Rachel tries to think where and when might she have lost her engagement ring.
Rachel: I know I had it this morning, and I know I had it when I was in the kitchen with...
Chandler: ...Dinah?
Who is Dinah? Why is Rachel so obviously supposed to be in the kitchen with her?
"Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah" is a line from an American folk song. The first published version appeared in 1894 under a name "Levee Song". The tune is catchy and people have picked it up and used for other songs ever since.
Also this Levee Song itself was referenced many times in different tv shows including one of Bugs Bunny cartoons. The lyrics tell a story and a struggle of a man working hard work at the railroad.
But let's go back to the line about Dinah. It is sung from the perspective of a man, that works at the railroad "all the live long day". And it seems that he suspects Dinah of being unfaithful to him.
Someone's in the kitchen i know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Strumming on the old banjo
So who is Dinah? Dinah first appears as a woman's name in the Hebrew Bible. Not only Dinah from that book has a sad story, her name literally translates as judged or vindicated. Pretty much what the man singing the song above does - judges Dinah.
Since that Dinah name has become also a generic name for enslaved black woman in America. As much as Sambo was a generic name for black enslaved men.
Think how Rachel by giving wedding ring back to Barry similarly to black Dinahs of the past is gradually gaining agency over her own life at this moment. So Chandler putting Rachel and Dinah in his joke together in one kitchen is also quite symbolic.
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There was actually a cookin show/segment during the late 70s or early 80s with Dinah Washington
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