I'm not a native English speaker and can't get this joke:
A zebra went to heaven. When he saw St. Peter he asked him "You know, I have always wondered, am I a white horse with black stripes or a black horse with white stripes?" St. Peter said he would have to ask God that question since he's the one that made him.
So the zebra asked God, "God, am I a white horse with black stripes or a black horse with white stripes?"
God answered, "You are what you are."
The zebra left and came upon St. Peter and told him,
"Well I asked God if I was a white horse with black stripes or a black horse with white stripes..."
"What was the answer," St. Peter asked.
"Well I still don't know. All He said was: 'You are what you are."'
"Well that answers it," Said St. Peter. "You're a white horse with black stripes."
"How do you know that?" asked the zebra.
"Well if you were a black horse with white stripes He would have said: "You is what you is".
I learned from the web that some people say this joke is racist. I don't want to be racist but just want to know its meaning.
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Also, I note some people do write "you is what you is" on other occasions. What does that mean?
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English language: "You is what you is"?
2011-06-04 8:19 am
回答 (9)
2011-06-04 8:23 am
✔ 最佳答案
It's racist because it's implying that all black people speak with bad grammar, such as saying "you is" instead of "you are"; if the zebra was a "black horse," then, like a black person, he would also have bad grammar.
2011-06-04 8:22 am
This joke is basically making fun of black people's poor English. Well, at least the ones in America who try to act like rappers or "gangsters". So he's saying if he were a black horse but with white stripes, he would've said it wrong, as opposed to a white horse. It's a racist joke.
Don't ever use "You is what you is". That is 100% wrong and it's never proper English.
Don't ever use "You is what you is". That is 100% wrong and it's never proper English.
2011-06-04 8:24 am
Urban blacks in the US have developed a distinctive form of English, usually called AAVE (African American Vernacular English) - though the term 'ebonics' is also sometimes used. AAVE is as distinct as Scots, or Hebridean - with its own spoken culture and literature.
One distinctive feature of AAVE is the different way it uses the verb 'to be' in finite sentences.
White Americans (who don't usually understand the rules of AAVE) often imagine that 'you is what you is' is how black Americans say 'you are what you are'. In fact, the rules are way more complicated than that.
It is a stupid redneck joke - because it makes fun of how black Americans speak English. It makes fun from a position of ignorance (ignorance of the subtle and elegant rules of AAVE). (The joke being that God speaks white English to a white horse with black stripes, but black English to a black horse with white stripes).
Of course, there are Americans silly enough to laugh at a joke like this (though they are all uneducated whites).
It isn't especially racist.
One distinctive feature of AAVE is the different way it uses the verb 'to be' in finite sentences.
White Americans (who don't usually understand the rules of AAVE) often imagine that 'you is what you is' is how black Americans say 'you are what you are'. In fact, the rules are way more complicated than that.
It is a stupid redneck joke - because it makes fun of how black Americans speak English. It makes fun from a position of ignorance (ignorance of the subtle and elegant rules of AAVE). (The joke being that God speaks white English to a white horse with black stripes, but black English to a black horse with white stripes).
Of course, there are Americans silly enough to laugh at a joke like this (though they are all uneducated whites).
It isn't especially racist.
2011-06-04 8:23 am
Black people tend to talk in improper English, like replacing the grammatically correct "you are" with "you is". The joke was implying that because he was using grammatically correct English, he must be white.
That was funny btw :P
That was funny btw :P
2011-06-04 9:40 am
It's implying that black people have bad grammar, it isn't funny because English black people talk just like everyone else.
No one says " you is what you is" on any occasion.
No one says " you is what you is" on any occasion.
2011-06-04 8:23 am
It just means that .. You are who you are
2016-03-23 9:05 pm
It is a very funny moronic joke that is taboo because racists believe its true. Case in point, How many You fill in the blank______) does it take to screw in a light bulb? Not considered taboo because everyone knows its just playing on a stereotype. Moronic jokes are taboo today because people are very sensitive and hateful at the same time.
2011-06-04 8:22 am
I'm guessing it's a bad black joke I'm probably wrong though I don't get it either
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