An Edgy Joke

I heard an Australian comedian tell the following joke, and actually laughed out loud at the punchline. It's the sort of humor that's right on the edge of what we allow these days; I suspect many of the folks who object to humor that touches on protected racial/ethnic/sexual minorities would want you not to tell it. For that reason, I'll put it after the jump, so you only have to read the joke if you want to do so. Then I'm going to talk about why I think it's a good joke, and a joke that's reasonable to tell even in this environment.


Q: How does a nonbinary person kill someone?

A: They /slash/ them.


This strikes me as a really clever joke, but also as a joke that's really about grammar rather than any sort of negative emotions towards people who identify as nonbinary. After all, human beings occasionally do kill one another; and there's nothing here to suggest that these people are more likely to do so than anyone else. So even though it contemplates an anonymous person of that kind engaged in violence, it doesn't dehumanize them or make them seem inferior or worse. 

The punchline turns on the ambiguity about whether "they" is singular or plural. It doesn't work for people who use standard pronouns: "He /slash/ him" isn't a grammatically correct sentence because of the principle of subject/verb agreement. You'd have to say, "He slashes him." Because we have begun to treat 'they' as potentially either plural or singular but indefinite, "They slash them" is a grammatically correct sentence in English. 

It's a good joke because it sets up some tension in the opening question, and then resolves it in an unexpected and clever way. It's also got the gift of brevity, which the shaggy dog story violates intentionally but which is otherwise an important principle in humor ("Brevity is the soul of wit").

So, would I tell this joke in public? As usual, it depends on the audience. I can definitely think of many people who would appreciate the joke, and a few who might not.

4 comments:

  1. Gringo11:56 AM

    I needed your explanation, as I have made no attempt whatsoever to keep up with the multi-gender multi-grammar crowd. I have met no one face-to-face who uses the multi-gender multi-grammar deal. "They," to me is plural and will forever remain so.

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  2. I’ve only met one myself, who used to be a lovely young lady before deciding that this was the right thing. Her father is a friend of mine, and he tells me that it’s made his child — once a daughter — much happier. I don’t claim to understand it, but if Mike’s ok with it it’s certainly none of my business.

    However, the usage of “they” as indefinite singular is much wider. It’s largely replaced “one,” which is now seen as archaic and stilted.

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  3. Anonymous5:04 PM

    In the proper context and crowd, it's funny as heck. True gender dysphoria (and the associated mental health complications that often accompany it ) is a serious mental health concern and needs to be treated properly as best can be done. Some of the pop-culture silliness like xi/xir for pronouns, and "I change my gender daily"? No. They deserve to be laughed at, and the folly pointed out for all to see. Bad grammar? Almost always a worthy target for laughter.

    LittleRed1

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  4. That is very witty.

    One thing about the grammar, though -- English writers have been using they & them as singular pronouns for about six centuries when the gender of the person in question is unknown or irrelevant. Linguist John McWhorter's Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English covers this on page 66, if you want a reference.

    The new thing is using those pronouns as singular to make a statement about gender.

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