It was also interesting to see the different play languages the class came up with, and how each "play language" had a different system of rules that defined its usage. Though these were only "play languages"--a linguistic code derived by a small set of rules and applied to an existing language--on a larger scale, they say something about languages in general: a variety of languages exist today as authentic, legitimate means of communication because of rules and regulations that govern their usage. By this definition, all languages are valid. This was a concept we discussed in a previous Linguistic Anthropology class.
The discussion on jokes was probably my favorite part--we realized that a lot of jokes, especially dirty ones, are culturally defined. "That's what she said" is a phrase that caters to American humor, but probably wouldn't be understood humorously in another country, say China, for example. Nonetheless, we still find that the speech play found in jokes is prevalent across the world--through humor, all cultures find a respite from the seriousness of everyday life.
In terms of proverbs, we found that a lot of them eventually become outdated and fade into obscurity. Riddles were fun because they use speech play to test human cognitive abilities.
I actually wish we had more time to play word games at the end of class. We don't immediately realize that word games like "Catch Phrase" serve a particular function in language usage. Since the whole point is to describe a word WITH other words, we are not consciously aware that the game emphasizes application and practice of the metalinguistic function of language!
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