Just goes to show that analyzing the syntax of a message
will only get you so far, particularly with a joke. You
need to understand the context and intended
semantics ... it becomes actually amusing :-)) This idea
of a shared semantics is particularly apropos to such
humor.
--
Jonathan
> Lars Marius Garshol scripsit:
>
> > That could be, but since the original joke seemed to imply that the
> > word "lox" was only known in the mid-West, and since that area
> > (Minnesota especially) is known to have disproportionately many
> > Scandiavian immigrants, and the terms were near-identical in
> > pronunciation and meaning, it seemed sort of logical.
>
> On the contrary, I think the joke clearly implies that the subject
> knows neither "bagels" nor "lox", since he does not know which
> term applies to which referent. (He needs a topic map!)
> So he must come from the non-lox-eating part of the Midwest.
>
> --
> John Cowan
> At times of peril or dubitation, http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
> Perform swift circular ambulation, http://www.reutershealth.com
> With loud and high-pitched ululation.
>
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