A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from October 06, 2015
“What do you call a person who plays the viola?”/“A violator.”

A person who plays the viola is called a “violist” or simply a “viola player.” However, a popular joke is:
 
Q: What do you call a person who plays the viola?
A: A violator.

 
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1932.
       
 
Wiktionary: violist
Noun
violist
‎(plural violists)
1. (music) a person who plays the viol or the viola
 
Google Books
Tromboners: or, Musical Anecdotage
Edited by Ernest Schelling
New York, NY: A. A. Knopf
1932
Pg. 92:
A man who plays the viola is called a violator.
 
27 June 1946, Kingsport (TN) News, “Daffynitions,” pg. 4, col. 2:
Violator: A man who plays the viola.
 
Google Groups: eunet.jokes
What do you call a…
Outsider
12/20/99
(...)
...A Person Who Plays The Viola?
A. A Violator.
 
Klosi Jokes
Category: Music jokes
Date Added: 11/10/2007
Joke: Q: What do you call a person who plays the viola?A: A violator.
 
Google Books
The Musician’s Joke Book
By Jim Green
London: Omnibus Press
2010
Pg. ?:
Q: What do you call a person who plays the viola?
A: A violator.
 
Twitter
Eva Leah
‏@evaleah1991
Q: What do you call a person who plays the viola? A: A violator.
9:31 AM - 20 Sep 2015

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityMusic/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus • Tuesday, October 06, 2015 • Permalink


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