Leonardo6/ny_cartoon_1k huggingface dataset:
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: He has a summer job as a scarecrow. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The real man inside of the snowman is apparently the sort of person who will take a seasonal job as a seasonally-appropriate anthropomorphic sculpture, e.g., a snowman in winter, or a scarecrow in the summer. It's funny because this isn't a real job, and even if it was, the type of person who would accept it is very odd.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: You promised me you would stop after you lost your arm from that paper cut! Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The person writing in the giant book only has one arm pictured, so it's plausible that the other one is lost: specifically, the joke is that this person really likes to write in a big book despite the fact that the giant pages caused a giant paper cut which caused the person's arm to entirely get cut off. This is much more damange than would be caused by a smaller paper cut from a smaller book. It's not clear why they are so intent on writing in this book, and their partner wishes they would stop before they lose their second arm.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: The pen is mightier, but that looks awesome. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A reference to the saying "the pen is mightier than the sword" which says that laws/written words are more powerful than physical force in the modern world. These people are questioning that saying: upon seeing the sword out-of-place in the desk, they are in awe of its physical appearance/strength. This is a funny push-back on the common adage.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: My wife won't let me put one in the back yard. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Couples sometimes argue about whether or not they should add a pool to the backyard. Here, the wife said no, so instead of giving up on the pool, the husband put one in their home office. Technically, it's not in the back yard, so the husband didn't disobey his wife's request.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: All his pitches have been inside. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A play on words. An "inside pitch" in baseball usually means a pitch that is close to the batter. But here, "inside" literally means inside a house --- the woman on the phone is exasperatedly explaining that she's tired of her spouse, the pitcher, playing baseball inside their house.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: This is the most advanced case of Surrealism I've seen. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Surrealism is an art style which focuses on incongruent, impossible, and unnerving scenes; here, that art movement is repurposed as a disease --- and if someone was infected with surrealism, in the advanced stages, their body might separate in similarly impossible/un-nerving ways like impossibly having a separated head, torso, and legs.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Tell me about a time you identified a problem that others didn't see coming. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: In job interviews, people will often ask behavioral questions like this one. However, usually, the skillset they are asking about isn't one that the candidate is using in real time. Here, the interviewer literally doesn't see the giant asteroid coming down from space because he's facing away from it. In contrast, the interviewee can identify it. It's funny because the interview question is easy to answer because they can just describe the present moment, but they both may die because of asteroid impact.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Really God, you worry too much. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The giant hand belongs to god, and the doctor (who looks rather bored) is telling god that his health is fine. This is unusual because presumably, god wouldn't be prone to mortal health problems and wouldn't need a doctor/wouldn't worry about this sort of thing.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: If you think this is annoying, just wait. In a few miles, they switch to binary. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The road signs here are in roman numerals, which are notoriously difficult to read. However, on this unusual road, the signs get even more difficult to read, because, according to the female passenger, the numbers will soon be binary, i.e., sequences of ones and zeros that are difficult to immediately translate into values for the driver.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I'm up here. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A play on the common trope that men's gaze can drift to revealing parts of a woman's body if their are sexually interested in them. The trope states that the woman will sometimes say "my eyes are up here" --- but here, while the male turkey is looking at the human-like legs in fishnets, because of how a turkey's entire body is above the legs, instead of "my eyes are up here", it gets reduced to "I'm up here," i.e., "most of my entire body is above where you are looking."
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I wish they would just go back to tapping our phone lines. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Governments sometimes tap phone lines (as in: the patriot act). But this goes a step further: instead of just listening in via tapping the phone lines, the government has literally deployed an army of monsters to watch everyone to make sure everyone is behaving.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Relax. The DVR is set. You can catch the game tomorrow. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The man would rather be watching the sports match than go out to dinner with his partner on a date. The woman is re-assuring him that they are recording the game so he can watch it tomorrow, but he still needs to be tied down to his chair. It's funny partly because of the stereotype that men sometimes prefer sports to romantic evenings.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: You bought the sofa, you find the remote. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: It's a common occurrence that a TV remote gets lost in the sofa, and one must find it to change the channel. But here, the sofa is scary and dangerous monster. The wife is telling the husband that it's his job to find the lost remote in the sofa, which would be a risky job considering, e.g., if you reached your arm into this couch it might bite it off.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Look, you agreed to a trial separation. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A play on the idea of trail separation not being as definitive as divorce. This couple agreed to live apart temporarily without becoming divorced, but are still attached both by marriage, and in this case, literally by a tandem bike. The bike is a somewhat awkward not-full-separation, just like a trial separation.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: That's it. I'm returning those narciscissors today! Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: "narciscissors" is a mashup of the words narcissist and scissors. If there was a product called "narciscissors": the narcissist part might cause someone to make flattering hedge trimmings of themselves. This might be annoying to the wife who has to live in a house with these ridiculous sculptures of her husband.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Once tax season is over, you can go back to being the only child. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Your taxes can be reduced in the US if you have children: by claiming more dependents on your tax return, you get to pay less to the government, which everyone tries to do. Here, the man is humorously bending the tax rules by treating the family dog as a human child to save tax money. The human child is not happy about it, but the parent assures the kid that it's only for tax season that they need to do this charade.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Isn't this the same guy who got shipwrecked in our wading pool? Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A man who gets lost in a sandbox as if he were stranded in the desert, as depicted, is not so bright because it's difficult to put oneself in a dire situation within a benign children's play area. The kids refer to another analogous situation when the same man put himself in a dire situation (shipwreck) within a benign children's play area (wading pool).
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I couldn't find a real naked woman to ride with me in the H.O.V. lane. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The H.O.V. lane is a prioritized traffic design that allows cars with multiple occupants their own lane. Here, the man wants to go in the lane, but only with a naked woman passenger. Possibly because of the oddity of this request, no one took him up on it, and so, he has a naked doll instead to trick police offers to not giving him a ticket for illegally driving alone in the H.O.V. lane.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: How about we just stay in tonight? Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: To "stay in tonight" usually means for a couple to relax/get take-out food/stay in bed instead of going out to restaurants and bars. But here, the people don't have a choice of going out: they are in prison. The funny part is that the statement implies that they had a choice and are simply selecting this of their own free will when they're not.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Please use a coaster. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: People use coasters to prevent glasses from damaging wood surfaces like desks --- but here, the object that needs a coaster is a disembodied head. One would think that a person in this situation would comment on the disembodied head, but the man behind the desk is most worried about preserving the desk, and simply asks the head to use a coaster.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Would you at least use coasters? Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The man not sitting on the table is asking the three people on the table to use coasters. It's unusual to put chairs on a table like this during a meeting, and the man likely didn't join them because of how weird it is. While he's weirdly accepted that they will sit on the table, he's asking them to at least not scratch the surface with their chairs by using coasters. It's funny because it's unclear why the people wanted to be on the table.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I'll take this and the granny dress. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A reference to the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. A "wolf in sheeps clothing," as depicted, is an idiom meaning a nefarious actor who appears innocent: here the wolf is the same (also nefarious) wolf as in Little Red Riding Hood: who kills a grandmother and wears her clothes as a disguise.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Your tattoo escaped. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A surreal joke about a tattoo coming to life. People sometimes get dragon tattoos --- if such tattoos could come to life, that would offer a reasonable explanation for how this enormous dragon could be in this pool. The nonchalance of the statement makes it funnier --- as if tattoos escaping like this happens often.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Your last job sounds terrible. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The people rowing the boat are slaves --- their conditions seem dire and their job terrible. But, even the rowers take pity on the businessman, who they judge to have an even more terrible job previously. This surprising conclusion is joke is about how modern jobs are cushy, but might still feel like slavery in some ways (even though they aren't really comparable).
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: That's why they call him The Kid. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A reference to the outlaw "Billy the Kid", who got his name because his face/appearance looked useful, but this person is called "The Kid" because they are acting like a child by bringing a balloon to a shootout in the wild west town. It's humorous partly because we expect him to lose the duel with the person with a gun, but he has somehow survived long enough to get a nickname.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: If all goes well, we'll get them back after the audit. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: This company has done some extremely shady financial activities, so much so, that external auditors have comically taken away even their clothing. It's funny to think of a shareholder meeting for a company that's doing so obviously badly, and yet, they are happy to do their best and continue with the presentation naked.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I can give you the tools, but you have to do the work yourself. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A play on the words "tools" and "work". Therapists often ask for emotional buy-in from their clients: there's no passive cure that they can impart, so while they can provide the emotional tools for healing, the patient has to meet them in the middle by doing the emotional work with the tools. But here, the tools and work are literal, not emotional: the literal tools are soap and a brush, and the work is literally scrubbing, which ties together why the patient is in a bath tub.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: We get it. You're straight. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: This is a joke about toxic masculinity. The man wants to do yoga, which is seen by some as a feminine activity. To compensate for his insecurity, he brings a manly, big rug instead of a purportedly feminine yoga mat. The instructor's retort addresses his insecurity by saying that his overcompensation is overkill.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Don't look at me that way—I wanted a giant cat. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The giant dog is slobbering all over the furniture and the woman is looking to the man for help. The problem here is clearly the size of the dog --- if it were normal sized, it wouldn't be a problem. But, the man fails to recognize that the size is the problem instead attributing their current predicament to the fact that its a dog. It's additionally partly funny because of the tension between cat people and dog people.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Wave to him. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: While his political opponent is putting on an impressive show, if the politician getting advice were to wave to the juggling politician, it might distract him enough such that the chainsaws would kill him by sawing into his body. If his political opponent was dead, he would win the election, which makes it good practical (albeit dark) advice
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: She left a note. No, I haven't read it yet. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: An angry wife left her husband, and she left a note, presumably detailing her issues with him. This joke takes the anger one step further, instead of simply leaving the note, she literally stabbed him in the back, leaving the note lodged on the knife. It's funny in part because the man is relatively calm about being literally stabbed in the back, talking to his friend on the phone calmly about his partner's departure.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: And for you goats—thou shalt not marry a dragon or ox. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A joke about the incompatibility of romantic relationships according to Chinese Zodiac signs. The tablets, written in Chinese, have been passed to Moses as eternal rules, like the ten commandments. But, instead of general, eternal principles like "do not kill", god has humorously commanded that people with particular zodiac signs are incompatible: usually, this sort of thing is seen as just superstition, so it's funny to think god is superstitious.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: What we have here is a reptile dysfuntion. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A play on the term "erectile dysfunction," which is a medical diagnosis that people sometimes receive. In addition to being a simple pun that addresses the snake around the man, there's a slight crudeness to the joke because snakes look somewhat phallic.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Thank you for agreeing to meet remotely. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: To "meet remotely" usually means to meet over a video call, but here, "meet remotely" takes on a second meaning: to meet in-person, but in a remote location. The person with the coconut cocktail is organizing the meeting: he more relaxed than his co-worker, suggesting he might not be as dedicated to his job (or is perhaps his boss with less accountability).
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I hate fashion week. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A joke about an unusual promotion for a baseball team --- "fashion week" is a fashion industry event where many designers showcase new types of clothing with models/runway shows. Here, the owner of the baseball team is forcing a similar promotion on his players, as shown by the player wearing fancy high heels. It's a weird promo in part because wearing high heels probably makes it much harder to play baseball, so the players hate it because the team will lose.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: Get naked, jump in, and make this marriage work! Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A strange piece of advice from the marriage counselor about how the couple might re-kindle their marriage. The couple is skeptical that a naked bath is what's stopping them from having a good marriage, but the purported therapist nonetheless enthusiastically suggests it. The funny part is that this therapist doesn't seem credible.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I know you have the law and the facts on your side, but I'm going with the dancing girls on this one. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Judges are supposed to be impartial, but this judge sides with the showiness of the dancers rather than the boring (but correct) lawyer. This is an exaggeration of a concern of the judicial system: that the facts of a case may matter less than a lawyer's presentation.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: You better hope that was rain I just felt. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The cop is trying to get the person to stop illegally flying a dog instead of a kite --- the joke is that, unlike kites, dogs can urinate, which might cause the police offer to get urinated on from above. The cop is trying to get the person to stop flying the dog, and it's likely the punishment would be worse for the man if the officer was peed on. The officer points out that the liquid he felt, for the sake of the man's punishment severity, is hopefully rain and not dog pee.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: The guy you're looking for waltzed out of here an hour ago. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: A play on the word "waltzed" --- if a private investigator were looking for a suspect at a bar to be told that the person "waltzed out of there", that would simply mean they left. But, given that the victim of the crime is a ballet dancer, it suggests that the perpetrator may have also been a dancer, and perhaps literally waltzed out of the bar, i.e., danced their way out.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I’m going to give you something for your humanity. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Because the doctor is an alien, they might assume that being an alien is "normal" --- so, being a human is the disease, and the alien apparently has a prescription drug/"cure" to turn the human into an alien.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: RELAX! Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: The hulk is a superhero who becomes a super strong monster when he's angry. It's funny to imagine him trying to teach a yoga class --- if he was mad that someone wasn't relaxing enough to do yoga, he might become the hulk, smash them into the wall, and yell "RELAX"!
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: I'm so glad that 'lumberjack' is more a look than an occupation these days. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Lumberjacks cut down trees, and so the trees are especially happy that the couple is just wearing plaid ("lumberjack" clothing) instead of trying to chop them down.
user: Given a cartoon image and a caption. Caption: In our opinion, you won't make it past the holidays. Question: Generating an explanation of why this image/caption combination is funny. Answer: 

assistant: Gingerbread men are cookies often baked at the holidays. Doctors are often tasked with giving prognoses for difficult medical conditions that involve death. Here, their prognosis of "not making it past the holidays" refers to the probable outcome of the gingerbread man being eaten during the holiday season (and not "making it" past that time).