# Explain this 1940's style joke\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751 "2010-04-11T18:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/1 "2010-04-11T18:12:26Z")
Bob Hope as Flattop: “Get your hands up Tracy, I’ve got a gun in your back!” Bing Crosby as Dick Tracy: “Would you mind pointing that thing a little higher?” Audience laughs. \*Considering the fact that this is Bob Hope and Bing Crosby we’re talking about maybe the joke wasn’t funny in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/2 "2010-04-11T18:24:20Z")
It’s a penis joke. And why blame Hope and Crosby? I think they’re still making them today. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/3 "2010-04-11T18:30:30Z")
Possibly a penis reference, yes. I’d say it’s equally possible that he was referring to the even older joke of asking someone to massage them in a different place on their back. “Oh, just a little higher! Oh just a little to the left! Ooooh, right there…” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/4 "2010-04-11T18:34:07Z")
Weird–I interpreted it as the gun was actually pointing in his…er, ass…region. On second thought I don’t think that makes quite as much sense. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/5 "2010-04-11T19:22:34Z")
Actually, the ass does make more sense. He had the gun at his back, after all. AFAIK, penises haven’t migrated since the 1940s. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/6 "2010-04-11T20:04:32Z")
My interpretation is that the victim isn’t worried about his own penis, but rather that his first assumption was that the gunman was pressing HIS penis into said victim’s back. Yeah, it’s a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/7 "2010-04-11T20:05:43Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Yeah, it’s a stretch. Which is why he wanted it pointed higher! _rimshot_ ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/8 "2010-04-11T20:35:24Z")
Yeah, I took it to mean “Uh, Bob? You are pressing that gun uncomfortably close to my general ass area.” No particular suggestion of a penis being involved, unless you have a dirty mind. But did they even have jokes like that in the 1940s? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/9 "2010-04-11T20:51:07Z")
Okay, I feel less stupid for bringing up the ass thing. I just felt like, “Am I some weird minded ass girl for bringing it up when everyone else was talking about penises?” I also wondered if they were making those kinds of jokes. Though now that I think about it, maybe an ass joke would be less out there than a penis joke? Like, maybe it was less, “It feels like you’re sodomizing me with your gun!” and more, “Heh, his gun was near the guy’s bottom.” I mean, little kids today make butt jokes and it’s not necessarily a dirty or sexy joke. I also think that the joke as a penis doesn’t seem to make as much sense because why would he be wanting it higher if it was a penis? Wouldn’t it be something like get that thing away from me or something to that effect? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/10 "2010-04-11T21:43:55Z")
You know guys, it doesn’t have to be an ass joke OR a penis joke. It’s a sodomy joke. It’s got both. I know every generation thinks they invented sex in all it’s glorious forms, but… no. Approximately 26 hours after the dawn of time, Og said “Hey, this thing also fits nicely _here_!” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/11 "2010-04-11T21:51:15Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > You know guys, it doesn’t have to be an ass joke OR a penis joke. It’s a sodomy joke. It’s got both. I presumed that to be what people meant when they referred to penis and ass. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/12 "2010-04-11T23:47:50Z")
Gives a new meaning to “bust a cap in your ass” was that an axe?\ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/13 "2010-04-12T00:11:23Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I also think that the joke as a penis doesn’t seem to make as much sense because why would he be wanting it higher if it was a penis? Wouldn’t it be something like get that thing away from me or something to that effect? If he’s able to point the gun higher then it proves that it’s not an actual penis. Just a gun. Nothing to worry about, in that case. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/14 "2010-04-12T21:38:11Z")
[Obligatory FailBlog link (video)](http://failblog.org/2010/04/09/epic-fail-videos-friday-rewind-frisk-fail/) ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/15 "2010-04-12T22:07:29Z")
Here’s what I think happened: Hope & Crosby were well known ad-libbers. Hope says his line and mimes pointing a gun at Crosby. Hope is holding his script in the other hand and looking at it. Hope doesn’t realize the “gun” is pointed at Crosby’s butt (or groin). Crosby ad-libs the line about pointing the gun higher. The studio audience laughs because they can see what happened, but the listening audience doesn’t fully understand because they didn’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/16 "2010-04-12T22:22:39Z")
Call me naive but I thought it was a “height” joke - ie He’s implying he’s taller than he is. or would like to be. or a gun in the back just isn’t too comfortable and he’s more worried about his comfort than the prospect of actually being shot. Not saying there can’t be penis etc jokes in the 1940s but I think it’s far too risque to be deliberate, c’mon, who are you kidding? A sodomy/penis joke in the 1940s from Bing Crosby? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/17 "2010-04-12T22:41:52Z")
> [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](#): > > Here’s what I think happened: > > Hope & Crosby were well known ad-libbers. Hope says his line and mimes pointing a gun at Crosby. Hope is holding his script in the other hand and looking at it. Hope doesn’t realize the “gun” is pointed at Crosby’s butt (or groin). Crosby ad-libs the line about pointing the gun higher. The studio audience laughs because they can see what happened, but the listening audience doesn’t fully understand because they didn’t see it. What I pictured, too. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/18 "2010-04-13T15:36:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > AFAIK, penises haven’t migrated since the 1940s. But before then, you’d see flocks of them winging their way south for the winter. Ah, memories… ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/19 "2010-04-13T16:22:54Z")
I seem to recall a few other 1940-ish movies that seemed to imply that getting shot in the ass was the height of hilarity, or embarassment, depending on the context. It was made to seem unmanly to get wounded in the posterier. Not a very manly wound, one that you were not likely to be showing off at the local pub. So maybe Bing was implying "I’d rather get shot in the gut (or heart) than get shot in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751/20 "2010-04-13T18:17:21Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Yeah, it’s a stretch. That’s what _she_ said! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-1940s-style-joke/535751.md?page=2)