena
dapat mengendurkan urat saraf. Saat membaca sebuah lelucon, kita ingin agar
lelucon tersebut dapat membuat kita tertawa. Akan tetapi, acapkali sebuah lelucon
tidak dapat di pahami karena terdapat sesuatu yang tidak kita ketahui didalamnya.
Kita cenderung mempertanyakan elemen apa yang membuat lelucon menjadi
lucu. Oleh karena itu, saya menganalisis topik ini dalam tesis saya untuk
mengetahui pengetahuan latar belakang yang dapat membuat lelucon menjadi
lucu dan dimengerti.
Selain latar belakang pengetahuan dalam menganalisis lelucon, saya juga
menganalisis berbagai aspek pragmatik terdapat dalam lelucon. Aspek-aspek
tersebut di antaranya yaitu referring expressions, say something off record,
maxims, particularized conversational implicatures. Say something off record
dapat diaplikasikan melalui petunjuk, menggunakan metaphor, irony, dan
rhetorical questions, overstatement, dan ellipsis. Adapun, maxims (bidal) yang
terdapat dalam analisis ini yaitu maxim of relevance dan maxim of quantity.
Berbagai aspek tersebut juga dapat menolong dalam memahami sebuah
lelucon karena pragmatik adalah ilmu untuk memahami makna yang
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dikomunikasikan oleh penutur kepada mitra tutur melalui ujaran dan acapkali
terjadi kesalahpahaman di antara mereka. Kesalahpahaman itulah yang menjadi
sumber kelucuan dalam sebuah lelucon. Oleh karena itu, aspek pragmatik dapat
menolong para pembaca dalam memahami sebuah lelucon.
Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya berharap para pembaca dapat memahami
pentingnya peranan latar belakang pengetahuan dalam memahami suatu lelucon
dan peranan aspek pragmatik membantu memahami lelucon sekaligus membuat
lelucon tersebut menarik untuk dibaca sehingga kita dapat menikmati lelucon itu
dengan baik
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ...............................................................................................................
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................
ii
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................. iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study .............................................................................
Statement of the Problem .............................................................................
Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................
Methods of Research ....................................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ...........................................................................
1
4
4
5
5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ......................................
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND
PRAGMATIC ASPECTS IN UNDERSTANDING
JOKES ........................................................................................................
9
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION .................................................................... 31
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 37
APPENDICES:
The data of the jokes .................................................................................... 39
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APPENDICES
No.
The Kinds
of Jokes
Jokes
Linguistic
Form
Pragmatics
Aspects
Knowledge
Needed
Say
something
off record
giving
“hints”
St. Patrick
Angering the Irishman
1.
Three Englishmen were in a bar and spotted
an Irishman. So, one of the Englishmen
walked over to the Irishman, tapped him on
the shoulder, and said, “Hey, I hear your St.
Patrick was a drunken loser.”
“Oh really, hmm, didn't know that."
Puzzled, the Englishman walked back to his
buddies. “I told him St. Patrick was a loser,
and he didn't care.” The second Englishman
remarked, “You just don't know how to set
him off...watch and learn.” So, the second
An Ethnic
Englishman walked over to the Irishman,
Joke
tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hey, I
hear your St. Patrick was lying, cheating,
idiotic, low-life scum!”
“Oh really, hmm, didn't know that.”
Shocked beyond belief, the Englishman went
back to his buddies. “You're right. He's
unshakable!”
The third Englishman remarked, “Boys, I'll
really tick him off... just watch.” So the third
Englishman walked over to the Irishman,
tapped him on the shoulder and said, “I hear
St. Patrick was an Englishman!”
”Yeah, that's what your buddies were trying
to tell me.”
39
“Hey, I hear
your St.
Patrick was a
drunken
loser.”
“Hey, I hear
your St.
Patrick was
lying,
cheating,
idiotic, lowlife scum!”
“I hear St.
Patrick was an
Englishman!”
Maxim of
Relevance
Racial Dog Name
2.
A guy is sitting outside a pub balling his
eyes out when a cop comes up and asks
what's wrong. “My dog is trapped inside;
he's sitting under a table surrounded by
black men.” So, the cop said, “just call
him.”
The guy now crying even more said, “I
can't you call him.” The cop said, “Alright
what's the dog's name?” Now a wreck, the
guy stuttered, “n-n-nig---.”
An Ethnic “N-n-nig---.” Referring
Joke
Expressions
“Nig”
Three Nuns Meet St Peter
Three nuns died and went to purgatory
(between heaven and hell). Then ST. Peter
went up to them and said, “Before any of
you can enter heaven you must answer one
question.”
3.
Therefore, ST. Peter went to the first nun
and asked, “How long did it take for God to
create the world?” the nun replied, “Seven
days.” So there were bells ringing and
fireworks, and ST. Peter said, “You may
now enter heaven.”
Then ST. Peter asks the second nun, “Who
were the first man and woman?” The nun
replied, “Adam & Eve.” So there were
bells ringing and fireworks, and ST. Peter
said, “You may now enter heaven.”
A
religious
joke
“oh my,
that's
really
hard”
A Dirty
Joke
Then he asked the third nun, “What was the
first thing that Eve said to Adam?” and the
nun said, “Oh my, that's really hard”, then
there was bells ringing and fireworks.
40
Referring
Expressions
The first
thing Eve
said to
Adam
The Greedy Texan
4.
5.
Four guys are flying to Japan in their own
jet. One is a Texan, one is a Mexican, one
is a French man, and the other is an
Englishman. A radio transmission says to
throw out all the luggage because there is
too much weight to land. So they do. Then
they get another transmission that says
three will have to jump out because there is
still too much weight. So the French man
goes to the door and says, “Viva Le
France.” and he jumps. The Englishman
says, “Long live the King.” and he jumps
out. So the Texan and the Mexican go to
the door. They look at each other, and the
Texan grabs the Mexican and throws him
out the door and says, “Remember the
Alamo!”
After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II
of Russia, a government official in Ukraine
menacingly addressed the local rabbi.
“I suppose you know in full detail who was
behind it.”
“Ach,” the rabbi replied, “I have no idea,
but the government’s conclusion will be the
same as always: they will blame the Jews
and the chimneysweeps.”
“Why the chimneysweeps?” asked the
befuddled official.
“Why the Jews?” responded the rabbi.
41
Referring
Expressions
The Battle
of Alamo
An Ethnic
Joke
“Remember
the Alamo!”
An Ethnic
Joke
The
“Why the
Particularized Assasination
Jews?”
Conversational
of Tsar
responded Implicatures Alexander II
the rabbi.
of Russia
Death of an Engineer
An engineer dies and reports to the pearly
gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says,
“Ah, you’re an engineer – you’re in the
wrong place.”
So the engineer reports to the gates of hell
and is let in. Pretty soon, the engineer gets
dissatisfied with the level of comfort in
hell, and starts designing and building
improvements. After a while, they’ve got
air conditioning and flush toilets and
escalators, and the engineer is a pretty
popular guy.
6.
A Profession
One day God calls Satan up on the
Joke
telephone and says with a sneer, “So,
how’s it going down there in hell?” Satan
replies, “Hey, things are going great.
We’ve got air conditioning and flush toilets
and escalators, and there’s no telling what
A
this engineer is going to come up with
Religious
next.”
Joke
God replies, “What??? You’ve got an
engineer? That’s a mistake -- he should
never have gotten down there; send him up
here.”
Satan says, “No way. I like having an
engineer on the staff, and I’m keeping
him.”
God says, “Send him back up here or I’ll
sue.”
Satan laughs uproariously and answers,
“Yeah, right. And just where are YOU
going to get a lawyer?”
Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton & Ernesto
Zedillo (Mexican President) are in France
in a restaurant.
42
“Yeah,
right. And
just where
are YOU
going to
get a
lawyer?”
Say
Something
The General
Off Record
Characteristics
indicating
of Lawyer
Rhetorical
Questions
7.
8.
The waiter asks “Le apperitif?”
All of them answer “oui!”
The waiter looks at Zedillo “Le tequila?”
Zedillo: “oui!”
The waiter looks at Yeltsin “Le vodka?”
Yeltsin: “oui!”
Finally the waiter looks at Clinton, “Le
whisky?” Clinton: “DON’T MENTION
THAT BITCH”
“DON’T
A Political MENTION
Joke
THAT
BITCH”
Maxim of
Relevance
“Le
whisky?”
Referring
Expressions
The history teacher wanted to award
some of her students with a prize of going
home early on Friday. So she said,
“Anyone that answers the following
questions first with the correct answer gets
to go home!”
Little Johnny thinks to himself,
“Man I really need to go home early.”
The teacher asks who said, “Ask not
what my country can do for me but, what
can I do for my country?” Mary raises her
hand first and says, “John Kennedy.”
The teacher says correct, “You may
go home.”
Next she asks who said, “I have a
dream.” Peggy raises her hand and says
“Martin Luther King.” “Correct.” says the
teacher. “You may go home.”
“Damn I wish those bitches had
kept their mouths shut.” Says Little Johnny.
“Who said that?” asks the teacher
angrily.
“Bill Clinton! See you Monday,
Teach” answers Johnny going out the door.
A Kid
Joke
A
Political
Joke
“Damn I
wish
those
bitches
had kept
their
mouths
shut.”
Says
Little
Johnny.
Referring
Expressions
Bill
Clinton’s
Affair
Maxim of
Relevance
“Who said
that?”
Turkey Roll
9.
A new young blonde bride calls her mother
in tears.
She sobs, “Robert doesn't appreciate what I
do for him.”
“Now, now,” her mother comforted, “I am
sure it was all just a misunderstanding.”
“No, mother,” you don't understand.
“I bought a frozen turkey roll and he yelled
A Blonde
Joke
43
a frozen
state
Referring
Expressions
The
Stereotype
of Blonde
People
and screamed at me about the price!”
“Well, the nerve of that lousy cheapskate!”
says her mom.
“Those turkey rolls are only a few dollars.”
“No, mother it wasn't the price of the
turkey, it was the airplane ticket.”
“Airplane ticket.... What did you need an
airplane ticket for?”
“Well mother, when I went to fix it, I
looked at the directions on the package and
it said - ‘Prepare from a frozen state,’ so I
flew to Alaska!”
10.
A Catholic priest says to a rabbi: “It seems
to me that if the Creator made pork, He
must have made it for a purpose. It must be
a sin not to use it then, don’t you think?
When are you finally going to try it?”
The rabbi replies: “At your wedding.”
A
Religious
Joke
“At your
wedding.”
Say
Something
Off Record
indicating
Ironic and
using
Rhetorical
Questions
An Ethnic
Joke
“Well if
you all
aren’t
drinking
beer, then
neither
shall I. ”
Say
Something
Off Record
using
Rhetorical
Questions
and Ellipsis
Something
that
Catholic
Priest and
Rabbi is
prohibited
to do
Guinness
Beer
Beer Machismo
After the Great Britain Beer Festival in
London, all the Presidents of the brewers
decide to go to the pub for a drink. The
Coors President said, “Can I have the only
beer made with Rocky Mountain Spring
Water: a Coors, please.”
The bartender gave him the drink.
11. Then the Budweiser President orders, “The
King of Beers -- Budweiser.”
The bartender proceeds with the order.
The Amstel President walks in and orders
“The Finest Beer ever.”
The bartender gives him an Amstel.
Then the Guinness President says, “I’ll have
a coke please.”
The bartender is taken aback by this but
gives the coke to him anyway.
44
All the Presidents looked over at him and
said, “Why have you ordered a coke?”
He replied, “Well if you all aren't drinking
beer, then neither shall I.”
Our family was dazzled by the
sights and the bustling crowds during a visit
12. to Manhattan. “This is the city that never
sleeps.” I told to my 11-year-old daughter.
“That’s probably because there’s a
Starbucks on every corner.” she observed.
A Kid
Joke
“This is
the city
that never
sleeps.”
Say
Something
Off Record
indicating
Metaphor
Starbucks
Maxim of
Relevance
Irishman Declares War
Saddam Hussein is sitting at home when the
phone rings. He picks it up and says
“Hello”. The voice at the end of the phone
says “Hello Mr. Hussein, it’s Paddy here.
I’m just ringing to let you know that we’ve
declared war on your country.” SH smiles to
himself, “Come on Paddy”, he says,
“there’s no point you declaring war on us,
you wouldn’t stand a chance.” Paddy
replies, “No, no, we’ve had ourselves a
meeting, and we've decided to declare war
on you.”
So SH says, “OK Paddy, now listen, I’ve
13.
A Political
got an air force of over a thousand planes,
Joke
what kind of air force you have got to match
that? It’d be over in no time.” So Paddy
says, “Well my lad’s got himself a hot-air
balloon, and my brother used to work at an
airport.” Hussein laughs, “Oh come on,
you’ve not got a hope”. “Hold on a sec, Mr.
Hussein,” Paddy says, “we’ll just have a
quick meeting.” So off he goes and has a
quick meeting. “Are you still there Mr.
Hussein? Yes, well we’ve had our meeting,
and we’ve decided that we’re still going to
declare war.”
So SH says, “Right then Paddy, well you
know, as well as the air force, we’ve also
got about a thousand tanks. How are you
45
“Well, it’s
those 10
thousand
soldiers you
see. We
can’t declare
Say
war on you Something
Off Record
because
indicating
we’ve not
Overstate
got the
facilities to
keep all
those
prisoners!”
Saddam
Hussein
Robert Blair
‘Paddy’
Mayne
going to match that.” “Well,” Paddy says,
“I’ve got an old Austin, and my cousin
down the road has got a tractor.” “Get real,”
says SH, “that’s no match at all.” So Paddy
says, “Hold on, I'll just go and have another
meeting.” “Are you still there Mr. Hussein?
Yes, well we’ve had our meeting, and
we’ve decided that we're still going to
declare war.”
SH thinks this is just amazing, “Well how
many soldiers have you got Paddy?”.
“Well,” says Paddy, “There’s me, my kid,
me 4 cousins, and they all had sons, and
there’s Bill down the road.... I reckon I
could get together about 30.” Laughing
openly now SH replies, “Come on Paddy,
I’ve got 10,000 highly trained fighting men
at my disposal. I think you’d better go and
have another meeting.” “I will”, says Paddy,
“I will.”
“Are you still there Mr. Hussein? Yes, well
we’ve had our meeting, and we’ve decided
that we’re not going to declare war on you
after all.” “At last,” replies SH, “What made
you change your mind?” “Well, it’s those
10 thousand soldiers you see. We can’t
declare war on you because we’ve not got
the facilities to keep all those prisoners!”
We were celebrating the centenary of our
church and several former ministers and the A Kid Joke
bishop attended the ceremony. At one
point, our minister gathered the children at
the altar for a talk on the importance of the
A
day.
Religious
14.
He began by asking, “Does anyone
Joke
know what the bishop does?”
There was silence at first, but finally
one little boy answered gravely, “He’s the A Profession
one you can move diagonally.”
Joke
Referring
Expressions
Bishop
A
Profession Doughnuts
Joke
Looking Into Their Eyes
15.
A policeman pulls a man over for speeding
46
Maxim of
Relevance
Maxim of
Relevance
The
Bishop’s job
in the
Church
Police’s
habit of
Eating
and asks him to get out of the car. After
looking the man over he says, “Sir, I
couldn't help but notice your eyes are
bloodshot. Have you been drinking?”
Doughnuts
The man gets really indignant and says,
“Officer, I couldn’t help but notice your
eyes are glazed. Have you been eating
doughnuts?”
A Setback in Iraqi-American Relations
Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush meet
up in Baghdad for the first round of talks in
a new peace process. When George sits
down, he notices three buttons on the side
of Saddam's chair. They begin talking.
After about five minutes Saddam presses
the first button. A boxing glove springs out
of a box on the desk and punches Bush in
the face.
A
Practical
Joke
Confused, Bush carries on talking as
Saddam laughs. A few minutes later the
second button is pressed. This time a big
boot comes out and kicks Bush in the shin.
Again Saddam laughs, and again Bush
16.
carries on talking, not wanting to put off the
bigger issue of peace between the two
countries. But when the third button is
pressed and another boot comes out and
kicks Bush in the privates, he's finally had
enough, knowing that he can’t do much
without them functioning well. “I’m going
back home!” he tells the Iraqi. “We’ll finish
these talks in two weeks!”
“What
Baghdad?”
A
Political
Joke
A fortnight passes and Saddam flies to the
United States for talks. As the two men sit
down, Hussein notices three buttons on
Bush’s chair and prepares himself for the
Yank’s revenge. They begin talking and
Bush presses the first button. Saddam
ducks, but nothing happens. George
snickers. A few seconds later he presses the
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Say
Something
Off Record
indicating
Rhetorical
Questions
The Fight
Between US
and Iraq
second button. Saddam jumps up, but again
nothing happens. Bush roars with laughter.
When the third button is pressed, Saddam
jumps up again, and again nothing happens.
Bush falls on the floor in a fit of hysterics.
“Forget this,” says Saddam. “I’m going
back to Baghdad!”
Dubya says through tears of laughter,
“What Baghdad?”
17.
18.
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Kent!
Kent who?
Kent you tell who it is?
Q: How many blondes does it take to screw
in a light bulb?
A: It shouldn’t take more than one person
to do this task, regardless of hair color.
48
An AntiJoke or
AntiHumor
Kent you
tell who it
is?
Maxim of
Relevance
A Blonde
Joke
It
shouldn’t
take more
than one
person to
do this
task,
regardless
of hair
color.
The
Maxim of Characteristics
Quantity
of Blonde
People
The Similar
Pronunciation
of Kent and
Can’t
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Laughing constitutes one method to become healthy. Researchers find out
the advantages of laughing. Those are reducing stress, lowering blood pressure,
making us relaxed and happy as well as helping the process of healing. Therefore,
laughing is the best medicine and thus makes us live longer. There are various
ways to get laugh and one of them is through enjoying a joke.
A joke is something that makes us laugh because it is silly and ridiculous;
besides, it is sometimes illogical. There are some kinds of jokes. The first is a
political joke. A political joke is a joke which is concerned with satire and usually
involves nations, politicians and governments.
The second is a profession joke. The kind of joke is a joke portraying
certain professions such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, etc.
The third is an ethnic joke. An ethnic joke is a joke which is intended to
make fun of cultures, races, or countries in the world. This type of joke is often
racist and frequently offensive but is not intended to hurt or insult the victim.
(http://www.ahajokes.com/ethnic_jokes.html)
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The fourth is a blonde joke. This joke tells about the stereotypes of blonde
people, both women and men. The stereotypes of blonde women that will be revealed
in this joke are unintelligent, sexually promiscuous, or both. The blonde jokes are also
found as offensive as the other stereotypes jokes are.
The fifth is a religious joke. A religious joke is a joke which tells about
religion and God. The joke is also based on the stereotypes associated with people of
certain religions. For example: Nun jokes and Jewish jokes, joke on classical religious
subjects such as crucifixion, Adam and Eve, St. Peter at The Gates, etc. joke that
collide with different religious denominations: “A rabbi, a medicine man, and a pastor
went fishing…”; letters addressed to God. (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Joke)
The sixth is an anti-joke or anti-humor. The form of this joke is usually
riddles. Anti-joke or anti-humor is a joke that is not funny; on the contrary, the
punchline, the funny part of the joke, does not happen. For example, “Why did the
chicken cross the road?” and the answer is “To get to the other side.” The effect of
anti-joke is common and mundane. Anti-joke writing usually prefers a full stop to an
exclamation mark to make the effect of the joke dry and the tone is not humorous.
(http://www.articleworld.org/index.php/Anti-humor)
The seventh is a kid joke. A kid joke is a funny joke for people of all ages,
either for kids or for adults. The joke is typically made by children and young adults
because of their straightforwardness or innocence, which make people laugh.
(http://www.ahajokes.com/kids_jokes.html)
The eighth is a practical joke. A practical joke is a joke played by someone to
make
the
victim
feel
embarrassed,
humiliated,
or
discomfort.
(http://www.answers.com/topic/practical-joke) The example of a practical joke is she
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glued the teacher’s book to the desk (Longman, 1998: 1049) or someone put a custard
pie in somebody’s face.
Last but not least is a dirty joke. “Dirty joke is a joke about sex or something
disgusting.” (Longman, 2000: 774). They reveal about taboo things and sometimes
about sexual activities.
Understanding a joke is not as simple as it appears to be. Many jokes need
interpretation of what the speaker or the writer is trying to tell through their
utterances. As a result, we need knowledge about it. The knowledge is Pragmatics,
which is concerned with the meaning of the writer’s or speaker’s saying in order that
the reader can interpret the meaning. (Yule, 1996: 3) Pragmatics is also needed to help
build the funny element of the jokes.
A lot of jokes have implicit meanings and come from the cultures, nations, or
groups, which we are not familiar with; accordingly, the role of background
knowledge is very significant as it is the way to comprehend a joke. The definition of
background knowledge itself is “Our ability to arrive automatically at interpretations
of the written and the unsaid”. (Yule, 1996: 85) In interpreting jokes, we initially will
have to find out the topic of the jokes and then try to find the background knowledge
about the particular topic. If we do not have adequate background knowledge about
the topic of the jokes, we will not be able to comprehend the jokes thoroughly.
There are some other aspects of Pragmatics to help understand jokes, such as
referring expressions, say something off record, particularized conversational
implicatures, and maxims. Referring expressions identify something to the reader. Say
something off record shows ‘hints’, use metaphor, overstatement, rhetorical questions,
being ironic, or use incomplete utterances. Maxim is a rule to make our conversation
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required by the other; whereas, particularized conversational implicatures is the
further meaning which is not stated and needs certain knowledge to understand it.
To know further about how significant background knowledge and pragmatic
aspects in understanding jokes, I intend to analyze, “The Role of Background
Knowledge and Pragmatic Aspects in Understanding Jokes” in my thesis. By
understanding the significant role of background knowledge in jokes and knowing the
pragmatic aspects in jokes, I hope the readers know where the pragmatic aspects in
jokes and they can comprehend the jokes thoroughly and indirectly they may get
information about other cultures, nations, or groups.
Statement of the Problem
The problems that I will analyze:
1. What is the linguistic form that makes the joke funny?
2. What is the role of background knowledge to help understand the joke?
3. What is the role of Pragmatic aspect that helps the joke to become funny?
Purpose of the Study
The purposes of constructing the research are:
1. To know the linguistic form that makes each joke funny.
2. To know the role of background knowledge to help understand the joke.
3. To know the role of Pragmatics aspect that helps the joke to become funny.
Methods of Research
In gathering the data, I look for some jokes in the Internet and magazines.
Then I select the jokes which need background knowledge and pragmatic aspect to
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understand it. Afterwards, I classify and analyze the jokes. Finally, I write a research
report.
Organization of the Thesis
My thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
contains the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the
Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is the
Theoretical Framework; it deals with the explanation of the linguistic area and the
approaches used in analyzing the data. Chapter Three is the analysis of the jokes that I
have gathered, and Chapter Four is the Conclusion, in which I write my personal
comments and opinions of the findings. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and
Appendices.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the jokes, I arrive at a conclusion that the role of background
knowledge is significant to help us comprehend jokes. It is certain we will not be able
to comprehend a joke thoroughly without being aware of the funny element of the
joke. Accordingly, we need background knowledge to understand the joke. For
example, the joke entitled “The Greedy Texan”, which tells about a Texan who
pushes a Mexican out of the plane and says, “Remember the Alamo”. If we do not
have any background knowledge about the phrase “Remember the Alamo”, we surely
will not understand why the Texan pushes the Mexican and what motivates the Texan
to say the phrase. Therefore, the background knowledge plays an important role to
know the battle between the Texan and the Mexican known as “Remember the
Alamo”. Therefore, we can understand the reason why the Texan throws the Mexican,
which makes the joke become funny.
Aside from the background knowledge, the roles of pragmatic aspects are also
significant to help us understand the funny elements of the joke. The pragmatic
aspects are referring expressions, say something off record, particularized
conversational implicature and maxims. The joke entitled “Racial Dog Name”, taken
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as an example, contains pragmatic aspects such as referring expressions which
refers to the word ‘Nig’.
The pragmatic aspects also make the jokes interesting because jokes have
implicit meanings. It needs our interpretation to understand what the joke writers
are trying to tell us the funny element of their jokes. For example, the joke which
tells about a family goes to Manhattan. The parent is perplexed at the Manhattan
people’s being busy doing their work. The parent calls Manhattan ‘the city that
never sleeps’. The parent uses say something off record showing metaphor. In this
joke, we need our interpretation to understand the phrase ‘the city that never
sleeps’, which means the Manhattan people are extremely busy as if they do not
have enough to sleep.
In particular, it is found that each joke contains different pragmatic
aspects. In a political joke, it is found that this joke uses referring expressions,
maxim of relevance, say something off record indicating overstate, say something
off record indicating rhetorical questions. It is concluded that most of this joke
uses the referring expressions and maxim of relevance. It is because the referring
expressions identify the nations, the government, or the politician that become the
source of the joke. For example, the joke which tells about Bill Clinton’s
mishearing the word ‘Le whisky’ to ‘Lewinsky’. The referring expression of the
joke is ‘Le whisky’ and ‘Lewinsky’. ‘Le whisky’ refers to a name of alcoholic
drink, Whisky, and ‘Lewinsky’ refers to Bill Clinton’s affair. The joke also
violates maxim of relevance because the irrelevant topic between Bill Clinton and
the waiter.
It is found that the pragmatic aspects in a profession joke are saying
something off record showing rhetorical questions, referring expressions, or
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maxim of relevance. It is concluded that this joke tends to use maxim of relevance
is to build funny element of certain profession because the role of the profession is
made to be irrelevant. In the analysis, there are two jokes which violate maxim of
relevance but the purpose is different. First, the joke which tells about the bishop’s
job at church, the irrelevance is built because of the misinterpretation between the
ministry and the little boy. The job of bishop that the ministry means is that
bishop as a highest priest; on the other hand, the little boy thinks bishop as a piece
in chess game. Second, the maxim of relevance in “Looking into Their Eyes” is
caused by the driver’s diverting the police’s accusation. The driver does not want
to be blamed for having drunk alcohol so he diverts the police’s accusation to
making the conversation become irrelevant.
In an ethnic joke, it is found that the pragmatic aspects needed are saying
something off record giving ‘hints’, showing rhetorical questions and ellipsis,
referring expressions, or particularized conversational implicatures. It is pointed
out that say something off record is often used because it reveals something racist
indirectly to refer to the point of culture. The purpose is to make it funny or to
compliment themselves indirectly. For example, the joke entitled “Angering the
Irishman” tells about three Englishmen, who want to make an Irishman angry.
They mock St. Patrick using off record giving ‘hints’ to make the Irishman aware
of the fact that they are mocking him indirectly. Another joke showing say
something off record is the joke entitled “Beer Machismo”. The Guinness’
President’s utterance, “Well if you all aren't drinking beer, then neither shall I.”
shows say something off record using rhetorical question and ellipsis, which
indicate that Guinness beer is really ‘beer’ and different from other beers.
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It is found that the pragmatic aspects in a blonde joke are referring
expressions, and maxim of quantity. A blonde joke uses referring expressions to
refer to the blonde people because it centers on the stereotype of blonde people
such as dumbness, reliance on their looks more than their brain and sexually
promiscuous. Those characteristics refer to the blonde people. A blonde joke also
uses maxim of quantity in order to explain more to the reader how dumb blonde
people are.
In a religious joke, it is found that the pragmatic aspects of this joke are
referring expressions, say something off record showing rhetorical questions and
ironic, or maxim of relevance. A religious joke tends to use say something off
record in order to reveal something sensitive concerned with certain religion. For
example, the joke about a Catholic priest and a rabbi is prohibited to do. The
Catholic priest challenges when the rabbi will eat pork. The rabbi answers he will
eat pork when the Catholic priest marries. The joke indicates irony because the
Catholic priest must not marry as well as the rabbi is prohibited to eat pork. The
rabbi’s answer also uses rhetorical questions and not need to be answered.
It is found that the pragmatic aspect in an anti-joke or anti-humor is maxim
of relevance. The joke can be categorized in this kind of joke because the
punchline, the funny part of a joke, is irrelevant. Maxim of relevance makes the
jokes funny because the irrelevance between the participants. However, in the
anti-joke the irrelevance sometimes does not make the joke funny because it is a
joke that is not funny; on the contrary, the punchline, the funny part of the joke is
not humorous.
It is found that the pragmatic aspects in a kid joke are referring expressions
and say something off record showing metaphor. The kid joke usually violates
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maxim of relevance because children tend to be straightforward, innocent and
their mind is different with adult’s mind so that maxim of relevance is likely to
occur.
In a practical joke, it is found that there is no pragmatic aspect in this joke
because the joke is played physically not in verbally while Pragmatics is a study
which interprets the speaker’s meaning through the speaker’s utterances so that
there is no pragmatic aspect.
The last is a dirty joke. It is found that the pragmatic aspect of this joke is
referring expressions. The referring expressions shows something taboo about sex.
For example, the joke entitled “Three Nuns Meet St. Peter”. Three nuns die and
before entering the purgatory, they have to ask St. Peter’s question. Two first nuns
answer the question correctly and just one nun left. St. Peter asks “What was the
first thing Eve said to Adam?” and the nun answers “Oh my, that’s really hard.”
St. Peter allows her to enter the purgatory. The word ‘that’s’ refers to two
meaning. First, refers to the St. Peter’s question. Second, refers to Adam’s penis,
whereas the meaning ‘hard’ has two meaning either difficult or not soft.
On the whole, it is found that pragmatic aspects support background
knowledge in understanding jokes. The role of background knowledge is
significant to know what a joke is about through histories, influential people,
certain culture, characteristics of group of people like the Nigger and the blonde
people. Meanwhile, the role of pragmatic aspects is to help understand what the
participant is trying to tell through their utterances in a joke so that we can
understand jokes thoroughly. For example, the pragmatic aspect of the joke,
which tells about the assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia, is particular
conversational implicatures. Through pragmatic aspects, we know that the rabbi’s
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answer, “Why the Jews?” is to show that the Jews do not kill Tsar Alexander II of
Russia and they have nothing to do with the assassination.
I hope this thesis make the readers aware of the significance of the role of
background knowledge in understanding jokes as well as the role of pragmatic
aspects help and make jokes interesting to read. After reading this thesis, I hope
the reader, who is reading a joke, know the background knowledge of that joke
and enjoy the joke through pragmatic aspects.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown P, Levinson S C. Politeness, Some universals in language usage.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1987.
Dictionary of English Language and Culture. Longman. 1998.
Foley, Linda. Reader’s Digest May. 2004: 143.
Lampe, Lillie. Reader’s Digest Dec. 2004: 47.
Longman Advanced American Dictionary. Longman. 2000.
The Cultural Library with an Encyclopedic Index Vol. 9: Famous People of All
Time. Parent’s Magazine’s Cultural Institute. 1965.
Thomas, Jenny. Meaning in Interaction: an Introduction to Pragmatics. London:
Longman. 1995.
Webster’s Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridge. Second edition – deluxe
color. 1979.
Yule, Thomas. Discourse of Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Yule, Thomas. Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Internet websites:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_in_iraq)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Hryniewiecki)
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(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Blair_Mayne)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein)
(http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Stereotype)
(http://www.ahajokes.com/ethnic_jokes.html)
(http://www.ahajokes.com/kids_jokes.html)
(http://www.answers.com/topic/practical-joke)
(http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm)
(http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hussein.html)
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02255a.htm)
(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blonde+jokes)
(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nigga)
(www.jewfaq.org/kashrut/htm)
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