A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
“Instead of ‘British Summer Time’ and ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ we should just call them ‘Oven Clock Correct Time’...” (3/28)
“Has anyone here ever drank a pint of tequila? I know it’s a long shot” (3/28)
“A pint of tequila? That’s a long shot” (3/28)
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Entry from December 27, 2016
“Where do you go to weigh a pie?”/“Somewhere over the rainbow.”

“Over the Rainbow” is a famous song in the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939). The lyric “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high” has famous misheard lyrics (a ), made into the riddle:
 
Q: WHere do you go to weigh a pie?
A: Somewhere over the rainbow, weigh a pie.

 
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1986.
 
   
Wikipedia: Over the Rainbow
“Over the Rainbow” (often referred to as “Somewhere over the Rainbow”) is a ballad, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939) and was sung by actress Judy Garland, in her starring role as Dorothy Gale. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became Garland’s signature song, as well as one of the most enduring standards of the 20th century.
 
About five minutes into the film, Dorothy sings the song after failing to get her aunt and uncle to listen to her relate an unpleasant incident involving her dog, Toto, and the town spinster, Miss Gulch. Dorothy’s Aunt Em tells her to “find yourself a place where you won’t get into any trouble”. This prompts Dorothy to walk off by herself, musing to Toto, “‘Some place where there isn’t any trouble.’ Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto? There must be. It’s not a place you can get to by a boat, or a train. It’s far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain…”, at which point she begins singing.
 
13 February 1986, Indiana (PA) Gazette “Mighty Funny’s Mini Jokes,” The Mini Page, pg. 3, col. 2:
Greg: Where can you weigh a pie?
Kristen: Somewhere over the rainbow, weigh a pie!
 
17 March 1998, Northwest Herald (Woodstock, IL), “Laugh a Minute,” Style sec., pg. 5, col. 2:
Mark: What’s the best place to find the exact weight of a pie?
Christy: Somewhere over the rainbow—weigh a pie.
 
Google Books
Mondegreens:
A Book of Mishearings

By J. A. Wines
London: Michael O’Mara Books Limited
2007
Pg. ?:
‘Somewhere over the rainbow, weigh a pie’
Obviously Dorothy Gale was not off to cook dinner in Oz. The land that she dreamed of over the rainbow was ‘way up high’.
       
Google Books
Oy Vey: More!:
The Ultimate Book of Jewish Jokes, Part 2

By David Minkoff
New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin’s Press)
2008
Pg. 423:
Q: Where would you weigh a pie?
A: Somewhere over the rainbow, weigh-a-pie.
 
Twitter
Brendan Cooper
‏@BrendanCooper
Where do you go to weigh a pie? Somewhere over the rainbow. Sorry.
1:39 PM - 25 Feb 2008
 
Twitter
Mike Sheridan
‏@MWSheridan
DJ asked me, “Where do you weigh a pie?” Then he sang, “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high….”
5:50 AM - 4 Mar 2008
 
Google Books
Garner’s Modern American Usage (Third Edition)
By Bryan Garner
New York, NY: Oxford University Press
2009
Pg. 546:
“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high.” (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”) “Somewhere over the rainbow, weigh a pie.”
     
Google Books
Best Ever Classroom Jokes:
Because some of us never grow up

By Mike Haskins
New York, NY: Pavilion Books
2015
Pg. ?:
Where do you go to weigh a pie?
Somewhere over the rainbow, weigh a pie!

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityFood/Drink • Tuesday, December 27, 2016 • Permalink


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