Shaggy Dog stories are a series of jokes that are characterized by lengthy and complicated set-ups, contain repetitive patterns of speech and are ended by obvious--even obnoxious-- punch lines. In order to understand a Shaggy Dog story, the listener must not only pay close attention, but also be familiar with the vernacular. In many ways, Shaggy Dog stories are perfect examples of just how abstract language use can be, and likewise wonderful examples to help explain Gee's building tools.
In the "Giant Panda" joke, a panda escapes from a New York zoo, and goes to a restaurant for a meal. The maitre d' decides to seat the panda despite the fact that he's...well, a panda. After the panda eats, he pulls a gun, shoots other diners and makes to leave. When the maitre d' confronts him, the panda just says, "look it up." The maitre d' calls the police, who look up "giant pandas" in the encyclopedia. And in print it says: "Giant Pandas, eats shoots and leaves." This use of language relates to Gee's tools of 'significance,' 'connections,' and 'intertextuality.'
Significance is most prominent because the jokes relies heavily on the multiple meanings a word can have. Significance, according to Gee, is the meaning people assign to certain words, or the level of meaningfulness a word can have. This is especially true in the "Giant Panda" joke because both "shoots" and "leaves" have dual natures. "Shoots and leaves" is supposed to refer to the panda's dietary habits; however, the joke lies in the construed meaning oh "shoots" and "leaves." "Shoots," in this case, refers to an act of violence involving a gun and bullets, and "leaves" refers to the act of going from one location to another. This double meaning is just one example of how language is abstract, and the use of it can be extremely dynamic. This is why 'significance' plays such a huge role in Shaggy Dog stories; shaggy dog stories often have punch lines that are 'plays on words.' A 'play on words' is to use one meaning for a word in a contextually incorrect situation. This incorrectness is generally understood by listeners and that is what makes it funny. The significance a listener assigns to the words being used are crucial to the successful communication of the joke. This is why understanding this specific tool is so important when analyzing the structure of language in Shaggy Dog stories.
In addition to significance, 'connections' also plays a huge role in Shaggy Dog stories. The connections made between a listener's ideas, understandings and personal definition of words all influence how the joke will be received Connections are especially important when the punch line is a play on words, as in the "Giant Panda" joke, because the connections listeners make have to be between the meaning of a word, as well as how they operate in the story being told. The ability to make the connection between the multiple meanings of "shoots" and "leaves" is, therefore, not only a matter of significance, but also a matter of connection the dots (or in this case, words). If a listener cannot make the connections between meanings, the joke will not be funny, and the listener will not 'get it.'
Finally, the ability to make connections also lies in social and cultural norms. Unfamiliarity with local vernacular will create a disconnect between the meaningfulness of the jokes, and its components, which makes it difficult for listeners to understand. Gee describes 'intertextuality' as the use of texts to help assign meaning to other texts. Intertextuality also plays a large role in Shaggy Dog stories because a lot of the jokes rely on a listener's familiarity with the subject. This is true, specifically, in the "Florist Friars" joke, where the joke lies in the use of a common saying; intertextuality also lies in the "The Chez is in the Male" joke, where a listener must understand dislike of and discrimination against lawyers.
While intertextualitity is used more often in other jokes, it is also prevalent in the "Giant Panda" joke, as the encyclopedia reference sets up the punch line. The "Panda" joke works not only because of multiple meanings, but because of a use of grammar. In the encyclopedia, the sentence is read "eats shoots and leaves" No commas are used, indicating a connection between the two; it is making a list, whereas the maitre d' says "eats, shoots, and leaves." The commas indicate that 'eats,' 'shoots,' and 'leaves' are independent of each other, thus giving them duality. In the encyclopedia, "shoots and leaves" are used as nouns; in "shoots, and leaves" become verbs. A listener who is familiar with grammar and proper comma use substitutes this information. Without a familiarity (intertextuality) with the language, a listener would not understand the distinction between the list (nouns) and the actions (verbs).
The structure of Shaggy Dog stories often have lengthy set ups, over explanan the situation and slap the listener with simplistic punch lines.
Lengthy set ups are often used because, in oder for the joke to work, all the elements need to be in place. It is a specific formula that needs to be followed strictly. In the "Panda" joke, the teller takes time to explain that the panda (a) escaped from a zoo in New York, (b) the maitre d' has seen stranger things, since it is New York City, after all, (c) pulls a gun from"God knows where" and (d) taking extra time to describe police involvement. Becasue the punch line's success depends on the build-up of the joke ("Where is all this going?"), these jokes are often longer than the average "knock, knock" joke.
Furthermore, as to not prematurely give away the ending, there is a deliberate and often unorthodox way of speaking involved. To avoid using the words involved in the punch line the teller must use synonyms for the words about to be used. Listeners familiar with Shaggy Dog stories understand this. Because of the simplicity of the punch lines, the scenarios and vocabulary used to tell the joke are often used as to not prematurely give away the ending.
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