Date:  Wed, 14 Feb 1996 08:32:00 CST

From:  Tom Murray <TEM[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]KSUVM.KSU.EDU>

Subject: Dirty Jokes and Color Metaphors



A colleague asked me about this yesterday: Several cultures around the world r

efer to dirty jokes as "off color," yet there is no general agreement as to wha

t "color" such jokes are. In the United States, they are or used to be called

"blue"; in Spain, they are "red" (maybe "yellow"; my colleague's not sure); in

the Orient, they are "yellow" (maybe "red"). Can anyone speak to this phenomen

on? Thanks in advance for any insights you may have.



      --Tom Murray <TEM[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]KSUVM.KSU.EDU>