Kamangir (Archer)

Persian (Nasty) Joke

Kamangir | February 20, 2006 | Category Iran

THIS POST CONTAINS AN ADULT JOKE WHICH MAY BE INSULTING TO SOME IRANIANS.

I do apologize.

We, Iranians, have a serious sense of humor, and that’s nothing bad. Unfortunately, I can not translate a Persian joke. Because understanding one of them needs a peer understanding of Iranian culture and different ethnic groups in it. Assume this, “a Rashti comes home and sees all his children making noise. He beats them all except one. Somebody askes him why he spared that one. He replies, because he is a Seiied.” First, you have to know that,

1- Rashti is somebody from Rasht, the capital city of Gilan, a beautiful provice in northern Iran.

2- Rashti men are claimed to be not very jealous. On the other hand, Rashti women are assumed to be very open. So, it is said that Rashti women have open sex and their husbands do not seriously stop them.

3- It is generally assumed that Rashti men’s children are not necessarily his real offsprings.

4- For Iranians, Seiieds are respectful. A Seiied is somebody whose ancestor is a son of Ali, Muhammad’s son in law. You become a Seiied if your fathe is a Seiied.

Hence, the man knows that that boy in not his legitimate child. Do you see the point? Now, to make sure you understand similar jokes, think about “somebody asks a Rashti, why don’t you divorce your wife when she is doing all this. He replies, then I have to go to the end of the line.”.

Look at this picture (I took it from BBC Persian (see)). This is also kind of a joke. Though, I admit it is not seriously very funny. It is more of making fun of somebody. However, if you are not Iranian you should know some facts. When people gather in front of an embassy, they are not directly managed by anybody. It is more like there are central cores who talk to the police and let them know that a demonstration is to be held there and that they should not interrupt. Then people who are passing around gather. Some others come because the cores tell them to do so. Then somebody starts saying something. That somebody is mainly from one of those cores. The rest is best analyed by the chaos theory. Though, a serious question remains; which government lets chaotic gatherings to talk for him? Obviously, people like Ahmadinejad.

Being chaotic or deliberately managed, I see no point in covering a mule with some country’s flag. Hence, I do apologize to all English people.