Comments on: You think puns in one language are bad...

Question: You think puns in one language are bad...

[ixia] — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:24:57 -0800

Bahasa Indonesia speakers! My late, beloved grandmother was an expert in dreadful multi-lingual puns. Help me remember a silly joke she used to tell about roosters.

This joke can only be told well by someone who speaks heavily accented English, and you need to know a little Indonesian to laugh at the punchline.

Here is what I remember of the joke:

One evening, a woman is hurrying along the street, carrying her shopping. A man is running towards her, not looking where he's going. He crashes into the woman and knocks all her groceries into the gutter.

"Oh!" says the man. "I am sorry, I am sorry!"

The woman looks afronted. "Ayam sore? AYAM SORE?!"
[English translation: A chicken in the evening? A CHICKEN in the EVENING?!]

The woman then yells something at the man which translates in English to: "A rooster in the morning!"

What is this punchline in Bahasa? And where is the pun, slang or implied insult which I remember made the joke so funny? It could easily have been something a bit risque - her English jokes were fairly ribald!

I'll probably never tell this joke as well as she did, but I will send an enormous plate of love and virtual tempeh goreng to anyone who can help me remember how it went.

By: citybuddha

citybuddha — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:09:17 -0800

I don't see how this will fit in there but the rooster in morning translates to
ayam pagi

By: [ixia]

[ixia] — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 04:09:08 -0800

Thanks citybuddha, that's a start.

My vague memory is that there was some kind of double meaning to the punchline - some way of phrasing "a chicken in the morning" which also meant something funny or insulting. Like 'cock' in English, I suppose.

By: BinGregory

BinGregory — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:02:00 -0800

If it was a well-known sort of joke it would be one thing, but one that your gramma made up? That's a toughie! If it helps, in BM a rooster is "ayam jantan" or "ayam jaguh". A "bapak ayam" can be a pimp, "ibu ayam" can mean a madam. "Subuh" can also mean dawn or morning. Ayam sore I can't think of a way to make the joke work though.

By: divabat

divabat — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:21:02 -0800

"Ayam siang" make sense to you?

By: BinGregory

BinGregory — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:29:30 -0800

Hmm, That would be a pun: "siang" meaning day and "siang" meaning dressed or slaughtered. You plucked chicken, you!

By: [ixia]

[ixia] — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:03:19 -0800

Thank you all so much - I think 'ayam siang' might well be it. I don't think my grandmother made the joke up, but a joke heard in the markets of Jakarta circa 1932 is just as tough for a bunch of MeFites to solve! I guess I'll have to wait till my Bahasa improves before I'll know for sure. Thanks, all.

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Question: You think puns in *one* language are bad...

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Comments on: You think puns in one language are bad...

Question: You think puns in one language are bad...