“Prawn” sounds to some like “pawn.” A riddle has been cited in print since at least 2001:
Q: Where do shellfish go to borrow money?
A: The prawn broker.
“How could the dolphin afford to buy a house?”/“He prawned everything” is another “prawn”/“pawn” joke.
Google Books
Extremely Good Clean Jokes for Kids
By Bob Phillips
Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers
2001
Pg. 111:
Karlotta: Where do shellfish go to borrow money?
Katrina: Beats me.
Karlotta: To the prawn-broker.
Google Groups: uk.people.silversurfers
Fish jokes
Anita Carter
3/21/02
Where do shellfish go to borrow money ?
To the prawn broker !
Google Groups: alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise
[OT] [AOB] [OO] [MAU] [MAU] JFF
Derek
10/4/03
(...)
>> Where do shellfish go to borrow money? 😉
>
> You’re mean
Just because you don’t know the punchline does NOT make me mean.
(To the PRAWN broker!)
Google Books
Penguin Pocket Jokes
By David Pickering
London, UK: Penguin Books
2006
Pg. ?:
Where do shellfish go to borrow money?
To the prawn broker.
Twitter
Jon Lansner
@jonlan
Bad joke ... Q: Where do shellfish go to borrow money? A: To the prawn broker.
10:28 PM - 20 May 2008
16 July 2009, The Sun (London, UK), “Have a laugh!,” pg. 16:
WHERE do shellfish go to borrow money? The prawn broker.
Google Books
1001 Amazing Jokes
By Jack Goldstein
Andrews UK Limited
2013
Pg. ?:
Where do shellfish go to borrow money?
To the prawn broker!
Reddit—Cleanjokes
Where do shellfish go to borrow money? (self.cleanjokes)
submitted July 6, 2018 by madazzahatterQuality “Ugh” Contributor
The prawn broker.
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 read old books because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“I study old buildings because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“Due to personal reasons, I’m still going to be fluffy this summer” (4/18)
•“Do not honk at me. My life is worthless. I will kill us both” (bumper sticker) (4/18)
•Entry in progress—BP16 (4/18)
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.
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