The French have been the subject of many jokes about military surrender and have even been called “cheese-eating surrender monkeys.” The French gave New York City the Statue of Liberty, and there’s a riddle:
Q: Why did the Statue of Liberty take karate?
A: She wanted to be the first French person to be able to defend herself!
The joke has been cited in print since at least 2003.
“Why wouldn’t the Statue of Liberty work in France?”/“Because she has only one arm raised” is a similar riddle.
Wikipedia: Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, was built by Gustave Eiffel and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.
Google Groups: sci.space.shuttle
[WAR] The Canonical List of Anti-French Jokes
OM
3/26/03
(...)
Q: Why did the Statue of Liberty take karate?
A: She wanted to be the first French person to be able to defend herself!
Google Groups: alt.america
Boycott America
HüĐklëßëŪŪĸ Hö§hïmötö
4/18/03
(...)
Q: Why did the Statue of Liberty take karate?
A: She wanted to be the first french person to be able to defend herself!
Twitter
♕Princess Montazzle♕
@michamontaz
Q: Why did the Statue of Liberty take karate?
A: She wanted to be the first French person to be able to defend herself! #gtfrog
2:05 PM - 13 Jan 2012
Twitter
Roopali Bajpai
@rj_rocker
Why did the Statue of Liberty take karate…. She wanted to be the first French person to be able to defend herself. #FrenchArmy
3:15 AM - 29 Feb 2012
Twitter
theloon
@theloon
Q: Why did the Statue of Liberty learn karate?—- A: She wanted to be the first French person to be able to defend herself!
7:28 PM - 30 Aug 2013
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:
•“I wish Facebook would notify me when someone unfriends me, that way I could go like it” (4/18)
•“Welcome to growing older. Where all the foods and drinks you’ve loved for years suddenly seem determined to destroy you” (4/17)
•“Date someone who drinks with you instead of complaining that you drink” (4/17)
•“Definition of stupid: Knowing the truth, seeing evidence of the truth, but still believing the lie” (4/17)
•“Definition of stupid: Knowing the truth, seeing the evidence of the truth, but still believing the lie” (4/17)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.