ABSTRACT
Modern jests-often inspired, like urban legends, by current events-include so-called dirty jokes that derive shock value from the otherwise taboo subjects of sex, bodily waste, or profanity. But such humor is not always as modern as it first appears, for old tales can be recycled to keep them current. A number of examples circulated about President Richard Nixon’s White House after the 1973 Watergate break-in hearings.
