“What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?”/“Nacho cheese.”
Nachos is a Tex-Mex dish dating from about 1940. In 1966, Doritos tortilla chips were created by Frito-Lay (a Texas company). A popular Doritos flavor (since 1972) is “nacho cheese.”
By at least 1982, wits had developed the inevitable “not your cheese” (or “not yo’ cheese”) joke. A tasteless version of the “joke” became popular in 1996 (when the term “Ebonics” came into wide use) and mocked African-American speech.
The popular riddle form of the joke has been cited in print since at least 1998:
Q: What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?
A: Nacho Cheese.
“What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?”/“Stolen” is an anti-joke.
Wikipedia: Doritos
Doritos (IPA: /dəˈriːɾoʊz/) is a brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1966 by the American food company Frito-Lay (a division of PepsiCo, Inc.). Doritos are sold in many countries worldwide in assorted flavors.
(...)
Doritos flavors available in the United States include:
Blazin’ Buffalo Ranch
Cool Ranch
Fiery Habanero
Nacho Cheese
Natural White Nacho Cheese
Ranchero
Salsa Verde
Smokin’ Cheddar BBQ
Spicy Nacho
Toasted Corn
Zesty Taco
Cheeseburger (X-13D)
Newspapers.com
15 June 1972, Long Beach (CA) Independent, pg. P-5 full page ad:
Doritos
NACHO CHEESE FLAVOR TORTILLA CHIPS
29c
(Greater Central Market.—ed.)
Newspapers.com
24 February 1982, Chillicothe (MO) Constitution-Tribune, “Country Talk” by Harverna Woodling, pg. 4, col. 4:
“I know this is Nacho cheese! She kept chasing me and yelling, ‘Not yo cheese! Not yo cheese!’”
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Date: Wed, 6-Jul-83 10:21:28 EDT
Local: Wed, Jul 6 1983 10:21 am
Subject: 2 jokes
I was actually amused by a joke I heard a WCMF D.J. tell the other day (it may help to know that WCMF studios are on Leighton Avenue):
I was walking outside the studio this morning when I saw a huge wheel of nacho cheese lying on the sidewalk, with no one near it!
...I knew what kind of cheese it was because, when I picked it up and started taking it away, someone ran towards me and yelled, “Hey, man, that’s nacho cheese!”
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Jamie Wedel)
Date: 8 Jan 1994 01:34:28 -0800
Local: Sat, Jan 8 1994 5:34 am
Subject: More Tasteless Jokes
A wife sends her husband to the local market for Cheese. The husband goes to the market and sees this block of cheese rolling down the street so he picks it up and takes it home to his wife. His wife asks him what the hell kind of cheese is this. “Nacho cheese” the man replies. She says “Nacho cheese, how do you know this is nacho cheese?”. The man replies, “the little black boy running behind me saying ‘that’s nacho cheese, that’s nacho cheese!’”.
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Guy Teague)
Date: 1995/03/29
Subject: Re: Texas Jokes
Two Aggies (students of Texas Agricultural & Mechanical University, for you non-natives) were cramming for their fertilizer finals one evening and realized that they hadn’t eaten all day long. They frisked their small fridge and found a six-pack of Shiner Premium Boch and a half jar of jalapeno peppers. They decided about the only thing they could make from these particular ingredients would be nachos.
After pooling all their money and coming up with the grand sum of $1.65, one Aggie was dispatched to the grocery store to procure tortilla chips and cheese. He walked the two blocks from the dorm to the store only to realize when he was in the potato-chip aisle that the cheapest bag of tortilla chips was $1.49. Not knowing what else to do, he purchased the chips and walked out the automatic door onto the sidewalk. As he stepped off the curb preparatory to crossing the parking lot, he felt something bump his foot. He looked down towards his boots and stared in amazement at the large cylinder of cheese that had rolled into his foot. He scooped it up and hurried towards the dorm.
Upon arriving at the dorm room, sweaty and out of breath, his roommate wondered if the cheese he’d brought back was really suitable for the task at hand. “I know it is”, the first Aggie assured him, “A real big woman chased me all the way here from the store yelling, `THAT’S NACHO CHEESE, THAT’S NACHO CHEESE!’”.
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From: Glenn Kurtzrock
Date: 1997/01/18
Subject: Re: Nacho Cheese??
Andrew Gore wrote:
> Just what the’ell IS Nacho cheese, anyway? I always assumed ‘nachos’ were
> tortilla corn chips with salsa, melted cheese, and Mexican spices to give it a
> Mexican taste. Now you can buy ‘Nacho’ cheese in the store. I don’t think
> there’s any such thing. I suspect it’s just good old American cheese tricked
> out with Mexican spices to make it tasty for homemade Nachos. Does “nacho’
> mean anything in Mexican, anyway?
It’s slang English for “Not your”.
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Newzkid)
Date: 1997/02/04
Subject: Cheese with a little Ebonics
You kinda gotta read the punchline out loud to get it. enjoy:
A poor black family has been saving up for months to buy some cheese. They finally can afford it and the mama send her son to the market for a big-ass bucket of cheese. He gets it, and it’s a BIG motherfucker. So he puts it in a wheelbarrel and starts back to his house. Halfway home, it falls out and rolls all the way to the bottom of a large hill where some white guy picks it up and figures ‘finders-keepers’ so takes it back to his house. When home he says to his wife, “Honey, get the crackers, we got a whole shitload of cheese!”
She replied, “What kind?”
He said, “It’s Nacho cheese.”
“How do you know?” She said.
He said, “Cause this kid kept chasing me home yelling, ‘IT’S NA-CHO CHEESE! IT’S NA-CHO CHEESE!!’ ”
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From: Tara Misty Acton
Date: 1997/03/26
Subject: Re: Nacho Cheese Joke Wanted
I know the one about the mice… Okay… There were these three mice and they were really bored one day, so they decided to play a game. The first mouse said to the others “Lets all split up and go looking for whatever kinds of cheese we can find. The one with the best kind of cheese wins.” So the mice went looking and then all met up after. The first mouse proudly holds up his cheese and says “I got cheddar cheese” And the other two screamed “yahoo!!!Cheddar!!” The second mouse said “Well, I got Mozzerella!” And the other two screamed “Yahoo!!! Mozzerella!!” And the
third one holds up his cheese and said proudly “Well, I got Nacho Cheese.”
The other two mice looked at him kinda funny and said “Whats so good about nacho cheese?” The third mouse said ” I don’t know, but the guy that was chasing me after I took it kept screaming after me ‘that’s not yo’ cheese! that’s not yo’ cheese!!’”
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Joe Hudon)
Date: 1997/03/26
Subject: Re: Nacho Cheese Joke Wanted
On Tue, 25 Mar 1997 22:37:05 -0500, David Tisza
>A long time ago I heard a black joke about a guy who stole some cheese
>and thought it was “Nacho Cheese” (not your cheese). Does anyone
>remember this? I thoght it would be funny to tell in a discussion
>about the ever most popular subject of Ebonics.
Three black guys were walking down the street one day, each of them eating some cheese. They walked by three white guys.
“Let’s beat the tar out of those black guys and take their cheese.” says one of the white guys. So, they proceed to lay a beating on the black guys and successfully take their cheese.
Now, the three white guys are walking down the street eating the cheese. One of the white guys asks others what kind of cheese they are eating.
“I think I’m eating cheddar cheese.” responds the first white guy.
“How do you know this?” ask the other two.
“It’s orange, it’s got a sharp taste… Cheddar cheese.”
Then the second white guy states, “I think I’m eating swiss cheese.”
“How do you know this?” ask the other two.
“It’s yellow, it’s got holes in it… Swiss cheese.”
Then the third white guy states, “I think I’m eating nacho cheese.”
“How do you know this?” ask the other two.
“Well, when I took the cheese from the black guy, he kept yelling,
‘It’s nacho cheese! It’s nacho cheese!’”
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (GSPHOENIX)
Date: 1997/03/28
Subject: Re: Nacho Cheese Joke Wanted
I think it goes like this:
There once was a kid who was walking along and found a large hunk of cheese. he picked it up and started walking away when this black guy started chasing him. The kid managed to get away and brought the cheese home. He presented it to his mother and exclaimed, “Hey, mom…..look at all of this nacho cheese I found!” His mother replied, ” Nacho cheese? How do you know it’s nacho cheese?” The boy then replied, ” When I found it, this black guy started chasing me screaming ’ That nacho cheese! That nacho cheese!’ ” (That not yo cheese!)
Adios
22 August 1998, The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), “How do inmates communicate? Cell phones” by Elsa McDowell, pg. 1:
What do you call cheese that isn’t yours? Nacho Cheese.
31 August 1998, Vancouver (BC) Sun, “City Limits,” pg. B5, col. 3:
What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?
Nacho Cheese.
(Trademark)
Word Mark THAT’S NACHO CHEESE
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 029. US 046. G & S: Cheese
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78809545
Filing Date February 7, 2006
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Castoldi, Robin X. INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES 1724 N Queens Ln #176 Arlington VIRGINIA 22201
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date September 6, 2007