Combating "Ligma", "Deez nuts", etc.
Potential tools to handle moments where they're likely to occur
For years, innumerable conversations and moments have been marked with the classic “Ligma balls”, or “...deez nuts!”, or yet another classic, “Sugma”.
These expressions are generally performed with playful goodwill, but for those on the receiving end, it can sometimes get annoying and derail a sincere moment or candid conversation that’s striving to be maintained.
I’ve thought about this for quite some time, never intensely or super consciously, until one moment where I made an instinctual comedic utterance: “Ligma balls what?”
As far as my own experience goes, it’s never failed to effectively negate and defuse the potency of the original trap that was laid out for me - a trap that’s been cleverly and subtly laid out, and sometimes not so much.
Let’s examine an example of how this usually plays out:
Person 1: Yeah, once I finish this I’m about to go visit Ligma.
Now, it is in this moment that the unsuspecting person who is Person 2, who might somehow not be aware of this old ruse already, would innocently respond as such:
Person 2: Ligma what?
And - we all know where this is going, Person 1 would roll in the punchline and land into the next line - sometimes with patient and artful grace, sometimes crudely rushing in:
Person 1: Ligma balls.
Classic.
Now, let’s start over and have Person 2 utilize the tools I’m covering in this article:
Person 1: Yeah, once I finish this I’m about to go visit Ligma.
Person 2: (who sees this coming a mile away, and Person 1 is assuming that Person 2 also sees this) Ligma what?
Person 1: (pleased, knowing that Person 2 is willingly participating in this frivolous moment of comedic relief in their day) Ligma balls.
Person 2: Ligma balls what?
Their day has just gotten marginally more exciting. Person 1 now doesn’t know how to respond. Person 2 has called their bluff, and Person 1 has never had to think about what to say in this kind of situation past the point of laying down the punchline.
They both laugh, and most likely carry on with their day.
Let’s examine another conversation with a different trap:
Person 1: I’m thinking about getting some coffee later. Wanna come with?
Person 2: Coffee? More like: cough on deez nuts!
Person 1: Cough on deez nuts what?
The same effect applies. Person 2 doesn’t know how to respond; they have no other way of taking this any further, as the entire punchline was the punchline itself.
If we were to attempt to try and follow this to a logical extreme, we can imagine something like this:
Just embarrassing. Any attempt to try and salvage your initial attempt at being funny would just fall over itself.
A best-case scenario would be one in which both parties are fully aware of what’s happening, and willingly engage in self-conscious playful banter.
Then, what could’ve been an embarrassing attempt to follow up on your comedic trap could further contribute to this verbal tango-dance and even get another laugh out the both of you.
I highly recommend using this tactic and philosophy to try and combat and engage with those who plan on unleashing these kinds of traps upon you. I think it’s fun and engaging, and you gain the upper hand no matter what the context or directionality of the conversation you’re having is.
I wish you safe travels.