Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

Hi teachers,

I am reading a category of jokes called "Yo ma ma". So of the content might be a bit PG-rated. Would you still tell me the meanings of the jokes? I just want to understand more of American jokes.
Thanks

1. She gets "runs" in her jeans.
She gets to run around in her jeans?

2.When she goes to a restaurant, she doesn't get a menu, she gets an "estimate".
An estimate of?

3.
If she got her shoes shined, she'd have to "take his word for it".

4.
Her belly button doesn't have "lint", it has sweaters.
Lint=thread?

5
She is so big; she went to the "salad bar and pull up a chair".
She accidentally pulled up a chair on her to the salad bar?

Thank you all!

[CP]

Yes, "yo mama" jokes can be pretty daring. They are usually about how fat, ugly, or stupid your mother is -- a dangerous thing to say if not when just joking.

1. Yo mama so fat (Your mama is so fat), she gets runs in her jeans. A run in a lady's nylon stockings is a section where the fabric comes apart because of being stretched or snagged by a nail; it runs down the length of the stocking, or part of it. Your mother is so fat, she gets runs in jeans, which are made out of rugged denim fabric.

2. Yo mama so fat, when she goes to a restaurant, she doesn't get a menu, she gets an estimate. An estimate is a guess about what something would cost, such as an estimate to repair your car or an estimate to build a house. She's so fat, when she goes into the restaurant, they try to figure out how much it will take to fill her up, and they give her the estimate.

3. Yo mama so fat, if she got her shoes shined, she'd have to take his word for it. She can't see her shoes because her stomach is in the way, so when the shoeshine man shines her shoes, and he says he's finished, she has no way to tell if he's telling the truth. She just has to take his word for it / has to trust that he's telling her the truth.

4. Yo mama so fat, her belly button doesn't have lint, it has sweaters. Lint is the little fluffy stuff that you find in your pocket or in the dryer after washing your clothes. You may have some in your belly button / navel. She's so fat, and her navel is so large, that the lint in it is enough to make a sweater.

5. Yo mama so big, she went to the salad bar and pulled up a chair. A salad bar is a place in some restaurants with all kinds of produce and dressings, where the patrons can go make their own salads. She's so fat, she's going to eat everything at the salad bar, so she just pulls up a chair / just puts her chair there and sits down to eat.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[missdaredevil]

Oh my god, thank you so much for the expressive explanations of American "yo mama jokes". I just realized how much mental flexibility it takes to understand American jokes. Wow!
Thank you so much.


By the way, another question rised from your reply.
....... a dangerous thing to say* if not when* just joking.
when you are not joking?

Thank you so much again!

[kerstin]

Hello to Missdaredevil and CP:
I looked up some other Yo Ma Ma jokes. Would you also explain to me what they mean. Thank you guys so much in advance.

Yo mama is so fat; she's "works" in the movies--as the screen.
Yo mama is so fat; when she fell in love she "broke it"

Thanks!

[CP]

When not joking: If I insult your mother, you will probably get angry at me and maybe even get violent. If it is just joking -- playing the dozens, as it used to be called in the black community (and maybe still is) -- it is a challenge to you to come up with a better joke against my mother. Everyone will hear us going back and forth making "yo mama" jokes, and the winner will be the one with the best jokes.

Yo mama is so fat; she's "works" in the movies--as the screen. She has a job in the movies -- actually, in the movie theater -- as the screen. She is so fat, you can use her instead of the huge white screen to show the picture.

Yo mama is so fat; when she fell in love she "broke it". If she fell onto anything, she would break it.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb