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Warrener Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary

What do you call a musician without a wife?

This is a joke my friend asked me. The answer is: homeless. But I don't get it. Anybody knows why the answer is that?
  

Top answer

Not really-- it sounds like a musicians' in-joke. The idea, I suppose, is that musicians are preoccupied with their art, and are not homebodies, so they need a wife (or husband) who is more domestic if they are to have a decent home.

— Mister Micawber

  • Not really-- it sounds like a musicians' in-joke.
  • The idea, I suppose, is that musicians are preoccupied with their art, and are not homebodies, so they need a wife (or husband) who is more domestic if they are to have a decent home.
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6 Answers
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Not really-- it sounds like a musicians' in-joke. The idea, I suppose, is that musicians are preoccupied with their art, and are not homebodies, so they need a wife (or husband) who is more domestic if they are to have a decent home.
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Or maybe that musicians don't make much money, so they need to have a wife with a job to pay the rent?
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Hi,

Some would say this is a tad paternalistic, in that it suggests a woman cannot be a musician. [A]

Clive
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KhoffOr maybe that musicians don't make much money, so they need to have a wife with a job to pay the rent?
This is my interpretation. The assumption is that no one can really make a living as a musician, which is obviously not true, but it is true that there are very few full-time musicians.
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Hi, Clive, I don't quite get your opinion. Would you explain more? Thanks.
CliveHi,

Some would say this is a tad paternalistic, in that it suggests a woman cannot be a musician. [A]

Clive
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The joke doesn't say "without a spouse" -- which could be either male or female. It says "without a wife" -- therefore, the musician is male. (In most places.)
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