Are You A Turtle?

When I was in college, there was this funny turtle thing making the rounds.  I had no idea how or when it started and didn't much care, too much on my plate.  Recently, the turtle thing popped into my mind for reasons unknown, and I became curious about it.  Here's the story.

To become a member of the Turtle Club, you had to answer 3 questions which had obvious lewd answers and alternative answers that weren't lewd.  One of the standards was:
Q: What does a woman do sitting down, a man do standing up, and a dog do on 3 legs?
A:  Shake hands

If you answered the questions correctly, you became an 'official' member of the Turtle Club. Members would ask other members, "Are you a turtle?" and the only acceptable response was, "You bet your sweet ass I am."  Typically, the question was asked in a public or social gathering where it would have been embarrassing to make the required 'sweet ass' response.  The catch was, if you didn't answer correctly, you had to buy the other guy a drink.

Nowadays, saying 'sweet ass' in a social gathering wouldn't even raise an eyebrow but that wasn't the case in the 40s - or even in the 60s, when I became a member.  Back then, the usage such words was restricted to men's locker rooms and similar venues.  JFK was allegedly once asked if he was a turtle, which of course, he was.  This occurred at a press conference.  He responded with, "I'll buy you your drink later."  NASA got into the act, too.  On several occasions, while on world wide radio broadcast, the ground control people asked astronauts in orbit, "Are you a turtle?"

It all started in WW II with a group of bomber pilots stationed in England seeking diversions from their dangerous duties.  One of the pilots came up with the turtle club idea, a sham society inspired by the likes of 'friendly societies' like the Ancient Order of Foresters.  Thus was born the Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles, the official name of the Club.

Are you a turtle?