Yo Momma So Y That Z 28
Yo Momma So Y That Z:
A Linguistic Analysis of Yo-Momma Humor
Chris Buerke
LING 498 – Senior Seminar in Linguistics
Dr. Gregory Richter
April 25, 2013
ABSTRACT
This analysis will focus strongly upon the topic of “yo-momma humor,” applying a cognitive linguistic approach to determine both the humorous and non-humorous properties of formulaic insult humor when used in states of conflict. The television program, Yo Momma, was analyzed for the sake of discussion and a collection of jokes which exemplify the yo-momma form were gathered. Through an examination of these jokes, as well as an investigation of modern humor theories (incongruity theories, conflict theories, and relief theories), this paper will attempt to answer the question, “Why are yo-momma jokes humorous?” The results of this analysis should lead to a greater understanding of linguistic humor, and should determine the effects of divergence on language.
INTRODUCTION
What is funny? If you were to ask a group of people on the street this question, you would likely hear a variety of answers—one liners, dirty jokes, good stories, slapstick movies, goofy babies, and possibly even anti-humor, which prides itself in being the opposite of funny. Chances are that the things that one person finds humorous are unique to them, and that someone else, despite the shared forms of humor, would have difficulty relating completely to the other individual. The question becomes then not “what is funny?” but rather “what is humor?” What is the element that makes anything, on a basic scale, worth laughter?
What is humor?
According to Bergen & Binsted (2003), it is this particular question that causes humor to be held amongst the most intriguing and least understood of our cognitive capabilities. Attardo (1994) attempts to answer the question by examining a historical yet philosophical perspective. First looking at the Greeks, he states that Plato (427-347 BC) believed humor to be a “mixed feeling of the soul” (Piddington, 1933), for example, a mixture of pleasure and pain that causes laughter through overwhelming—an idea that Plato condemned absolutely. Aristotle (384-322 BC) disagreed with this claim, condemning only the excess of laughter and stating that the humor found within comedy can be seen as a “stimulation” of the soul that puts the listener into a state of good will. It is within the works of Aristotle that humor is given a purpose, and that purpose is to create a relaxing mood despite the argument presented by a speaker.
Attardo (1994) goes on to make claims about the Greek influence on Roman humor theory, mentioning the works of multiple Latin philosophers. Primarily, he quotes the works of Cicero (106-43 BC) who “introduce[d] the distinction between verbal and referential humor,” explaining that jokes can be “about what is said” (dicto) or about “the thing” (re). Cicero’s claims implied that humor was not only an element of comedy, but a conscious act performed by a speaker through a variety of different methods. Attardo (1994) lists the following genres of humor assumed by the Roman thinker:
“[Cicero] elaborates his taxonomy by stipulating that referential humor (in re) includes anecdotes (fabella) and caricature (imitatio). Verbal humor includes ambiguity (ambigua), paronomasia (parvam verbi immutationem), false etymologies (interpretatio nominis), proverbs, literal interpretation of figurative expressions (ad verbum non ad sententiam rem accipere) , allegory, metaphors, and antiphrasis or irony (ex inversione verborum).”
Years later, Quintilian (35 – 100 AD) introduced a definition of humor that dealt with three subjects: (1) plays at others, (2) plays at ourselves, and (3) a middle category which involved neither ourselves nor others. Within this third kind (the neutral category), Quintilian implied that words or phrases could be interpreted in multiple ways, hinting at the modern linguistic ideas of both polysemy and ambiguity. Claims were also made about using language to state differently what was right and true, similar to the current ideas of Raskin (1985), who categorizes humor as real/unreal, normal/abnormal, and possible/impossible. Attardo (1994) assumes that what Quintilian referred to as right and true were closely related to the ideas of real and normal. It is here that one realizes that the study of humor on a scholarly level existed long before any formal linguistic analysis, as philosophers attempted to understand the humorous quality of their own work. And while this is by no means a full historical account, Attardo (1994) ends by taking note of the Middle Ages, in which linguistic theories of humor were rarely discussed, and the study of communication seemed to fade away.
Fortunately for the current linguist, in considering the various theories of humor that have been offered in the past, as well as the present-day understanding that humor is a conscious communicative effort, the subject has been reborn through cognitive linguistics. And while various forms of notable linguistic humor do exist, and have existed for some time, this paper will focus primarily upon a variation of formulaic insults by the name of “yo-momma humor.” The general structure and linguistic qualities of these jokes will be discussed in the following section.
Yo-momma jokes
Yo-momma humor is a form of linguistic humor that references a maternal figure through the use of phrases such as “your mother” or “yo momma” in an attempt to insult the target by way of their family. Frequently used when “playing the Dozens” (Abrahams, 1962), various insults concerning obesity, age, race, intelligence, unattractiveness, poverty, and many other topics are implemented to create the hilarity of a particular “snap,” or joke. The Dozens, according to Cole (1974), is a spoken word game, common among African-American communities, where participants insult each other until one concedes. Typically, the game is played in front of an audience of one’s peers, who encourage the participants to reply with more offensive insults so as to increase the tension and humor of the play. Also referred to as “sounding,” “sigging,” “wolfing,” or “joning,” the Dozens serves as an important part in the linguistic and psychosocial development of African-American youths (Abrahams, 1962). The most prominent linguistic features include (1) the reliance upon formulaic patterns, which will be discussed later in terms of syntax, (2) the use of rhyme within these patterns, and (3) the change of speech rhythms from natural ones to ones that show differences of pitch, stress, and syntax. Some examples of yo-momma humor, collected through personal experience, are shown in (1) below:
(1) (a) Yo momma so fat when her beeper goes off, people think she’s backing up.
(b) Yo momma so stupid it took her 2 hours to watch 60 Minutes.
Within (1), the formula is immediately evident. An entity (yo momma) is described in the first clause as possessing a great deal of some property. The first clause is then followed by a second clause that provides the punch line (Bergen & Binsted, 2003). In (1a), the mother is described as possessing a great deal of weight within the first clause. The second clause references the fact that a beeper sounds similar to the sound that a large vehicle would make when in reverse. When the two clauses are read in conjunction with one another, the joke suggests that the mother is so hefty that she is comparable to the size of a large vehicle, causing other people to believe that when her beeper is going off, she is backing up like a truck might. In (1b), the mother is described as possessing a great deal of stupidity, or a lack of intelligence. The second clause implies that 60 Minutes is a show that should only take an hour to complete; however, the subject takes two hours to finish the episode. When the phrases are read together, the joke suggests that the mother is so unintelligent that she cannot even adhere to the unchanging, temporal restrictions that have been placed upon a television program. While both (1a) and (1b) are highly absurd and impossible, the jokes employ the use of imagery to create a situation that many would find humorous.
A more in-depth discussion will take place in the Data and Discussion section of this paper in an attempt to discover which specific elements of humor elicit laughter, and which do not.
METHODOLOGY
For the sake of determining which elements make yo-momma humor funny, a collection of jokes was gathered from the MTV reality show, Yo Momma (Valderrama, 2006)—an Americanreality televisiongame show from 2006, basedupon the black urban tradition of insulting one's mother. This unscripted comedy competition series puts individuals up against each other in a battle for $1,000 in cash and a chance to advance to the final tournament. Participants are allowed the opportunity to investigate the life of their competitor’s mother, in order to enhance the quality of their jokes. They are then brought together and exchange yo-momma jokes in attempt to thwart each other. Five episodes were observed, and thirty-four yo-momma jokes that displayed the “X is so Y that Z” construction were then transcribed. All jokes pertaining to characteristics of the opposing player were omitted in an attempt to focus strictly on yo-momma humor, and not all jokes are included in the discussion. For a complete list of jokes used to form conclusions, see the Appendix section.
The purpose of this research project was to analyze and determine the humorous properties of yo-momma jokes. In order to gather this data, the jokes were subjectively rated based on audience reaction. Jokes received either a “successful,” “average,” or “unsuccessful” rating. Those which received sustained, loud laughter were given a rating of “successful.” Those which received booing or very few responses were given a rating of “unsuccessful.” Those which received little laughter and were followed quickly by an opposing joke were given a rating of “average.” For the sake of discussion, the “successful” and “unsuccessful” jokes were closely examined, as well as various jokes gathered through personal experience.
DATA AND DISCUSSION
This section will deal primarily with the question of “Why are yo-momma jokes humorous?” and will be divided into two parts. The first will attempt to explain yo-momma humor from a linguistic perspective, discussing the general categories of linguistics (syntax, morpho-phonological changes, pragmatics, and semantics), the humorous and non-humorous qualities used within MTV’s Yo Momma, and the patterns that exist within moments of conflict. The second part will attempt to answer the question from a theoretical perspective, discussing modern incongruity theories, conflict theories, and relief theories.
I. Linguistic Perspective
Syntax
Considered a variant of scalar humor, yo-momma jokes make use of the following syntactic structure, with some alternate forms: X is so Y that Z. Within yo-momma humor, the X quality of the construction always pertains to yo momma—an African American dialect (AAE) form of the Standard American English your mother—or various other referential devices, such as his mom or this dude’s momma, when addressing a crowd; the Y quality involves a negative characteristic such as poor, lazy, fat, stupid, etc.; the final Z quality is the varying component of the joke, offering the greatest source of humor. Many of the jokes, due to the strong use of AAE, lack various aspects of the standard English structure through the omission of morphemes such as is and that. However, the structure is still present, as seen in (1a). Yo momma signifies the X quality; fat seems to be the Y quality; and it took her two hours to watch 60 Minutes represents the Z quality.
As mentioned when discussing the initial structure, some variations of the “X is so Y that Z” formula do exist, as seen in a joke told by a participant of Yo Momma:
(2) Yo momma’s like Geico, she’s so easy a caveman could do her.
Rather than existing separately as its own sentence, the formula appears after the clause yo momma’s like Geico, which is included for semantic purposes. The X quality which typically appears as yo momma, is represented by the pronoun she instead. The primary clause which appears before the actual yo-momma joke references both the Y and Z qualities of the sentence. One must understand the popular slogan of the company in order for the joke to make sense (i.e. “It’s so easy, a caveman could do it.”). Semantic narrowing is also imposed in (2), using the word easy to imply a certain level of non-difficulty in relation to sexual availability. Despite the added semantic information that exists prior to the clauses necessary for yo-momma humor, the “X is so Y that Z” formula is required in order for yo-momma jokes to take place. However, not all utterances that use this structure are considered humorous; many are simply scalar structures (Bergen & Binsted, 2003):
(3) (a) It was so cold where I live, we found dogs huddling for warmth.
(b) The film’s ending was so shocking that it physically hurt you.
One can assume that the syntactic elements found within yo-momma jokes are not central to the humorous utterances, though without these essential components, the joke would not even be allowed to exist.
Morpho-phonology
In addition to the syntactic structure being morphed to fit the constraints of yo-momma humor, morphology and phonology are both affected as well. In most constructions of yo-momma jokes—which rely on the “X is so Y that Z” formula—both is and that are omitted. The first (is) seems to disappear due to the conjunction of is and so. Over time, the emphasis was most likely put upon so, causing elision to occur and the is to fade away. The omission of that occurred for the sake of combining the two clauses into one joke. Rather than using the complementizer, a speaker instead takes a pause, building suspense and allowing themselves to play upon surprise theory as seen below in (4a).