Students at one college or university often tell a joke about a rival school:
Q: How many (insert college name) freshmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: None. That’s a sophomore-level course.
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1997, when it was told about the University of Michigan.
Google Groups: alt.sports.college.ohio-state
scUM jokes
JEFF LUTZ
11/22/97
(...)
Q: How many Michigan freshmen does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: None. That’s a sophomore course.
Google Groups: alt.sports.college.pac-10
Rival jokes
Vertigo310
11/21/98
(...)
How many USC Freshmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None; that’s a sophomore-level course.
Google Groups: alt.support.anxiety-panic
More Questions to Add to Elise’s
Rita
7/7/01
(...)
> (3) How many Ole Miss freshmen does it take to change a light bulb?
> ---None.....That’s a sophomore course in Mississippi.
Google Books
A Prairie Home Companion
Pretty Good Joke Book
By Brian Becker
Minneapolis, MN: HighBridge
2003
Pg. 31:
How many University of Iowa freshmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None. That’s a sophomore course.
Google Books
I Love Texas/I Hate Oklahoma
By Pete Davis
Chicago, IL: Triumph Books LLC
2012
Pg. ?:
How many OU freshmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. That’s a sophomore course.
Google Books
Warning! This Product Contains Nuttiness:
A Fun Look at the Bizarre World in Which We Live
By Sam Venable
Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press
2013
Pg. 227:
How many NYFU (Name Your Favorite University—ed.) freshmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. At NYFU, this is a sophomore course.
Twitter
Aly Redding
@alyredding
How many ASU freshmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None. At ASU, that’s a sophomore level class.
11:28 PM - 24 Sep 2014
Twitter
Chandler Norville
@changreatness
How many South Carolina freshmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None, that’s a sophomore course.
7:36 PM - 4 Oct 2014
Twitter
Arlette Rodriguez
@_arlette24
“How many OU freshmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None, because it’s a sophomore course.” -@misterjavy
Austin, TX
1:24 PM - 10 Oct 2014
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:
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“Online flirting is all fun and games until someone buys a plane ticket” (5/27)
•
“Only in America can you get arrested for feeding the homeless & be sentenced to community service” (5/27)
•
“In Texas, the shortest distance between two points is likely under construction” (5/27)
•
“New York is the only town where the shortest distance between two points is under construction” (5/27)
•
Entry in progress—BP (5/26)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
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.