This paper analyzes a joke told by a Trobriand Islander in the Kilivila language. It is shown that understanding the humor of a joke, and the way the joke is told depends on one’s knowledge of the pragmatic conventions of the speech community in which the joke is told. Furthermore, it is illustrated that jokes within the Kilivila speech community constitute a special ‘situational-intentional’ language variety which is called BIGA SOPA. This Kilivila concept of SOPA is defined and its social function is explained.