2011-09-26

Under your arm

Another musical joke from Zokudan kotoshi-banashi:

「三味線は猫の皮だから、膝の上にのるは聞へたが、鼓は何の皮だナ」
「アリャ猿の皮だから肩に乗のサ」
「ムウそんなら大鼓は」
「あれか、ア丶待てよ、あれは脇の下へはさむナ、鯛の皮だろう」
"I heard that shamisen are covered in cat skin, and that's why it sits on your knee, but what kind of skin do they use on tsuzumi?"
"Monkey skin. That's why it sits on your shoulder."
"Hmm... so what about the ōtsuzumi?"
"The ōtsuzumi? Wait, that goes under your arm, right? Must be sea-bream skin."

Since the Okinawan sanshin (ancestor of the shamisen) was covered in snakeskin, I suppose the traditional way of holding it was to stand on one leg, up on a chair, and throw the instrument as far away from you as possible while screaming.

Note that the above contains another non-translation trick: literal translation + hyperlink. The punchline is completely opaque unless you are familiar with the Seven Gods of Fortune and/or pay unusually close attention to beer cans, and rather than elucidate or adapt it I am simply providing the tools for you to research the details yourself. In this form, it's not so much a joke as a joke kit.

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bwgGrCuLajcZiauMAqQ:

I agree it makes me so so mad. I was discriminated angiast too. I went to a predominitley hispanic school for most of my school years and when I was in middle school, I was hated on every single day. I would be called flour baby, white girl, guera, cracker, wonder bread, snowflake, and kids wouldnt talk to me because I was white and they thought I was stuck up and spoiled which definitley was NOT the case. I would cry a lot and I was afraid to stand up for myself. Finally I did and now people respect me and know me better before they judge me based on the color of my skin. It still bothers me to think that happened and how people could be so small minded.

Aime la vérité, mais pardonne à l'erreur

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