CHAT Nippon (was Fwd: Re: Questions about Choton, etc.

"caeruleancentaur" wrote:

> --- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Joe <joe@W...> wrote:
> You could go with the Archaic Japanese 'Nippon'.  That tends to be
> fairly well known to English speakers, for some reason.
> --- End forwarded message ---
>
> I wonder if "Nippon" is so well known because of an off-color joke I
> once heard when my parents took me to a minstrel show.  I must have
> been in 6th or 7th grade, but the joke has stuck with me.
What could that have been? :-))  "Nippon(ese)" and pejorative "(the) Nips"
were common during WW II; I don't think I've heard them since....

"Nippon" is familiar to antiquers because so many cheap imports, especially
china, were so marked for a while during the interwar WW I - II period.
=============================================

Archival material: what passed as off-color jokes, suitable for parent-child
distribution (we were probably 6th-7th grade too):

"My wife wants a new car..."
"Well, buy her a Nash, and make a smash. Or, buy her a Kaiser and surprise
'er.  Or better yet, buy her a Tucker...."

Two men were repairing a farmer's privy.  One man had removed his jacket,
and it fell into the pit. He was very concerned to retrieve it.
"Oh for heaven's sake, don't bother, it'll be ruined."
"Yes, but my lunch was in the pocket."

The things that stick in one's mind..........