re: GG: Wagner/Mitch/F & T

[Tim Conway <timcon@comswest.net.au>]

Junichi wrote:

>What does "Look, Ma, no hands" mean?
>Is it a phrase a small child who is riding a bike 
>without holding the handlebar with his/her hands proudly, 
>saying to his/her mother to have her attention and praise?
>Is it a common, idiomatic expression?

I think you have captured the essence exactly, Junichi: GG was talking 
about a hypothetical little boy showing off. If I may expand the theme a 
little, one of the first jokes I learned (from my aunt when I was about 3 
or 4) was:

A boy gets a bike as a birthday present and eventually learns how to ride 
it round the outside of the house. He calls his mother to watch. The 
first time round he says as he passes her, "Look, Ma, I really can ride". 
The second time round he shows off his growing confidence and says, 
"Look, Ma, one hand!" The third time he says, "Look, Ma, no hands!" The 
fourth and last time, a little later, he is walking and says "Look, Ma, 
no teeth".

At that time there were still many American and Canadian servicemen in 
Britain and I think my aunt may have first heard the joke herself from 
one of them -- I base that on the fact that the use of 'Ma' was not 
common in London (where we were living) and the south of England. Most 
kids my age used 'Mum' or 'Mummy' or even 'Mother'. If that is the case, 
the joke originated in north America and would probably have been 
well-known to GG and, I assume, all north Americans.

However, 'Ma' is fairly common in Ireland and in northern parts of 
England so it may be a home-grown (British) joke and not one imported 
from the States or Canada. But it is clear that GG knows the punchline 
well. It was certainly idiomatic and well-understood in England when GG 
was young. Whether it was in Canada I leave to others to surmise.

Is it idiomatic now? I doubt it, except in the older generations. Kids 
these days have to put on armour before they get on their bikes, that is 
if they don't prefer roller-blades. The very thought of a precious 
offspring losing one or more teeth would send most parents scurrying to 
the lawyer, hoping for someone to blame and extract vengeance (ie, $$$) 
from. What was once a joke is now probably held up by the 
politically-correct as an example of the cruelty that once existed and 
has been successfully expunged. Pshaw and humbug, I say.


- Tim
<timcon@comswest.net.au>
Broome, Western Australia