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)
“The U.S. should add three more states. Because 53 is a prime number. Then they can truly be one nation, indivisible” (3/28)
“My love for the truth outweighs my fear of offending you” (3/28)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from November 01, 2017
“Why did the WASP cross the road?”/“To get to the middle.”

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”/“To get to the other side” is a classic riddle from the 19th century. A WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) version is:
 
Q: Why did the WASP cross the road?
A: To get to the middle.

 
The political joke has been cited in print since at least 1983.
 
“Why did the Canadian cross the road?”/“To get to the middle” and “There’s nothing in the middle of the road except yellow stripes and dead armadillos” are other sayings about the middle of the road.
   
 
Wikipedia: White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) is a term for an elite social class of powerful white Americans of British Protestant ancestry. WASPs often trace their ancestry to the colonial period. The term is often used as a pejorative to attack their historical dominance over the financial, cultural, academic, and legal institutions of the United States. The term is usually used to distinguish upscale WASPs from ordinary folks of various White ethnic origins. Sociologists sometimes use the term very broadly to include all Protestant Americans of Northern European or Northwestern European ancestry regardless of their class or power.
       
Google Books
Totally Tasteless:
The collected works (so far) of Blanche Knott

By Blanche Knott
New York, NY: Ballantine Books
1983
Pg. 87:
Why did the WASP cross the road’?
To get to the middle.
 
Google Groups: comp.software.year-2000
Are Geek Jokes Politically Correct?
Bill Lynch
1/22/98
(...)
Q. Why did the WASP cross the road?
A. To get to the middle.
 
Twitter
Br3ndaBot‏
@Br3ndaBot
Replying to @stewbagz
@stewbagz: Q: Why did the WASP cross the road? A: To get to the middle.
3:51 AM - 14 Apr 2008
     
Facebook
UbetterNot-Records
April 9, 2016 ·
Q:Why did the WASP cross the road?
A:To get to the middle.
 
Twitter
Fortune CLI‏
@FortuneCli
Q:Why did the WASP cross the road?
A:To get to the middle.
9:56 PM - 1 Nov 2017

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityStreets • Wednesday, November 01, 2017 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.