# When your group is the butt of the joke **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932 "2015-02-17T17:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/41 "2015-02-18T18:31:23Z")
I think part of the charm of the SNL sketch is that everyone does their own terrible version of the accent. I think they’re trying to suck at it… there’s no way great performers like Wiig and Hader do a terrible accent unless it’s _on purpose_. ---
**Author:** ![inedible\_knapsack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/49beb7/32.png) [@inedible\_knapsack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inedible_knapsack)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/42 "2015-02-18T18:41:59Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > I want to meet whoever that one person was from southern Appalachia who convinced Hollywood we say “anythin’,” because we don’t. Now, we do say “nothin’.” And we do say “somethin’.” But anybody with a drop of Scotch-Irish blood knows it’s always pronounced “anything” heard as “anythang”, seein’s how we retain the “g” wherever it feels right and even add one on when it feels better, as in “mounting” for mountain. > But otherwise I’m okay with the hillbilly thing and can usually do you one better if we’re cracking jokes about it. It is distinctive and probably recognized in other countries whereas a mid-western accent wouldn’t be. We all generalize and stereotype to get the drift quicker. > But it wouldn’t hurt Hollywood to hire voice coaches who are actually from the hills. Amen to this. The only person I’ve ever heard say “anythin’” is Ricky Ricardo. If I drift into my Appalachian, I say “anythang.” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/43 "2015-02-18T18:56:21Z")
Christian Republican here, which means that on TV, if my group isn’t the butt of the joke, it’s the villian of the week. If it’s funny or relevant to the story, I can be fine with it. The ABC show FRIDAYS did a Rocky Horror spoof with Ronald Reagan in Frank-N-Furtur attire singing “I’m an Arch-Conservative Anti-Intellectual Chief Executive from Cali-forni-ay-hey hey hey!” and it’s still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. South Park gets the same reaction out of me when they skewer my people. I do remember a dear Doper who drifts in & out who was outraged when her beloved South Park took on transgenderism, to the point of throwing out her Chef doll. And of course, Chef’s Isaac Hayes all of the sudden trumpeting how it’s wrong to make fun of religion when SP took on Scientology. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/44 "2015-02-18T19:23:57Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > What miniseries was it that Patrick Swayze played a Confederate soldier from the deep South? That was one of the worst Southern accents I’ve ever heard in the media. No, I believe that honor goes to _Steel Magnolias_. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/45 "2015-02-19T13:30:14Z")
When I make fun of Alabama I’m not really joking. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/46 "2015-02-19T15:33:52Z")
Q: Why does California have the most attorneys per capita and New Jersey the most toxic waste dumps per capita? A: New Jersey got first pick. Q: Why couldn’t Jesus have been born in New Jersey? A: God walked up and down the Shore several times but couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin. Q: What is the difference between a girl from Newark and a bowling ball? A: Sometimes a bowling ball is hard to pick up. Q: Why don’t New Jersey girls play hide-and-seek? A: No-one would look for them. Q: What’s the only thing that grows in New Jersey? A1: Smokestacks. A2: The crime rate. Q: What’s the difference between New Jersey and yogurt? A: Yogurt has an active, living culture (To the tune of the Scottish song “The Rolling Hills of the Border”): The Rolling Mills of New Jersey (Roberts and Barrand) ``` When I die, bury me low Where I can hear the petroleum flow. A sweeter sound, I never did know The rolling mills of New Jersey. ``` Down in Trenton, there is a bar The bums, they come from near and from far They come by truck, they come by car The lousy bums of New Jersey Down in Hoboken, there will be Garbage as far as the eye can see. There’s garbage for you, there’s garbage for me. The garbage dumps of New Jersey. When at last, I decided to roam, Far away from my home in Bayonne. I sat down, and wrote this poem. I wrote an ode to New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/47 "2015-02-19T16:38:53Z")
I hear woman jokes and dumb blonde jokes all the time. I am internally offended, but it’s not enough of a deal for me to confront or or call it out or anything. I just mentally mark that person as “bigoted asshole, watch for racism and homophobia too” and go on about my day. I tend to respond to such jokes with stonefaced silence. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/48 "2015-02-20T03:25:54Z")
If we’re telling jokes about our groups, here’s an oldie but goody about hillbillies that touches on a couple points: Barefoot Paw comes into the cabin to warm himself at the fire. Maw says, “Paw, lift up your foot! You’re standing on a live coal.” To which Paw says, “Which one?” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/49 "2015-02-20T17:26:40Z")
I’m from Buffalo and it’s all about the snow jokes. We laugh and say bring it on you wimps. ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/50 "2015-02-21T19:20:24Z")
I am a native Californian, never had anyone say anything about a California accent. I suspect what people are calling an accent is actually Valley girl speak. In fact when we moved to Canada no one ever said a word about my accent, they had no problems with my daughters speech either, they wanted to “pull the words” from my husbands mouth apparently they thought he spoke slowly. Then I literally had to translate for my son. He spoke like my daughters I thought. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/51 "2015-02-23T03:52:58Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Q: What is the difference between a girl from Newark and a bowling ball? > > A: Sometimes a bowling ball is hard to pick up. I was expecting… A: You can only fit three fingers in a bowling ball. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/52 "2015-02-23T14:44:18Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m a soon-to-be middle-aged-virgin with Tourettes Syndrome from Georgia. I’m black and I’m a woman. And I play the viola. > > A laugh track greets me whenever I enter a room. 😃 It’s the viola that gets the greatest laughs, right? (I play it too) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/53 "2015-02-23T14:57:53Z")
> [@inedible\_knapsack](#): > > I’m from Alabama, I’m of Scotch-Irish descent, I have a Appalachian southern accent and I’m a University of Alabama fan. I work with New Englanders. You have my sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/54 "2015-02-23T18:34:19Z")
Nobody here from Brooklyn? I don’t think there’s any dialect/place that’s been more stereotyped. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/55 "2015-02-23T20:34:49Z")
> [@inedible\_knapsack](#): > > I’m from Alabama, I’m of Scotch-Irish descent, I have a Appalachian southern accent and I’m a University of Alabama fan. I work with New Englanders. You’re brave. I ditched my southern accent within six months of moving to New England. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/56 "2015-02-23T21:43:57Z")
Hey guys, I love the viola. I think it has a beautiful sound. I didn’t know it was mocking-worthy. As for me, of course it depends on presentation, delivery, and who is delivering. I don’t mind some Indian jokes but TBH I haven’t heard too many funny ones. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932/57 "2015-02-25T00:42:24Z")
> [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > I was expecting… > > A: You can only fit three fingers in a bowling ball. You’re BOTH wrong… …a Bowling Ball never gets strip searched & felt up in Terminal C… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-your-group-is-the-butt-of-the-joke/712932.md?page=2)