“What do you call a cow with a twitch?”/“Beef jerky.”
A popular joke about beef jerky is:
Q: What do you call a cow with a twitch?
A: Beef jerky.
There are slight variations in the first line of the joke, but the “beef jerky” answer is always the same. “What do you call a nervous cow?” was cited in print in 1985.
Google Books
January 1985, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 64, col. 1:
Bessy: What do you call a nervous cow?
Bossy: I don’t know. What?
Bessy: A beef jerky— Logan Dorris, Ingleside, Tex.
Google Books
January 1987, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 66, col. 1:
Bobby: What do you call a nervous cow?
Teddy: What?
Bobby: Beef jerky— Doug Civiello, Bangor, Maine.
Google Books
June 1989, Boys’ Life, “Think & Grin,” pg. 66, col. 2:
Dink: What do you call a nervous cow?
Duff: Dunno. What?
Dink: Beef jerky! —Nathan Potance, Mt. Clemens, Mich.
Google News Archive
23 June 1992, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), “The Fresh Sheet” by Graham Vink, pg. F1, col. 1:
What do you call steaks that have been on the grill too long?
Beef jerky!
Google Groups: rec.humor
I NEED COW JOKES, PLEASE!
Jordan M Small
5/3/94
(...)
What do you call a cow in New York?
Beef, Jerky
Google Books
Super Silly School Jokes
By Gene Perret, Joseph Rosenbloom, Meridith Berk and Toni Vavrus
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
2001
Pg. 85:
What do you call a cattle tug of war?
Beef jerky.
Goole Groups: microsoft.public.win2000.networking
What do you call a cow with a twitch?
marty
7/23/02
beef jerky
a quick LaffyTaffy Joke
Google News Archive
10 May 2007, The Bath County News-Outlook (Owingsville, KY), “School News,” pg. A-5, col. 4:
Q: What do you call a cow with a twitch?
A: Beef jerky.
Twitter
Dan Hanks
@danhanks
From a Laffy Taffy Wrapper:
“What do you call a cow with a twitch?”
“Beef Jerky”
:-D
2:43 PM - 16 Aug 2007
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Really Silly Jokes:
Humour for the whole family
By Geoff Tibballs
London: Constable & Robinson Ltd
2011
Pg. 50:
What do you call a cow with a twitch?
Beef jerky.