Practical Jokes Research Articles

Discriminación LGTBI en las aulas

Introducción: A pesar de que los grandes avances sociales, legales y culturales realizados enalgunos países han facilitado una mayor aceptación de la diversidad sexual, el estigma asociado a la homosexualidad todavía juega un papel importante en el ajuste psicosocial de las personas con una orientación sexual alternativa a la heterosexual. Concretamente, estas personas se enfrentan todavía a múltiples barreras de la discriminación debido a su orientación sexual, tanto en el ámbito educativo como en el familiar. Por este motivo, el objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar las actitudes homofóbicas entre los adolescentes, así como el grado de victimización debido a la orientación sexual. Método: A tal fin, 87 estudiantes de secundaria (49.4% chicas; 50.6% chicos) con edades entre los 13 y 16 años (M=13,34; D.T.=,567) cumplimentaron un cuestionario ad-hoc sobre discriminación hacía el colectivo LGTBI. Resultados: En primer lugar, se observan diferencias significativas en función del género en cuanto al nivel de discriminación homofóbica (t=2,47; p=,015): en concreto, los chicos muestran un mayor nivel de discriminación hacia personas LGTBI (M de57,56 en chicos frente a 49,34 en chicas [rango de 21 a 105]). En esta misma línea, ninguna de las chicas dijo haberse burlado de una persona LGTBI, frente al 13.2% de los chicos que afirmó haberlo hecho (X2=5,35; p=,040). Analizando en concreto las distintas formas de discriminación homofóbica, afirmaciones donde los participantes obtuvieron una media mayor fueron “la mayoría de hombres gays que son insultados lo provocan por la forma en la que hablan, actúan o se visten” y “uno de los problemas con la discriminación es que algunas mujeres lesbianas no pueden aguantar una broma” 2,70 y 2,24 respectivamente [rango de 1 a 5]). En el extremo contrario, un porcentaje también significativamente mayor de hombres reportó haber sufrido amenazas (15,2% hombres y 0% en mujeres [X2=5,41; p=,020]) o burlas (10,5% y 0% [X2=4,22; p=,040]) debido a su orientación sexual. Conclusiones: Teniendo en cuenta los resultados, se propone elaborar estrategias para concienciar a los jóvenes heterosexuales acerca de su responsabilidad como aliados en la lucha por el respeto hacia personas LGTBI; así como en la prevención de la discriminación. Asimismo, se evidencia también la necesidad de elaborar estrategias para promover espacios seguros en centros educativos y abordar las situaciones derivadas del bullying homofóbico

Gender- and Role-Specific Differences in the Perception of the Concept “Impishness” (based on the results of a psycholinguistic experiment)

The present paper continues a series of articles devoted to ludic competence and the description of its components with the help of psycholinguistic tools and methods. The present article explores another component of ludic competence, i.e. impishness, and the corresponding cultural concept “impishness”.
 An attempt has been made to single out gender- and role-specific differences in the perception of the verbalized concept “impishness” in the linguistic world-image of the Russian-speaking population of Eastern Ukraine. Psycholinguistic experiment was the main method of research. The sample comprised 400 older adults (aged 30 – 60), male and female respondents being equally represented. 
 Having analyzed the data from the free association experiment with the stimulus “impishness”, it was revealed that everyday consciousness of common representatives of the Ukrainian linguistic culture reflects all the conceptual meanings that are related to impishness in the intercultural domain.
 The core of the verbalized concept impishness is represented by four semantic clusters (more than 10%): “horseplay”, “play”, “children”, “flirting”.
 The semantic scope of the concept depends on the gender of the respondents. Thus, for female respondents, the main constituent elements of the concept impishness are children (subject of pranks), as well as foolery and frolicking as manifestations of playful behavior that finds expression in frolic pranks, practical jokes, funny tricks, etc. Male respondents, on the other hand, tend to associate impishness primarily with woman, as well as with immorality, flippant behavior, and various forms of daring, provocative, and imprudent behavior.
 Therefore, the ambivalent character of the concept “impishness” reveals itself in certain gender- and role-specific differences in its perception. It reveals itself most vividly in behavioral associates and associates that describe various forms of pranks.
 On the whole, the stimulus “impishness” is generally evaluated as something both positive and negative by all the respondents.11.25% of the respondents display negative attitude to the stimulus “impishness”.

Isn't That Clever: A Philosophical Account of Humor and Comedy

Isn't That Clever: A Philosophical Account of Humor and Comedy

If You Don't Laugh You'll Cry: The Occupational Humor of White Wisconsin Prison Workers

If You Don't Laugh You'll Cry: The Occupational Humor of White Wisconsin Prison Workers

Discipline and Punish at Camp: Citizenship and the Issue of Violence at a Swedish Boy Scout Camp

This article examines reports of physical punishment at the national Swedish Boy Scout camp Åvatyr in 1950. The Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Expressen described the events in terms of bullying and violence, while the camp directors declared that the reports were merely exaggerated accounts of innocent pranks and practical jokes. This article draws information from newspaper articles, Scout magazines and archival sources to discuss how the incidents at the Åvatyr camp tapped into a debate on disciplinary measures against children in Sweden. The analysis also concerns how these acts of punishment related to the Boy Scouts’ scheme of citizenship instruction. Finally, the long-term effects of this purported scandal are evaluated, including a call for reform of masculinity and citizenship ideals within the Boy Scout movement during the following decade.

John Henry Newman and St Philip Neri: two spiritual reformers of the Church

ABSTRACTPhilip Neri (1515–1595) is too often seen merely as a man of fantasy, wit and practical jokes. But he was also a conscious reformer who did more than any other man of his time to bring about a moral and spiritual transformation of the Catholic Church in Rome, receiving from his fellow citizens the title of ‘Apostle of Rome’. It was Philip (first discovered whilst still an Anglican) whom the Catholic Newman chose as his patron saint, on whom he sought to model himself, and whose congregation – the Oratory – he established in England. Despite the differences in historical context, in culture, in temperament and in literary output, the two men present many parallels which this article seeks to explore. Both sought to bring about a spiritual renewal of their respective churches (Newman most obviously as an Anglican, but as a Catholic also) through a return to the modes of life, thought and belief of early Christianity. Both saw in the monastic life of the early centuries an inspiration for their own congregation. Both placed prayer at the centre of their life and teaching. Both at the same time displayed a deep and active pastoral concern. Both displayed a positive attitude towards the culture of their age whilst seeking to transform it from within, to the effect that both can be seen to exemplify a form of ‘spiritual humanism’. Both strove to promote the place of the laity in the Church. Finally, both displayed and advocated an attitude of deep humility and of ‘surrender’ to God.

"Osler Warned": Was William Osler a Grave Robber While at McGill or Was He a Victim (or Perpetrator) of One Final Practical Joke?

Bodysnatching was an illegal way to procure cadavers for anatomical dissection before the existence of effective anatomy legislation. As knowledge of anatomy was fundamental to medical practice, many famous nineteenth century physicians turned a blind eye to this activity or even participated. Sir William Osler, perhaps the most revered physician of all time, received his medical degree from McGill University in 1872 and then served as pathologist at Montreal General Hospital from 1874 to 1884, where he began a career which culminated in him becoming both the first Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins and then Regius Professor at Oxford. Quebec had been slow to enact effective anatomy legislation, and most of the cadavers in the McGill anatomy laboratory were resurrected; Osler's close friend and Anatomy Demonstrator Francis Shepherd was convicted of this offence on several occasions. In 1940, a letter was discovered in the archives at the McGill's William Osler Library, purportedly written in 1880, accusing Osler of being a grave robber while in Montreal. My paper dissects the letter to assess its credibility in the historical context of Osler's early life and the fact that Osler was a lifelong notorious practical joker with his own pseudonym, Dr. Egerton Yorrick Davis, who helped with his pranks. The provenance of the letter is analyzed and the paper explores, using historical context and forensic handwriting analysis, whether this letter is a revenge-motivated practical joke played on him by one of his famous colleagues or represents Osler's last practical joke for posterity. Clin. Anat. 31:632-640, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Voyeur in the Confessional: Reader, Hoax, and Unity of Effect in Poe's Short Fiction

ABSTRACT: Poe's short fiction tends toward extremes—toward the grotesque and arabesque. This crowd-pleasing (or crowd-horrifying) content plays within carefully designed formal structures that complicate the act of reading and draw attention to "the reader," a figure of some interest to Poe's critical essays. I argue that the play between content and form in Poe, coupled with his ideas of readership, exposes a series of traps within many of his tales. Poe's stories draw the reader into an active role responsive to moral problems before shifting ground and rendering a moral response difficult, impossible, or paradoxical. Through the confessional mode in particular, Poe guides readers into positions that extend the work of the tale beyond the fictional realm, transmuting his stories into practical jokes or complex moral problems. The visibility of these jokes and problems, however, and their deliberate layering into so many of Poe's works, suggest an author working to prepare his audience for a specific flavor of hoax. By blurring the boundaries of the short story, and perhaps even finding ways to undermine its shortness, Poe opens a relationship between himself, his "reader," and whatever human being happens to actually be holding a copy of his tales. Poe's famous "unity of effect" unfolds through the creation of a predictable, synthetic commonality between author, reader, and audience.

Covers that never happened

One of the changes I instigated in my eight years as Science Editor of The Biochemist was to invite design staff to the magazine's Editorial Advisory Panel meetings so that we could consider the visual angle for each issue (and also so that I could interfere incessantly with the cover designs). Sometimes thinking up novel cover concepts was tough, especially when the default option is to use a chemical structure but more often than not, dreaming up effective ideas for each issue proved an amusing exercise. Rather like practical jokes, sometimes the fun is in having the idea and it's usually better not to go ahead with the execution. But just for your amusement, I recount the stories behind some of the covers. Here are four cover concepts that it's probably just as well never appeared in their original incarnation and one that should have been slightly different.

Balfour's World: Aristocracy and Political Culture at the Fin de Siècle by Nancy W. Ellenberger (review)

Reviewed by: Balfour's World: Aristocracy and Political Culture at the Fin de Siècle by Nancy W. Ellenberger Angus Hawkins (bio) Balfour's World: Aristocracy and Political Culture at the Fin de Siècle, Nancy W. Ellenberger; 388 pp. Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2015, £30.00, $24.99. Nancy W. Ellenberger's absorbing and original study, Balfour's World: Aristocracy and Political Culture at the Fin de Siècle, presents what she calls a "braided narrative" (11). A series of chapters explore successive episodes in the lives of Arthur Balfour, George Pembroke, the sisters Laura and Margot Tennant, and the siblings George and Mary Wyndham in the 1880s and 1890s. All were associated with an informal intellectual and artistic circle named "the Souls," whose conversations and parlor games aspired to treat the serious lightly and the light seriously; a self-regarding, competitive levity engaged both sexes on equal terms (143). Ellenberger's aim is to define what she sees as a new "emotional regime" within which this section of the political elite moved, and to explore the ways in which friendship, marriage, and shifting gender relations were negotiated amid social and political transformation (8). To this task Ellenberger brings a finely-tuned sensitivity to personality and temperament, and draws extensively on archives, letters and diaries, and recent historical scholarship. The enigmatic Balfour and the thoughtful, but troubled, Pembroke are compared as privileged young "men of fortune" (13). Contrasting domestic backgrounds and, on occasion, perilous social encounters then frame the different upbringing and character of the elusive and mercurial Laura Tennant (daughter of a hugely wealthy Scottish industrialist) and the shy and insecure Mary Wyndham (later Lady Elcho and the daughter of Wiltshire gentry). This is followed by a chapter describing the volatile and rebellious Margot Tennant (later Asquith) and the more conventional George Wyndham (later Balfour's private secretary). Having assembled her main cast, with other players introduced, Ellenberger subsequently examines the changing political and social environment within which the lives of this circle unfolded and the various personas and values each adopted. The impact of the Home Rule Crisis, the mass electorate created by the reforms of 1884 to 1885, the attributes of political performance, the entry of new plutocracies into national politics, the decline of aristocratic engagement in political life, the expansion of the popular press, the exposure of the behavior of elites to mass curiosity, and the nature of celebrity and scandal are brought to bear on the individual choices and fortunes of her subjects. Ellenberger uses the challenging opportunities and dangers open to women looking for a part in public life or in privileged settings of greater mixed-sex sociability, and the conventions of the country house party, to explore the shifting boundaries of what might be deemed appropriate behavior. The conduct and morality of the Souls are compared to the "chaffing" and practical jokes of the "fast set" associated with the Prince of Wales and his Marlborough House clique (141). In the process, Balfour gradually emerges as a skilled political performer, with an aloof and reserved public demeanor, seemingly both languid and detached, with a conversational rhetorical manner inviting his audience to trust in, rather than being commanded to support, his views. Pembroke, meanwhile, assumed the duties of landed paternalism, overseeing his estates in Wiltshire and Dublin and pursuing philanthropic projects, while nursing a debilitating sense of personal inconsequence. After her marriage to Alfred Lyttelton, [End Page 670] Laura Tennant died prematurely, in childbirth, in 1886—a tragic loss that haunted her sister Margot, who was afterward tormented by thoughts of her own comparative shortcomings. A diligent and effective lieutenant to Balfour, George Wyndham eventually suffered a nervous breakdown, which forced him to abandon politics. Mary Wyndham, as Lady Elcho, maintained a private, affectionate relationship with the bachelor Balfour over a fifty-year period, compensating for the infidelities and domestic tyranny of her husband. Of this group of friends, only Balfour, who became Prime Minister in 1902 and remained active in politics until 1929, and Margot Tennant, as the wife of the Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, attained real prominence in national public life. While much is deftly done by Ellenberger, the strengths...

Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression

Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression

The “Erasmian” Pronunciation of Greek

In 1635 the Dutch scholar Gerardus Vossius (1577–1649) published a work on the Art of Grammar where he makes reference to the circumstances in which Erasmus wrote his Dialogue on the Correct Way of Pronouncing Latin and Greek (1528). Vossius quotes an account from 1569 which explains how Erasmus fell foul of a practical joke by which he was fooled into thinking that a new and more correct pronunciation of Greek had been discovered, and, wanting to appear the inventor of the matter, Erasmus quickly composed and published his Dialogue, only to discover later that the whole story was in fact a hoax. This account of the origins of Erasmus’ Dialogue has largely been taken at face value by those concerned, but I argue that it is a most unlikely explanation with several serious flaws. Although the practical joke could have taken place, it seems that it was subsequently misconstrued as the incentive for Erasmus’ Dialogue. On the contrary, I argue that the Dialogue was intended as a sincere popularization of an ongoing academic inquiry, but that the hypothetical Greek pronunciation therein has been misunderstood as a cue to replace the traditional (native) pronunciation. This article shows that the so-called “Erasmian” pronunciation of Greek at large today is not only un-Greek, but also un-Erasmian, for it has little to do with Erasmus and contradicts his example and counsel.

Le cas Annunziato by Yan Gauchard

Gauchard, Yan. Le cas Annunziato. Paris: Minuit, 2016. ISBN 978-2-7073-2927-1. Pp. 125. 12,50 a. Andy Warhol famously stated that “everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.”This notoriety turns out to be a bit too long for Fabrizio Annunziato, whose “case” is the subject of this novel. As the result of a practical joke gone awry, he finds himself imprisoned in Florence’s Museo nazionale di San Marco. Specifically in the monastery cell once graced by Fra Angelico. Due to her father’s sudden death, the woman who locked him in forgets to return to free him. Fabrizio will spend nine days in the cell whose only ornaments are two frescos by the thirteenth-century master. There is also a lucarne which rapidly becomes a food conduit, since across from the convent lives the very attractive Raphaëlla who befriends the young man, and keeps him nourished by periodically pitching fruit from her apartment window into his cell. Fabrizio is also not without intellectual stimulation. In his knapsack he has a translation he was working on for a French press. Although he was making slow progress with the task, it turns out that “le travail minutieux de traducteur” is greatly facilitated by “la vie monastique” (57). As a result he has essentially finished his work at the time of his liberation.Yet at first his experience of freedom is rocky. Because the year is 2002, and Italy remains traumatized by the memory of the Red Brigades, a nervousness fueled by the Cavaliere in his role as Prime Minister, Fabrizio is initially imagined to be some sort of “radical red.” Circumstances encourage this suspicion; a deceased half-brother was a militant, and someone had slipped a leftist manifesto into his knapsack. However, these misgivings rapidly disappear as Fabrizio’s adventure captures the national imagination; he is proclaimed a hero.When asked what he would most wish for in Italy, the still weak translator asks to return to his monastery cell. The museum director quickly seizes the prestige possibilities of this request, and turns his establishment into an Italian version of France’s Villa Médicis in Rome, a place where artists can live and work for a fixed period. Fabrizio also profits. He has a fantasy erotic encounter with the young woman who projected his food to him, and a real one with the older woman who had locked him in the cell. Due to his sudden fame, the book he translated will appear with his name in bigger print than the author’s, and the political manifesto will also appear in France in the same format.Yet Fabrizio is uneasy with all this attention, so one day he abandons Fra Angelico’s cell and takes off for parts unknown. Perhaps he is heading back to France, or maybe he is just in search of a quieter, less public monastery. In Le cas Annunziato, Yan Gauchard has produced an engaging divertissement that darkens slightly at the end without, however, losing the lightness of tone so characteristic of this novel. Florida State University, emeritus William Cloonan 206 FRENCH REVIEW 90.3 ...

Drama at Dunder Mifflin: Workplace Bullying Discourses on The Office.

This study examines the portrayal and affective framing of workplace bullying behaviors on the popular American television show The Office. Quantitative and qualitative content analyses were conducted on 54 episodes spanning the show's nine seasons. Results revealed 331 instances of workplace bullying, for an average of 6.13 bullying behaviors per episode. Workplace bullying behavior on The Office was grouped into five categories: sexual jokes, public humiliation, practical jokes, belittlement, and misuse of authority. In general, instances of workplace bully were scripted as humorous and lacking significant consequences, which could further contribute to social discourses that perpetuate the problem of bullying in real-life workplaces.

The Effects of Pranks in Social Media on Brands

ABSTRACTPractical jokes belong to the category of disparagement humor and they have been extensively investigated by social scientists for decades. Nevertheless, the available empirical results pertain mostly to human-to-human situations and little is known on the effects of pranks in the computer-mediated environment (CME). As CME encourages different patterns of reactions and behaviors than non-CME, the present study provides an experimental evaluation of consumer responses to brands that use practical jokes in their social media communication. The results reveal that high-disparagement pranks may significantly hurt brand perceptions and decrease brand affect. This effect is better predicted by prior brand attitudes than usage (i.e., the more favorable predisposition to a brand, the higher probability that a high-disparagement prank will produce a lower brand affect). No significant impact of low-disparagement pranks was found on subsequent brand responses. The findings will help scholars and practitioners in understanding this new phenomenon and in maximizing returns from humor online.

Fatal recto-sigmoid rupture by compressed air

Compressed air is a concentrated stream of air at high pressure and high speed that can cause fatal injury to the operator and the people around him when handled inappropriately. The case herein reported is that of a victim of a practical joke, who suffered a fatal recto – sigmoid rupture due to transanal insufflation of compressed air at his workplace. The case highlights the need for implementation of guidelines for safe handling of compressed gases and it also calls for appropriate work place etiquette to avoid such fatal practical jokes at work.

Cloudwish by Fiona Wood

Reviewed by: Cloudwish by Fiona Wood Karen Coats Wood, Fiona Cloudwish. Poppy/Little, 2016 [320p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-316-24212-7 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-316-24211-0 $9.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 9-12 As a Vietnamese Australian student on scholarship at a posh private school, Vân Uoc knows a thing or two about prejudice and discrimination. She knows, for instance, that she will never stand a chance at attracting the attention of golden boy Billy Gardiner, who haunts her dreams. When she makes a wish that he would find her fascinating, however, it seems to work, and suddenly Billy is everywhere, practically stalking her. Pragmatic Vân Uoc doesn’t believe in magic; in fact, she believes it more likely that his attentions are the prelude to a practical joke, but when he persists in the face of her resistance, she decides to just enjoy the ride while it lasts. Guided by her best friend and channeling Jane Eyre, she gets her taste of first love even as she tries to find a way to undo the wish. Meanwhile, she does what she can to find out the story behind her mother’s periodic bouts of depression, which are triggered by the anniversary of her escape from Vietnam. Along the way, this sharp heroine offers a frank critique of white privilege and an equally frank exploration of the appeal of those who wear privilege like a second skin, as she tries to discover who she is and who she wants to be. Her self-talk is bracing and refreshing, by turns angry, humorous, or poignant and always honest, offering solidarity for immigrant readers and insight regarding the casual slights, intended and unintended, that regularly wound first-generation kids trying to find a new home. Click for larger view View full resolution [End Page 154] Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

WILKINSON V DOWNTON REVISITED

IN OPO v Rhodes [2015] UKSC 32, the Supreme Court clarified the elements of the tort of intentional infliction of harm. Created in Wilkinson v Downton [1897] 2 Q.B. 57, the tort has long attracted the attention of academic commentators, but has rarely been argued successfully in English courts. In Wilkinson, the jury awarded the plaintiff damages for the physical suffering she endured as a result of severe shock that was caused when the defendant, playing a practical joke, falsely informed her that her husband had been injured in an accident. Wright J. held that the tort required an act be done “wilfully”, that is “calculated to cause physical harm”, and which does in fact cause “physical harm” (at 58–59). The Wilkinson formulation was subsequently endorsed by the Court of Appeal in Javier v Sweeney [1919] 2 K.B. 316 and again, 70 years later, in Khorasandjian v Bush [1993] Q.B. 727. In the latter case, the Court of Appeal emphasised that the wrongful conduct must cause “physical injury” – as distinct from “mere emotional distress” – and it must also be “calculated to cause” the same (at 735–36). Later, in Wong v Parkside Health NHS Trust [2001] EWCA Civ 172; [2003] 3 All E.R. 932, Hale L.J. appeared to qualify the mental element of the tort, observing that Wilkinson does not require actual subjective intent to cause physical harm; rather, according to her Ladyship, “calculated” means deliberately doing an act that is “likely”, all things considered, to result in the degree of physical harm that was in fact suffered (at [10]–[11]). Subsequently, Lord Hoffmann, writing the principal judgment for the House of Lords in Wainwright v Home Office [2003] UKHL 53; [2004] 2 A.C. 406, revisited both elements of the tort. He affirmed that, traditionally, it requires proof of actual harm, such as psychiatric illness, as distinct from mere distress (at [45]); and, consistently with Lady Hale's judgment in Wong, he interpreted Wilkinson as providing that the intent to cause such harm can be “imputed” to the defendant if it is an obvious consequence of a deliberate act, even though such harm may not have been subjectively appreciated or intended (at [37], [40]). Additionally, His Lordship contemplated expanding the tort to capture mere distress short of physical harm, but cautioned that, if the law was to expand to such cases (which he left to future courts to decide), “imputed intention will not do” (at [45]). Rather, mere distress should in His Lordship's view only be recoverable (if at all) where the defendant had a “genuine intention to cause distress” (at [46]).

Colloid cyst

We were on a family vacation in Northern Botswana in July 2002, at an airstrip near Chobe National park and due to fly in a small single-engined Cessna to another...

Love At The Chemistry Olympiad, Chemistry In The Kitchen

As this year’s International Chemistry Olympiad concludes (see page 11) and students from around the world bring home their medals, there may be even more chemistry taking place at the competition than it appears. Jasper Landman and Marte Van der Linden met as competitors at the 2008 International Chemistry Olympiad in Budapest; Landman was on the Dutch team and Van der Linden on the Norwegian team. Seven years later, they’re newlyweds. During the competition, Van der Linden and her teammates thought it would be funny to play a practical joke on the Dutch team, sending them anonymous letters filled with riddles. “I grew up in the Netherlands, and I can speak Dutch, so I thought it would be fun to give them a little bit of a puzzle,” Van der Linden tells Newscripts. When Landman and his teammates figured out the culprits, well, you could say sparks flew. Landman found ...