Questions tagged [jokes]

Questions about humorous expressions, jokes, puns, etc.

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1 answer
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1920s postcard joke meaning? Cut some ice

Can anyone explain the meaning of this 1920’s postcard? The text reads: “I should worry like the iceman and cut some ice.” Next to this is a cartoon of a little boy with an axe chopping a large block ...
J. Dixon's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
556 views

What is the meaning of this joke? [closed]

Behold the joke in its original glory The judge looked down upon the counsel and said, Judge: Listen, counsel. I have been listening to you for three hours, and I am none the wiser. Barrister: I ...
tryingtobeastoic's user avatar
22 votes
10 answers
5k views

Would there be a way to make the joke "Ella es mi amiga vieja, disculpe, mi vieja amiga" work in English?

There is a Spanish joke, Ella es mi amiga vieja, disculpe, mi vieja amiga. The joke basically says, "She is my friend that is old, excuse me, my old friend", making fun of the person's age....
user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
24 views

Can you please explain this joke by Samuel Johnson? [duplicate]

In Life of Johnson, we read the following: a fellow having attacked him with some coarse raillery, Johnson answered him thus, 'Sir, your wife, under pretence of keeping a bawdy-house, is a receiver ...
nonremovable's user avatar
16 votes
12 answers
4k views

English version of Russian proverb "The hedgehogs got pricked, cried, but continued to eat the cactus"

Is there anything in English similar to this Russian joke/proverb/or you could even say sarcasm: "The hedgehogs got pricked, cried, but continued to eat the cactus". It describes people ...
Artem S. Tashkinov's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
114 views

Term for (humorous) sentences that end in unexpected ways [duplicate]

I'm trying to find the term that refers to a certain type of joke. These jokes generally have the following characterstics: generally only one sentence long the first half is straightforward and ...
user477050's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

“Why does a Moon-rock taste better than an Earth-rock?” joke meaning [closed]

In the last episode of “The Last of Us” TV show there is the following pun: Why does a Moon-rock taste better than an Earth-rock? Because it's a little meteor. What's the wordplay here? P.S. I've ...
Shtole's user avatar
  • 37
3 votes
1 answer
793 views

At what point did most English speakers know the joke, "What time is it? Time for you to get a watch!"? [closed]

When is the first documented usage of the joke, "What time is it? Time for you to get a watch!"? At what point in history would most English-speakers know this joke, meaning, if you stopped ...
Reece365's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
31 views

Is "being away from home a good deal" strictly habitual?

On his internment during WWII, P. G. Wodehouse commented: The chief drawback is that it means your being away from home a good deal. Striking. Because, I think, he's slightly stretching the use of ...
AskingJeeves's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
471 views

Word for "things that make you laugh"

Is there an English word or phrase that describes a particular type of moment or thing that would make you laugh or enjoy? For example, Some people might think animals are funny, but it might be ...
123's user avatar
  • 3
-2 votes
2 answers
125 views

Can someone explain this joke?

So I went to the watch shop. I said, "I wanna buy a watch". He said "Analogue?" I said, "No, just the watch".
Blue Moon's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
187 views

Please help me understand a joke

I don’t quite understand the "Ad Land" cartoon by David T. Jones. Could you explain the meaning to me? I will attach the screenshot of this cartoon, but you can also find it here: https://...
Julia's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
1 answer
573 views

First appearance of "ran over a cockerel" Joke

With the death of the UK Comedy Legend that was Barry Cryer, many of the obituaries are mentioning his favorite joke (which is proliferating across the internet yet again) ... was once asked by the ...
Dragonel's user avatar
  • 1,184
6 votes
4 answers
5k views

What is the origin of the joke 'a freckle past a hair' when one is asked the time of day?

Growing up in Canada, I heard this dialogue a hundred times:\ Dude: "What time is it?" Guy pantomimes watch-checking, but his wrist is bare Guy: "It's a freckle past a hair." ...
Kiteration's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
80 views

Grants distribution but with pejorative connotation [closed]

Is there a bitter phrase that signals pejorative connotations when talking about grants distribution? Unfortunately, grants system is not perfect and can be abused by irresponsible people who suck-up ...
IlliakaillI's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
69 views

What is the humor in "water's warm and deep" while relieving oneself?

The two men halted at the edge of the canal, hiked their tunics, then fumbled with their loincloths. Soon two arcs were gurgling across the filmy surface. “Hmm,” Xinemus said. “The water’s warm.” Even ...
tejasvi88's user avatar
  • 103
1 vote
0 answers
267 views

Meaning of "Guess what ? Corgi butt"

It seems the sentence "Guess what ? Corgi butt" is quite popular: a web search provides a wealth of stickers, mugs and T-shirts with the same exact wording (and many cute corgis in different ...
Ratbert's user avatar
  • 111
0 votes
1 answer
5k views

What is the origin of the '7 8 9' joke?

Everybody knows the iconic joke, which goes like this: Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9. When I search 'why was 6 afraid of 7 etymology' my results are irrelevant, mostly explaining the humor ...
1ctinus's user avatar
  • 27
11 votes
6 answers
4k views

Didn't understand joke about No Child Left Behind [closed]

I was watching this video. At around 30:00, Chomsky exaplins that he never went to Chemistry class nor to Chemistry lab and he got a A nevertheless. Then he makes a joke: "This approach has a ...
robertspierre's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
122 views

Couldn't understand the humour

Gandhi went in his loincloth to Buckingham Palace and met the king. Later, when somebody asked him if he felt that was proper, Gandhi replied: "The king had enough for both of us." Full article: ...
Ricky's user avatar
  • 51
0 votes
1 answer
117 views

Meaning of a joke [closed]

Visitor to a village stops a local and asks, "How do I get to Aberdeen from here?" Local answers, "Och, if I were going to Aberdeen, I wouldn't start from here!" What does this joke imply ?
George carlin's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Meaning of the joke about the fish and the dam [closed]

There is the joke. -What did the fish say when he ran into the wall? -Dam. Could someone explain it to me, please? As far as I can tell the joke is all about the intended pun: the dam sounds similar ...
manymanymore's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
154 views

Why it's funny when a husband says he is thankful to have someone he enjoys being quarantined with and the wife says it must be nice? [closed]

Why it's funny when a husband says he is thankful to have someone he enjoys being quarantined with and his wife says it must be nice (sorry about the long title). Thank you!
Maurice's user avatar
  • 479
-1 votes
1 answer
1k views

What does "do you like potatoes" mean? [closed]

I heard "Do you like potatoes" from a native speaker, but I couldn't understand him. Could you help me asap? Thanks for your attention.
Liki Crus's user avatar
  • 121
1 vote
1 answer
10k views

She turned me into a newt, but I got better [closed]

From Monty Python and the holy grail: BEDEVERE: What makes you think she is a witch? VILLAGER #3: Well, she turned me into a newt. BEDEVERE: A newt? VILLAGER #3: I got better. How ...
lhk's user avatar
  • 400
3 votes
6 answers
5k views

Term for a joke with a missing punchline

What do you call a joke that has a punchline which as been emphatically implied through omission, as in... [Comedian peeling banana, saying...] "one skin, two skin, three skin, (pregnant pause)....
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_'s user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
680 views

That's What She Said Quote

Okay, I'm sure most of you have seen this T-Shirt before. But I got to thinking about it the other day. It is obviously a reference to the time-honored tradition of That's what she said in response ...
Sharkn8do's user avatar
  • 119
2 votes
1 answer
5k views

Joke about a magical tractor, I dont get it

The joke is: Did you hear about the magic tractor? It turned into a field. What is the joke about? I am thinking that the tractor is abandoned and the field cover it, I cant imagine other ...
Raúl Monge's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
2k views

...Your baby gonna come out naked

I heard this in a casual how-to video. It seemed random and not associated with anything they were doing. Someone said, "My favorite one is... your baby is going to come out naked. If you keep working ...
John Dee's user avatar
  • 111
-1 votes
2 answers
80 views

In the context, the translation of the phrase FLASHY BOI "5 hours of debugging VS / flashy boi" [closed]

In the context, the translation of the phrase FLASHY BOI? "5 hours of debugging VS / flashy boi"
VaB's user avatar
  • 1
2 votes
1 answer
535 views

Origin of "my dog ate my homework"?

Is there a specifc incident or origin story for the common joke/comedic phrase "my dog ate my homework"? I always wondered whether there was a student who became notorious for not turning in their ...
user45266's user avatar
  • 179
1 vote
2 answers
5k views

Meaning of "The statement stands for itself"

This was a scene in the show The Big Bang Theory, season 2, episode 9. Sheldon and Penny are having a conversation on the staircase, which is as follows: Sheldon: Of the handful of women Leonard's ...
Bravo Jades's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
701 views

'Et viola' misspelling or inside joke?

Question Is et viola [sic](spelled like this intentionally) just a misspelling of et voila or is it an actual word, or perhaps an inside joke (not just a one-off thing)? Background Based on this ...
JJJ's user avatar
  • 7,148
69 votes
4 answers
10k views

Is there a term for the type of misleading joke comedians such as Stephen Colbert often use?

The Late Show host, Stephen Colbert (an American talk show host, don't mind that, just think of him as some random guy you don't have to care about) quite often uses a type of joke whereby he ...
Vun-Hugh Vaw's user avatar
  • 5,400
3 votes
0 answers
2k views

Joke I don't get [closed]

So here the joke I be heard, but I don't get the meaning of it. Can anyone help me understand why is it the answer supposed to be funny? Q: What did the duck say when she bought lipstick? A: "...
JPC's user avatar
  • 171
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

Can I call a vacuum cleaner cleaner a vacuum cleaner?

Can I call a vacuum cleaner cleaner a vacuum cleaner? This was written in a hallway. Can you help me dissect what's going on here, along with an appropriate response? By dissect, I mean I'd like to ...
zahbaz's user avatar
  • 599
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

"downhill from there" - help to understand this joke [duplicate]

I watch this interesting clip today (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FLsWif6-Jfg), but I don't really understand the joke that he makes, which is: A: We're going to mountain-climbing tomorrow, but I ...
norah's user avatar
  • 3
3 votes
3 answers
1k views

What's the Idiom or typical expression when a person "takes a joke further"

Imagine the use escenario for the typical expression I'm trying to find to describe when oneself or someone else builds upon a joke/silliness that was just made/said, expanding the joke, bringing a ...
MrPmosh's user avatar
  • 33
6 votes
4 answers
2k views

What does this insult mean? "Your wife, sir, under the pretense of keeping a bawdy house, is a receiver of stolen goods"

"Your wife, sir, under the pretense of keeping a bawdy house, is a receiver of stolen goods" -Samuel Johnson I cannot find an explanation anywhere on the internet. Is "stolen goods"...
Phillip Harris's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
871 views

Explain a pig joke. What is funny here?

The joke is: "Yesterday a pig invited me to see his new home. Actually it was quite stylish." How should one understand this? It does't seem funny at all.
Andorian's user avatar
  • 1,085
4 votes
1 answer
250 views

What's the connection between Slobovian and the elbow?

Here is a sentence from Making Sense of Japanese by Jay Rubin: They are just part of the world's most clunky writing system, and a writing system cannot cause a language to be processed in a ...
null's user avatar
  • 185
1 vote
1 answer
11k views

Jokes where you replace a word with something unrelated but similar sounding [duplicate]

So a friend of mine always works this type of joke into normal conversation and I always get a kick out of it. Example: Person 1: Why are you always hogging the TV remote? Person 2: Because I am ...
MrJman006's user avatar
  • 137
1 vote
1 answer
8k views

Joke "Hipster burns his mouth" - why is it funny?

The joke is: why did the hipster burn his mouth? Because he drank his coffee / ate his pizza / etc. before it was cool. Why is it funny? Does the hipster have special meaning or background?
Ryan's user avatar
  • 113
-1 votes
4 answers
1k views

What does knob mean in the context of honey and faucet?

In the book What If? there is part that the author mentions about the viscosity of fluid: It's more like pushing your hand through a bathtub full of water than a bathtub full of honey. And this ...
Ooker's user avatar
  • 3,086
20 votes
6 answers
7k views

What type of humor would racist and sexist jokes be categorized into?

I did not major in literary studies so I do not readily recognize the nuances that are used to distinguish between the various concepts. It doesn't seem to fit insult comedy since it is rarely told ...
Stormydawns 's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

What type of wordplay joins two phrases together on a single syllable?

During a South Park episode, Wendy sings a song with a specific type of wordplay in which she ends a sentence and starts a new one with a common word or syllable. This gives the lyrics a double ...
Throwaway's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

"Eye of the Needle" Joke in Supply-Side Jesus

"It is easier for a rich man to enter heaven seated comfortably on the back of a camel than it is for a poor man to pass through the eye of a needle," is a funny inversion of "Matthew 19:24" from Al ...
David Marlowe's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
241 views

Wordplay that thwarts expectation by applying a description to a different object? [duplicate]

Example: A news show puts an image of donald trump holding up a fish on the screen. The announcer says: "Here's a photo of a slimy, scaly, reptile -- and he's holding a fish, too." I'm not sure if ...
Jonah's user avatar
  • 263
-2 votes
1 answer
157 views

How could I reponse if my American friend joked "americans are foolish; we have no idea about geography?" [closed]

Last time my American friend and I were talking about an African country. He happened to know nothing about the country. Then he joked "Americans are foolish; we have no idea about geography?" I ...
zell's user avatar
  • 189
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Please, explain the joke about a walkie talkie

Q. What do you get when you cross a parrot and a caterpillar? A. A walkie talkie. What feature of caterpillars was chosen to create this joke? As far as I know a walkie talkie is a device with ...
Andorian's user avatar
  • 1,085