Swallowed by a Kislop - Joke

1: Kislop
2: What have you swallowed?
1: The fish you caught yesterday!

— Macran joke c270 PT

Kislop Frogs

One of the longstanding jokes on P'Ache Micro was built on the accepted understanding of the eating habits of the Kislop Frog.
It was generally believed that the Kislop would try to eat anything but, being very small, would be unable to ingest anything larger than a quarter of an inch wide. This image was enhanced by the disproportionately large mouth of the Kislop.

At some point this image and idea was adopted by the Macrans as a way of making fun of each other, with what later became known as a ‘Swallowed by a Kislop’ joke.
The joke is broken up into three parts.

Call

The call is the opening line of the joke, which sets up the joke by the person telling it. Traditionally a person may try to impersonate the call of the Kislop, but it is also acceptable to simply say the word as it is onomatopoeic.

Response

A response of “What have you swallowed?” is required by the person hearing the joke in order to let the first person know they are willing to engage. It gives the listener (or listeners) buy-in to whatever may follow.

Punchline

The heart of this joke is in the punchline being something which you would expect to be large being actually small.
This can be anything physical or metaphorical, and often involves making fun of someone else.

While the punchline in the example at the top of the page suggests that the person is not as good at fishing as they would have you believe, the historical recorded usage of this joke varies wildly. Below are some examples.

Example Punchlines

• The fish you caught yesterday
• The house Karik built
• A hometree
• Your ability to sing
• His love for Marin
• Tanmar’s remaining funds

History

The joke dates from a time when the sound of kislop frogs in the swamps of P’Ache Micro were plentiful, and was recorded as early as -746 PT.
However, due to the changes made to the planet as a result of the treaty with the Primians, kislop frogs have become a rare thing, and most Macrans live off-world. The joke is still used, but is no longer understood and is often now used to refer to things as being bigger than you would expect, for example:

Your pride is so big it could be swallowed by a kislop.

---

Related Articles

Locations	Ecosystem of Nuskan Swamps, 271 PT, Nuskan, P'Ache Micro, P'Ache Solar System, Peacekeeper Territories
Species	Macran, Kislop Frog, Hometree - Fenfolium Abordormusia
History	Ecosystem of Nuskan Swamps, 271 PT, The First Micro Rebellion, The Second Micro Rebellion

Type

Joke

Origin

P'Ache Micro

Original Language

Macra

Subsequent Language(s)

Pache

First Recorded Use

-746 PT

---