Stereotyped Lawyers and Politicians in American Jokes and Anti-Proverbs

190 Pages·2016·5.4 MB·English

“Do You Serve Lawyers and Politicians Here?”
Stereotyped Lawyers and Politicians
in American Jokes and Anti-Proverbs

Selye János Egyetem
Tanárképző Kar
Anna T. Litovkina
“Do You Serve Lawyers and Politicians Here?”
Stereotyped Lawyers and Politicians
in American Jokes and Anti-Proverbs

Komárom, 2016
© Dr. habil. Anna T. Litovkina, CSc., 2016
A címlapon Halász Géza grafikája látható, a szerző engedélyével.
On the front cover, a cartoon by Géza Halász, by the permission of the
author.
A kiadvány az Emberi Erőforrás Minisztériuma és a PRO SELYE
UNIVERSITAS n.o. támogatásával készült.
Szakmai lektorok / Reviewed by:
Doc. PaedDr. Barta Péter, CSc.
Doc. Szöllősy Judit
PaedDr. Puskás Andrea, PhD.
Nyelvi lektor / Language review by:
Doc. Szöllősy Judit
ISBN 978-80-8122-172-9
Table of Contents
Preface ................................................................................................................7
Part I: Stereotyped Lawyers in American Lawyer Jokes
Introduction ............................................................................................ 11
Chapter 1: Stereotyped Lawyers in American Lawyer Jokes .............15
Chapter 2: Lawyers, Doctors and Other Professionals
in American Lawyer Jokes .............................................................. 38
Chapter 3: The Lawyer as Animal in American Lawyer Jokes ..........74
Chapter 4: Killing Off Lawyers in American Lawyer Jokes .............94
Chapter 5: After they Die, Lawyers Go to Hell .................................105
Part II: Lawyers and Politicians in American Anti-Proverbs
Introduction: Background of Anti-Proverb
Research and Terminology ........................................................... 117
Chapter 6: Lawyers in American Anti-Proverbs .............................. 122
Chapter 7: Politicians in American Anti-Proverbs ...........................139
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 174
References ......................................................................................................178
On-line sources of jokes, anti-proverbs and humorous quotes ..............186

PrefACe
What’s the strongest argument against both theories of origin?
Politicians and lawyers. Who in their right mind would create
(or evolve into) these species? (Joke)1
Organization and Aim of the Book
The main aim of the book Do You Serve Lawyers and Politicians Here?”:
Stereotyped Lawyers and Politicians in Anglo-American Jokes and Anti-
Proverbs is to address stereotypical traits of lawyers and politicians as they
are reflected in Anglo-American jokes and anti-proverbs, also known as
proverb transformations. The book consists of two parts divided into seven
chapters, followed by the Conclusion and Reference. The first part of the
book, organized into five chapters, addresses American lawyer jokes. In the
introduction to the first part I review the background of American lawyer
jokes. While the first chapter makes an attempt to analyze the stereotypical
traits of lawyers in the jokes, the second chapter examines the dominant
stereotypical features of lawyers compared to those of doctors and
representatives of other professions. The focus of the third chapter is on a
small segment of American lawyer jokes, namely, jokes in which lawyers are
compared to animals. The fourth chapter of the book treats jokes the butt
of which are lawyers as candidates for removal from society or, more often
than not, extermination. The fifth chapter focuses on the following question:
What awaits lawyers after they die? The second part of the book, divided into
two chapters, concentrates on lawyers and politicians as the most frequently
mocked professions and occupations in Anglo-American anti-proverbs.
The introduction to the second part addresses briefly the background of
anti-proverb research and terminology, and also points out various popular
themes treated in Anglo-American proverb alterations, among which are
various professions and occupations. The last two chapters of the book
focus on the two most frequently parodied professions and occupations in
1 http://jokeparty.com/
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Anglo-American anti-proverbs, the figure of the lawyer and the politician.
While the sixth chapter of this book treats stereotypical traits of lawyers,
the seventh chapter addresses the main features of politicians as reflected in
anti-proverbs.
Acknowledgements
The idea of exploring American legal humor came to me after reading the
book A jog humora [The Humor of the Law] (see Fenyvesi 2003), as well
as after conducting an interview with the editor of the book, Associate
Professor of Law, Hungarian lawyer Csaba Fenyvesi, about humor in the
Hungarian legal system (see T. Litovkina 2009b; 2010c). I would like to
express my gratitude to Csaba Fenyvesi for the inspiration he gave me. I also
owe a debt of gratitude to Fionnuala Carson Williams, David Karla, and
Carl Lindahl for their easy willingness in proofreading some parts of the
book. In addition, I would like to express many thanks to Judit Szöllősy for
her kind help with ‘anglicizing’ the text, and for her critical comments and
suggestions. Thanks also go to Barnabás Vajda, Andrea Puskás, and Mária
Bartal, who have contributed to the reviewing, editing and publication of the
volume. And last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to all my
colleagues, friends, teachers and students who have shared and discussed
with me their views and ideas on humor and proverbs, in particular to
Salvatore Attardo, Péter Barta, Dorota Brzozowska, Władysław Chłopicki,
Christie Davies, Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt, Imola Küllős, Rita Mayer,
Wolfgang Mieder, Victor Raskin, Katalin Vargha, and Vilmos Voigt. I would
also like to express thanks to the memory of the late Ariadna Ivanovna
Kuznetsova, my thesis supervisor at Moscow Lomonosov University, whose
personality and love for teaching have continually illuminated my life and
academic career.
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