My Family's Favorite Jokes

My Father’s Favorite Joke – The Color Sentence

“So, this man is applying for a sales job. Since he was wearing a very colorful outfit, the interviewer had already decided he wasn’t a qualified applicant, but had to interview him anyways. So he says to the guy, “If you can tell me a sentence that uses the words Green, Pink, Yellow, Blue, White, Purple, and Black, You’ve got the job.” So, the guy thinks for a while and finally says ‘I heard the phone go green, green, and then I went to pink up the phone and said Yellow. Blue's that? White did you say? Aye, wrong number. Don't Purplely disturb people and don't call Black, okay?’”


The beginning to this Joke was never told in the same way, but by the end of this joke, my father is always laughing uncontrollably. I used to love this joke because it made him laugh, and I could understand it. Many of my childhood conversations with my father ended with a dictionary because he could never just say things in a way a seven year old could understand. With so many complex jokes, I find it delightfully uncharacteristic of him to like this one.

My Mother’s Favorite Joke- Wishy Washy

“A woman is doing laundry. First she picks up a shirt. *at this time, the joker picks up an imaginary shirt and pretends to wash it on a washboard* Wishy- Washy, Wishy- Washy, Wishy- Washy. *hold up shirt* Looks clean *pretends to smell shirt* Smells Clean *put shirt aside, pick up new piece of clothing* (the speaker would do this several times with different pieces of clothing.) Then, she picks up a diaper, Wishy-Washy, Wishy-Washy, Wishy-Washy, *looks at imaginary diaper* Looks clean, *Smells imaginary diaper* Wishy-Washy, Wishy- Washy, Wishy- washy. . . ”



This was my mother’s favorite joke as a child. She grew up in the time when cloth diapers were still in use, or else not too far in the past. Apparently she would drag this joke out forever, listing ever article of clothing imaginable, which caused her family much displeasure. She used to tell me this joke when I was little. I never found it that funny, but I always loved how she’s liked the same joke her whole life, that’s just the way she is.

My Brother’s Favorite Joke- The Thermos

“A woman goes into a store and points out a thermos. The salesman explains that it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold. The woman buys one and the next day brings it to work, where he boss asks her what it is. She tells him it’s a thermos; it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold. He then asks her what she has in it. She replied Two cups of coffee and a popsicle”



This joke was constantly thrown a cross the dinner table while my older brother, Gary, tried to learn it just like my Father told it. Occasionally, my Father would replace the coffee/popsicle punch line with the boss saying “But how do it know?!”, which always frustrated my brother. I think Gary loved this joke because of its old-school humor, which he could use while brownnosing his way out of things, his best skill.

My Favorite Joke

. . . hasn't been found yet. I need a few more years of listening to my family's dinner table jokes before I pick up my own. In my family, we take joking very seriously.