correctionfail:

In English adjectives come after the noun that they modify

before

Yes. The myth and stereotype of the massive Black penis isn't complete without crediting its owner, the strapping Black man. Black men of the smallest physical stature (those real and notably imagined by the likes of Susan Smith, Charles Stuart, and Ashley Todd) are often described as "big Black guys". The big, menacing Black guy, or brute, is a classic racist caricature that remains quite prevalent.

@copyeditingtheweb: I think the writer is being sarcastic. Because obviously they know that the adjective comes before the noun. For examples, look all over this page. "Ad for Montessori School..." "The Saddest Story..." The writer didn't say "Ad for School Montessori..." or "The Story Saddest".

Maybe they are giving you a big black reward. Maybe there is some white woman in this neighborhood that will find that dog and anticipate that "big black reward". Whatever. That person wont find their dog because someone who cannot specify what they are looking for in a grammatical sentence should have their dog seized and placed in a better home.

Very little on Failblog is funny, but then most "user-generated content" is crap. The editors of these sites let on a ton of questionable and simply stupid jokes, but they're not hired for their senses of humor either.

http://gawker.com/5488509/inside-the-low+paying-cheezburger-empire

I've seen this on failblog and I honestly didn't think of any penis connection until I read this. I just thought it was a fail because of bad grammer. It could also be because I didn't assume gender, either.

I dunno, I think the idea of a "big yellow reward" is sort of funny, and not in a racially-stereotyped kind of way; on the other hand, the yellow substance I'm thinking of is not really a "reward," either.

I assumed the humor depended more on the idea that the sentence was inadvertently offensive. I see plenty of fails that point to racial insensitivity (intentional and not) as something to be publicly mocked.

I think suggesting that the readers of failblog found this funny because "black men are big" is kind of a stretch.

Which isn't to say that they don't frequently engage in horribly sexist and sometimes racist humor as well. I just don't see it here.

The whole concept is that someone failed to send the intended message with hilariously inappropriate result.

I don't think I live in the same society. I don't see that connotation at all.

Also, Lisa, did you mean "simply would not have the same impact"? If you meant to say that the sign would have the same impact regardless of the dog's color, then I'm not quite sure I understand the point of the post!

See, I laughed pretty hard at this, but the humor wasn't to do with penises so much but with the bizarre abstractness of the reward. “Lost Dog Big White Reward” or “Lost Dog Big Yellow Reward” work just as well, "Lost Dog Big Brown Reward" would be good too. "Lost Dog Big Green Reward" or "Lost Dog Big Purple Reward" would be even funnier, initially, but then those signs wouldn't have been posted what with the relative paucity of green and/or purple dogs.

The sign is written in the most effective way!
Main words first: 'lost dog', immediately communicates what it is about.
The rest, extra info, perfectly clear.

I recently made a lost dog flier, after the 'lost dog', I used smaller fonts for size:medium color:black. The one here is better, can be read from far.

I didn't make the penis connection at all. I was thinking more like they were going to reward you with a big black man.

I actually thought of a different stereotype when I saw it--that of the big black woman, the BBBW, if you will. So, I think it might demonstrate more than one stereotype.

Oddly enough, I didn't think 'penis' until you said something. I just thought of a black body builder.