theblackcat102/joke_explaination huggingface dataset:
Q: Why did the dentist and the manicurist decide not to be friends? A: Because they were always fighting tooth and nail!
Explanation: A dentist is a doctor that improves the health of your teeth. A manicurist is a specialist who improves the health and appearance of your fingernails.
To “fight tooth and nail” is an idiom that means to fight hard with all of your resources to achieve a goal. You might fight tooth and nail against an injustice. A union might fight tooth and nail for its members. Firefighters fight tooth and nail to put out a fire.
This joke is funny because it plays with the idiom, and the work that these two professions do: dentists work with teeth and manicurists work with nails.
Here is Foreigner singing about fighting tooth and nail. Some of the lyrics are hard to understand so here they are.
Q: Is collecting shells on the beach easy to learn? A: Yes, you’ll pick it up right away!
Explanation: Picking up shells on a beach is easy because, if the beach has shells, you just bend over and lift them up with your hands.
To pick something up is also an idiom meaning to learn something. If I say that my nephew picked up guitar really quickly it means that he learned to play guitar easily. A few more examples: My friend who speaks Spanish picked up Italian after a few weeks in Rome; Just watch what I am doing and you will ick it up right away.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of “pick up:” to lift something up and to learn something.
Have you always wanted to learn to play guitar? There are lots of videos online. This series form Fender is pretty good, in my opinion.
Q: Why was the pirate sad when his parrot left? A: It gave him the cold shoulder!
Explanation: Yes, the last parrot joke for a while.
Have you seen those pictures of a pirate with a parrot sitting on his shoulder? Take a look at this one, if you haven’t. (That link will also explain about the history of parrots and pirates.) I have never had a parrot sit on my shoulder, but I would expect the parrot to feel warm on my shoulder. Then, when the parrot flies away, my shoulder would feel cold.
“To give someone the cold shoulder” means to purposely ignore that person
This joke is funny because it plays with the phrase cold shoulder, in both the literal sense of feeling colder, and in the meaning of the idiom, to ignore someone. Perhaps the parrot was ignoring the pirate, giving him the cold shoulder?
Here is Adele with her song Cold Shoulder–
Q: What is bright orange and sounds like a parrot? A: A carrot!
Explanation: Yes! A second parrot joke!
As you can hear when you read the joke aloud, parrot rhymes with carrot.
This joke is funny because the question has a second meaning. When you read the question, it seems to ask for the name of another bird, or maybe an animal, that makes the same sounds as a parrot. Maybe there is another bird that talks like a parrot?
But, no. Because it is a joke, the answer is a word (or words) that sound like (rhyme with) “a parrot.”
Now for something really silly- Here is Captain Vegetable with Elmo—
Then again, thinking of parrots led me to Jimmy Buffet
Q: What creature is smarter than a talking parrot? A: A spelling bee!
Explanation: And we’re back!
Perhaps you have seen or heard parrots that talk. Well, they actually mimic (copy) the sounds that they hear. It is quite amazing. In English the typical phrase that a talking parrot says is, “Polly want a cracker.”
A spelling bee is a competition to see who is the best speller, that is, the one who spells the most difficult words. A spelling bee has nothing to do with a bee, the insect that makes honey.
This joke is funny because it plays with the idea of smart animals and then plays again with two meanings of the word bee: an insect and a spelling competition. By the way, there are other types of bees such as a quilting bee which is a gathering of people who make quilts.
Thanks for the joke, Pete!
If you want to see a movie about a spelling bee, I highly recommend this one:
Q: Where do ghosts like to go sailing? A: Lake Eerie!
Explanation: If you ever get the chance to go sailing, I would highly recommend it. It is a beautiful experience to let the wind move your boat without using a motor.
Ghosts, of course, like places that are scary or frightening. The word eerie means strange or frightening. An eerie experience might be sitting alone in a dark house, hearing strange sounds, and seeing faint lights that look like ghosts.
Lake Erie is the 4th largest of the Great Lakes in North America. I have never seen it, but the pictures sure look nice.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words eerie and (Lake) Erie which sound exactly the same.
Here is the song Sailing by Christopher Cross to take you on your journey:
Q: Why didn’t the girl trust the trees near her home? A: They seemed a little shady!
Explanation: Shade is the darker, cooler area under a tree when the sun is shining on the tree. If you want to get out of the sun, you might stand under a tree in the shade. You might stand in the shady area.
Shady also means something that doesn’t seem quite right, not honest, not trustworthy maybe illegal. If someone tries to sell you an expensive watch for very little money you might say, “No, that seems a little shady.”
This joke is funny because it plays with the word shady, like under a tree in the sun or a dishonest situation or person.
By the way, Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there, and to all people who are like a father to someone.
Here is a shady character from one of my favorite books, Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes ( it’s a bit scary):
Q: Why couldn’t the pony talk? A: He was a little horse!
Explanation: For most people, a pony is a small horse. There is actually a difference between a horse and a pony. In common conversation, though, most people do not make the distinction. A baby horse is called a foal, colt, or filly depending on age and gender.
If you are hoarse, your voice sounds scratchy. This can happen when you get a sore throat from being sick or from shouting a lot. If you go to a soccer game and cheer loudly for your team, you might be hoarse later on.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words horse and hoarse which sound exactly the same but have very different meanings.
To find out more about horses and ponies, take a look here:
Q: Why aren’t dogs good dancers? A: They have two left feet!
Explanation: Dogs have four feet called paws: two front feet and two back feet. You could also say that they have two right feet and two left feet. Sounds simple.
When you say that someone has “two left feet” it means that they do not dance well, that they are awkward when they dance.
This joke is funny because it plays with the meanings of two left feet: the literal meaning, like dogs have two feet on the left side of their bodies, and the figurative meaning of being a bad dancer.
If you have always wanted to learn salsa, and not have two left feet as a salsa dancer, you could start here:
Q: Why did the baker go to the bank? A: He need some dough!
Explanation: There is nothing better than fresh baked bread! The smell is amazing and, if you can eat bread, the taste is divine.
A person who puts bread or cookies into an oven is called a baker. Before you can bake some bread you need to mix it up. That mix is called dough; it can be cookie dough, or bread dough, or whatever type you are making.
Dough is also another word for money. (Keep in mind that it is an informal word.) If you need some money, you might go to the bank; you might ask you friend to lend you some dough for the weekend.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word dough: the mix you make for baking bread or another word (informal) for money.
Here is Jaime Oliver teaching us how to make fresh bread. Feel free to turn on the CC (closed captioning) or slow him down because he talks a bit fast.
Q: Did you hear about the new corduroy pillow? A: No, but I bet they’re making headlines!
Explanation: I love my pillow! I have had it for, well, too long, and I should probably get a new one. Pillows are those soft cushions that you put under your head when you sleep. Pillows can also be found on sofas. Many people use pillows to support their back when they are sitting.
Corduroy is a type of fabric that has raised lines in it; because of those lines, they say that corduroy is ribbed.
Something that “makes the headlines” is usually an important news story, like the Titanic sinking or a president getting elected. Pillows do not make headlines…unless the pillow is made of corduroy. If you sleep with your face on a corduroy pillow, you will wake up with lines on your face; the pattern on the corduroy fabric will press into your face.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word headlines, like in a newspaper, and head lines, like lines on your head.
Here is a story about a bear named Corduroy. It’s one of my favorites!
Q: How does a cucumber become a pickle? A: It goes through a jarring experience!
Explanation: Do you love pickles? I do!
Pickles are little cucumbers that are left in vinegar or brine for a period of time. This is usually done in jars. An interesting note: the process of making pickles is called canning (like, putting in a can) and not jarring.
Jarring is a word used to describe an experience that shocks or disturbs you; it is not a pleasant experience.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word jar-cucumbers are put in jars, so, in a sense they go through a jarring experience.
Watch here to see how glass bottles are made:
Q: What do you call a carrot that insults a rabbit? A: A fresh vegetable!
Explanation: It is springtime in the northern hemisphere and it is time to plant the vegetable garden. That way, you can eat fresh vegetables when they are ripe and ready to be picked. Fresh vegetables are vegetables that have been recently harvested, recently picked.
The word ‘fresh‘ also has a different meaning. ‘Fresh’ can mean disrespectful, like talking back to your teacher.
This joke is funny because it plays with the different meanings of the word ‘fresh.’ It is also funny because, well, carrots don’t usually talk to rabbits!
Bugs Bunny is known for being fresh with people. Here he is with some rather large vegetables. (Thank you to L.G. for the joke idea!)
Q: What does a dog do that a person steps into? A: Pants!
Explanation: Thank you to a friend from India for sending another joke about pants!
Last week I explained about pants, the ones you wear that are also called trousers or slacks.
Pant is also the way a dog breathes when it is hot, usually a quick breathing with its tongue sticking out. A dog pants. So a person steps into pants and a dog pants.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of the word pants. It is also funny because when you read the joke, you might think of something a dog does (poops) that a person might step in (that’s kind of gross, but it happens.)
Here is an explanation of why dogs pant:
Q: Why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants? A: In case he got a hole in one!
Explanation: I have never been golfing but this joke made me laugh.
Pants are an item of clothing that you put on one leg at a time. They are also known as slacks and trousers. Jeans are pants. Although some people like to have holes in their pants, most people do not like it when they get a hole in a pair of pants. If you get a hole in one pair of pants, you might want to put on another pair of pants without a hole.
In golf, a hole-in-one means that you got the little white ball into the hole with just one swing of your golf club. I understand that it is hard to get a hole-in-one while playing golf.
This joke is funny because it plays with the meanings of “hole in one.”
Here are some famous golfers getting a hole-in-one.
Q: What did the big flower say to the little flower? A: Hi, bud!
Explanation: Spring is in the air in the northern hemisphere and gardens are blooming!
Bud is a word that is used as a synonym for friend, short for buddy. My next-door neighbor was named Buddy when I lived in Minnesota; Buddy was my buddy, my bud, my friend.
Bud is also a word used for the small bump on a plant that develops into a flower.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of the word bud.
Watch these buds turn into flowers and then read The Little Prince to learn about making a flower your bud, your friend.
Q: Why did Humpty Dumpty have a great fall? A: He wanted to make up for a lousy summer!
Explanation: In my neck of the woods, summer has turned to fall.
Humpty Dumpty is a character from Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. Usually pictured as a very large egg, Humpty Dumpty fell off a wall and broke into many pieces. In the rhyme we hear,
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
It makes sense that if an egg fell off a wall it would break.
Fall is also a season (spring, summer, fall, winter), sometimes known as autumn. If you had a lousy summer, a bad summer, you might want the next season to be better. That is, you could compensate for a bad summer (make up for a lousy summer) by having a really good autumn.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word fall, the verb (to fall) and the season (autumn).
Here is one video version where Alice meets Humpty. If you continue watching, you will hear the poem Jabberwocky a fun poem with lots of nonsense words that make sense.
Q: Why did the atoms cross the road? A: It was time to split!
Explanation: Ah, yes, this one reminds me of my first joke on this site.
Atoms are the building blocks of matter, of all things. The element chart lists all the different types of atoms.
To split means to leave. If I were watching a soccer game, at the end I might say, “Game’s over. Let’s split.” And then we would leave the park or the stadium where the game was being played.
When you “split an atom” you release a lot of energy, like in a nuclear bomb.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of split. Split also means to divide something into parts. If you are a gymnast you might know how to do the splits. You might even make a banana split.
Here is how atoms were first split:
Q: What is Irish and sits outside? A: Patio Furniture!
Explanation: March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. Being of Irish heritage, I thought this joke appropriate… and it made me laugh.
Patio furniture refers to the chairs and tables that you might see outside on a patio.
Patio furniture sounds a lot like Paddy O’Furniture. Paddy is an Irish name, often a nickname for someone named Patrick or Padraig. There are a lot of famous Paddys. The O’ (capital letter O with an apostrophe), along with Mc or Mac, means “son of” in Irish last names. Lots of Irish last names start with O’ such as O’Brien and O’Keefe.
There is no Irish last name of O’Furniture, and that’s what makes this joke funny. Maybe where you are you can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by sitting outside on your patio furniture and listening to The Chieftains and Sinead O’Connor.
Q: Why was Cinderella so lousy at baseball? A: Because she ran away from the ball and had a pumpkin for a coach!
Explanation: In the United States, baseball spring training has started in Florida and Arizona so how about a baseball joke?
There is a lot to explain in this joke. To be lousy at something means to be bad at it. In this joke, Cinderella is bad at playing baseball. Why? Because she runs away from the ball.
Ball, here, has two meanings: Ball refers to the baseball in the game of baseball; ball is also the name of a formal dance party. Remember when the clock struck 12:00 midnight and Cinderella had to leave the ball?
Then, there is the coach. In baseball, the coach is the person who leads the team by telling the players what to do and helps them to do it better. Coach is also the word used for the horse-drawn carriage that takes Cinderella to and from the ball. That coach started out as a pumpkin and then became a pumpkin again after midnight.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word ball and the word coach. Did you ever wonder how a baseball is made? Watch this video to find out.
Q: While in their tank, what did one fish say to the other fish? A: Do you know how to drive this thing?!
Explanation: If you have a fish at home, it is in a tank: a fish tank (also called an aquarium). Normally when you hear about a tank and fish, you think of a fish tank. A fish tank is a glass box that holds water and fish.
The other type of tank is a military tank. If you are in a military tank, someone has to drive it, like the fish in the joke.
This joke is funny because the word tank has two meanings: a fish tank and a military tank. This joke misdirects us to start thinking of a fish tank, when actually the fish are in a military tank.
Here is how to take care of your goldfish in a fish tank:
Q: What did the right eye say to the left eye? A: Hey buddy, just between you and me, something smells!
Explanation: More jokes about your face!
The phrase “something smells” usually means that something is giving off, emitting, a bad smell. In this joke, “something smells” refers to the nose and the action of smelling, of noticing that there is a odor or aroma that the nose can detect.
That’s what makes this joke funny—the nose is between the eyes and it smells, it detects odors…but the nose itself does not smell bad, that is, give off a bad odor.
Here is something you can see that is beautiful but smells really bad: the corpse flower!
Q: Why did the scientist install a knocker on his front door? A: Because he wanted to win the no-bell prize!
Explanation: A knocker is that metal piece on the outside of a door that you use to make noise so that people know that you are there. An alternative to using a door knocker is to use a doorbell. A doorbell is a button, typically found next to the door, that you push to make noise inside the house so that people know that you are there.
If you do not have a doorbell, you have no bell. “No bell” sounds like Nobel. Nobel is the name of a prize in many different categories including physics, chemistry, peace, and literature.
This joke is funny because no-bell sounds like Nobel, and the scientist wanted to win a no-bell/Nobel prize. (That strategy probably won’t help him win!)
Here is some information about the Nobel Prizes:
Q: What did the fish say when he swam into the concrete wall? A: Dam!
Explanation: As a language learner, it is important to know the swear words, the bad words, the words you probably shouldn’t say.
Dam is not a swear word, but it sounds like one. A dam is a structure built on a river to keep the water from flowing. Beavers make dams (see the video on that link to learn more about beavers and their dams) and humans do too. To see a dam, you might visit the Hoover Dam in Nevada. If a fish ran into a concrete wall while swimming in a river, it is probably a dam.
Dam sounds just like damn; many people consider damn to be a swear word. Damn comes from the Latin word ‘damnare’ which means to condemn. Lots of people use the word damn when something goes wrong or hurts. If you were to bump into a concrete wall it would hurt and you might say, “Damn,” just like the fish in the joke. If you are creative, you can probably find better words to express your pain.
This joke is funny because the words damn and dam sound the same.
I like this video about beaver dams and the calm voice of the speaker, Richard Attenborough.
Q: Why can’t a woman ask her brother for help? A: Because he can’t be a brother and assist her too!
Explanation: Of course a woman can ask her brother for help! Just not in this joke.
The words in this joke are rather well known. To assist means to help. You already know brother, sister, and woman. Regarding relationships, you can be either a brother or a sister, but not both.
This joke is funny because, if you listen closely, “a sister” and “assist her” sound the same. Please help your brothers and sisters.
Here is a story about someone who decided to help his community by using books and a donkey.
Q: How do you keep a bagel from getting away? A: Put lox on it!
Explanation: Bagels are a type of bread that look like a donut. They are round and have a hole in the middle, but they are not sweet. To eat a bagel, you usually cut it in half and put something on it like cream cheese.
Another item you might put on your bagel is lox. Lox is salmon that has been preserved by using brine. The word lox sounds like the word locks. A lock is used to close something securely, like putting a lock and chain on your bike so that no one steals it, or locking the door to your apartment.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word lox/locks, which sound the same. (The title of this post comes from Hawaii 5-0 when McGarret told his partner to arrest someone by saying, “Book ’em, Danno.”
Here is a video about how bagels are made. Try narrating the video
Q: What do you call a bear with no ears? A: B!
Explanation: Get it? If you take the word bears and cross off the word ears (b
ears ) you are left with just the letter ‘b.’ Silly, I know. So here is another one…
Q: What do you call a deer with no eyes?
A: No eye-deer!
Explanation: When someone asks you a question, and you do not know the answer, you might say, “I have no idea.” Some English speakers tend to put the ‘r’ sound on the end of the word ‘idea’ so that is sounds like ide-er.
In this joke, a deer with no eyes (a no eye deer) sounds like no ide-er.
By the way, both bear and deer (animals) have words that sound the same, bare and dear. Here is a baby bear meeting a baby deer for the first time (why they were together in a house I do not know!):
Q: What did the mouse say to the keyboard? A: You are really my type!
Explanation: Computer humor!
A mouse can be a small animal or a device that helps you work with a computer. In this joke, I am talking about the computer mouse, so picture a computer mouse talking to the computer keyboard.
And what do you do with a keyboard? You type on it to enter information into the computer. (Did you know that there are one-handed keyboards?)
“You’re my type” is an idiom that means that I like you, or that we will get along well together.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word type and the idiom “you’re my type.”
If you would like to practice typing, here is a video to get you started:
Q: If Mr. and Mrs. Bigger had a baby, who would be the biggest of all three of them? A: The baby because the baby is a little Bigger!
Explanation: Happy New Year! A baby joke for the new year seemed appropriate.
If something is a little bigger than something else, that means it is larger. For example, I might say that, typically, a grapefruit is a little bigger than an orange. Sometimes they are a lot bigger.
If a person’s last name is Bigger, well, the whole thing gets more complicated. In this case, the baby is referred to as the little one, or the little Bigger, who is actually smaller because of being a baby.
This joke is funny because the little Bigger (the baby) cannot be a little bigger (larger) than the parents. May your new year be a little better than the past year. (I was going to say bigger, but that wouldn’t make sense.)
Let’s take a look in the opposite direction of bigger: Tiny Houses!
Q: Where does satisfaction come from? A: A satisfactory!
Explanation: Satisfaction is that feeling you get when things work out. I think of it as a feeling of calm joy because life is good, if only for a moment. There are other meanings of satisfaction, and the Rolling Stones sang about not getting any.)
A factory is a place where things are made. There is also the Cheesecake Factory, which is not really a factory but they do make cheesecake.
The word satisfactory means that something is OK, acceptable. It is not great; it is not awful. It is satisfactory. A grade of a C is satisfactory school work in many places in the United States.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words satisfaction and satisfactory, as if you can make satisfaction in a factory.
If you would like to learn more about factories and the Industrial Revolution, the BBC has a bit of history for you:
Q: What do you call Santa’s helpers? A: Subordinate Clauses!
Explanation: Merry Christmas!
In the telling of the story of Santa Claus, the people who help Santa make the toys are typically called elves (one elf, two elves). They are the helpers; they are not the main attraction. They are subordinate.
The word subordinate means lower in rank or position, perhaps less important, like the elves when compared to Santa. This is also true in English grammar when there is a main clause and a subordinate clause. A subordinate clause is part of a sentence, but it does not have enough meaning by itself. If I say “When I get home,” there is an obvious question: What will happen when you get home? That phrase needs more information so we call it subordinate.
This joke is funny (at least to English teachers) because Santa’s helpers are usually known as elves, not as subordinate clauses.
Here is Michael Bublé reading A Visit From St. Nicholas.
Q: Where did the skunk sit when it went to church? A: In its own pew!
Explanation: Skunks are those small, squirrel-like animals that are colored mostly black with a white stripe down the back. Perhaps you remember that famous cartoon skunk, Pepe Le Pew? Skunks are known for protecting themselves by spraying a very bad smell.
Skunks do not go to church (although, maybe Pepe Le Pew did, I’m not sure). If they did, they might sit in a pew. A pew is the name for the bench found in many churches. You can even buy one on Etsy…if you need a pew.
Pew! is also the exclamation that people say when something smells bad (same pronunciation as a church pew). This expression has many different spellings, but the most common seem to be pew and P.U.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word pew, the place where someone sits in a church, and pew! Because skunks can make that really bad smell, they might sit in their own pew.
Here is Pepe Le Pew:
Q: Did you hear about the two antennas who got married? A: The wedding was awful but the reception was great!
Explanation: Antennas are used to receive and send electromagnetic waves so we can communicate (like with radios and TVs). Some antennas are a simple piece of wire while others are huge dishes.
If you have good reception it means that you can hear the radio really well, or see the TV really well. Radio waves are also used to send voice and texts to cell towers, so good reception is important for cell phones too.
Another meaning of reception is the the party after a wedding.
This joke is funny because it plays with the meaning of the word reception: the party after a wedding or the way an antenna captures waves. Of course the wedding reception of of two antennas would be great!
If you want to try making a radio with an antenna, take a look at this video:
Q: How do you get down from an elephant? A: You don’t get down from an elephant, you get down from a duck!
Explanation: Yes–another duck joke!
In some places in the world, people ride on elephants, sort of like riding on horses. Because elephants are so big, you might wonder, how do you get up onto the elephant and, once you are on the elephant, how do you get down? Good question! I have never ridden on an elephant.
Down is also the word for the very soft feathers under the harder, outer feathers on a duck or a goose. You might have heard of eider down; you can read more about it here.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word down: the opposite of up and the soft, inner feathers of a duck.
To learn more about elephants, watch this:
Q: What did the turkey say to the hunter? A: Quack, quack!
Explanation: Happy Thanksgiving Day to readers who are celebrating Thanksgiving today. I hope you are safe, and healthy. Thank you for reading Explain the Joke!
On Thanksgiving day, many families celebrate with a traditional turkey meal. Of course if you are the turkey, it is not such a good thing.
This joke is funny because the turkey is pretending to be a duck by saying, “Quack quack.” Every language has words that mean animal sounds. In English, a turkey says gobble (scroll down on that link to hear the gobble).
Here is a reminder of the importance of being thankful.
Q: What happened when the ship ran aground while transporting red paint and black paint? A: The crew was marooned!
Explanation: A bit of transportation humor this week. To run aground means that the ship was not floating, but the bottom of the ship was touching the ocean floor (the ground under the water). If a ship runs aground it is like a car hitting something and a big mess can occur. The ship in the joke was carrying red paint and black paint, so all all of the paint probably spilled and mixed together creating the color maroon.
If a ship runs aground in a place where there are no people we say that the ship is marooned, that is, stuck in a place where it cannot leave.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word maroon, a color, and marooned, to be stranded or stuck.
Of course you can be marooned in space like in this 1969 film:
Or marooned on a deserted island:
Q: How do you get a squirrel to like you? A: Act like a nut!
Explanation: In English, the word nut can refer to foods such as pistachios, cashews, and walnuts. Squirrels love to eat nuts, especially acorns if there are oak trees nearby.
To act like a nut means to act crazy.
This joke is funny because it plays with two of the meanings of nut: a type of food and to go crazy.
Here you can see an oak tree grow from an acorn:
Q: Why do skeletons stay so calm? A: Because nothing gets under their skin!
Explanation: Happy Halloween!
To get under one’s skin is an idiom meaning that something bothers you. If something gets under your skin, it nags at you, it irks you, it rubs you the wrong way; it bothers you.
Skeletons are all bone, no skin. If you don’t have skin, nothing can get under you skin.
This joke is funny because it plays with the idiom to get under your skin.
Here is Frank Sinatra singing I’ve Got You Under My Skin:
Q: How does the moon cut his hair? A: Eclipse it!
Explanation: A lunar eclipse happens during a full moon when the earth moves between the sun and the moon so that the full moon can no longer be seen. The moon, of course does not have hair but that is part of what makes this joke funny.
Another way to say that you cut your hair is to say that you clip it. (There is even a chain of shops called Great Clips where you can get your hair cut.)
This joke is funny because “eclipse it” sounds almost like “he clips it.” I know that this joke does not make a lot of sense, but it does make me laugh. Silly!
Here is a different look at the moon in the first science fiction film. If you know the book or the movie The Invention of Hugo Cabret you will recognize it. (Yes, Georges Méliès was a real person.)
Q: What do you get when you combine a porcupine and a turtle? A: A slowpoke!
Explanation: A porcupine is an animal that has needles which are called quills. The quills are sharp on the end and will hurt if they touch you, if they poke you (like when you get a shot in the arm).
Turtles are animals that usually move slowly.
This joke is funny because it combines the idea of a slow turtle and a porcupine with quills that can poke you into a slowpoke: a slowpoke is someone who does something too slowly.
Here is another animal that moves slowly: the sloth.
Q: What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple? A: Finding half a worm!
Explanation: Imagine biting into an apple and finding a worm. Yes, that is a very unpleasant thought because your apple is most likely not in very good condition.
Now, imagine biting into an apple and finding only half of a worm. That means that the other half is in your mouth! Yuck!!
This joke is funny because it sets up the expectation for something bigger, worse than a worm, and then surprises us with less than a worm, only half of a worm.
So, why are there so many types of apples?
Q: Why was the baby strawberry crying? A: Because her parents were in a jam!
Explanation: Jam is a type of food that is typically made of fruit. Jam is usually spread on another food like bread or toast (like the way butter is spread on bread or toast). If you use strawberries to make jam, you have made strawberry jam. Mmmm! I like it.
To be in a jam is an idiom that means to be in a difficult situation, to have a problem.
This joke is funny because it plays with meanings of the word jam. Yes, it might make you cry if your parents were in a jam (in a difficult situation), especially if you are a strawberry!
The word jam is also used when musicians play together like in the video below. A jam session is usually informal and may involve improvisation.
Q: What did the baby corn say to the mama corn? A: Where is pop corn?
Explanation: There are many types of families. Some families, like the one in this joke, are made of a mom, dad, and baby. Mom can be called mama; dad can be called pop.
Corn, of course, does not have a family, but there are many types of corn. One type of corn is popcorn. Popcorn is a type of corn that, when heated, explodes into a white, fluffy piece that you can eat.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word pop: a type of corn and a name for dad.
Do you like to eat popcorn? I do. I especially like to make popcorn on the stove with my stove-top popper. Then I add just a touch of salt. I find that my stove-top popcorn is better than microwave popcorn. Here is a kernel of popcorn exploding in slow motion (it’s pretty amazing!).
Q: What runs but never walks, murmurs, but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, and has a mouth but never eats? A: A river!
Explanation: Thanks the Instagram account of Glacier National Park for this week’s joke.
There are many words in English that have multiple meanings and this joke shows us many of them that are related to a river. The water in a river runs. The river murmurs by making noise as it flows to the sea. The bed of the river is the ground that is under the river. The mouth of the river is where the river flows into the ocean.
This joke is funny because it uses many words related to river that have multiple meanings.
Are you familiar with Colombia’s Rainbow River?
Q: When does a joke turn into a “dad” joke? A: When the answer is a parent!
Explanation: There is a category of jokes called dad jokes. These are jokes that have really bad answers that will make you groan because they are stupid/silly. Puns fit nicely into this category. I rather like theses jokes. By the way, the answer to a joke is also called a punchline.
The word “apparent” (meaning obvious, clear) sounds just like “a parent” (meaning a mom or dad).
This joke is funny because it plays with the word apparent/a parent. When you become a parent, you become a mom or a dad; when something becomes apparent it becomes clear, like the answer to a question.
Here are some kids telling dad jokes. They’re awesome!
Q: What is worse than raining cats and dogs? A: Hailing taxis!
Explanation: Precipitation is water in any form that falls from the sky. This includes rain, snow, sleet and hail. Hail is frozen rain, ice, that falls; it can be very small or quite large.
Hailing a taxi means to get the attention of a taxi driver so that you can get a ride somewhere. Hailing taxis also sounds like taxis are falling from the sky like frozen rain, like hail.
Raining cats and dogs is an idiom meaning that it is raining very hard, that the rain is pouring down.
This joke is funny because it takes the idiom raining cats and dogs and makes it precipitate harder by hailing taxis. This joke plays with the word hailing, meaning to call a taxi from the side of the street, or falling ice.
Here is Bob Dylan singing A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall:
Q: How do you stop an astronaut’s baby from crying? A: You rocket!
Explanation: Astronauts are scientists who explore and study space. To get into space they blast off in a rocket. In this case, ‘rocket’ is a noun, a thing.
When babies cry, they can often be calmed, soothed, by rocking them. To rock a baby means to gently move a baby back and forth, maybe by swaying, walking, or sitting in a rocking chair. To calm a baby, rock it. Here ‘rock’ is a verb, an action.
This joke is funny because rocket sounds just like “rock it.”
Here is another: Rockit by Herbie Hancock:
Q: What did the Dalmatian say after eating lunch? A: Wow, that really hit the spot!
Explanation: If you have seen the movie 101 Dalmatians, you know that Dalmatians are a breed of dog known for their spots. While I like dogs, having 101 of them seems like a lot!
That hit the spot is an idiom meaning something that was needed. In this joke the speaker, the Dalmatian, was hungry and lunch hit the spot: lunch is exactly what was needed.
This joke is funny because it plays with the idea of hitting the spot (the markings on a Dalmatian) and hitting the spot (being exactly what was needed).
If you want to learn more about Dalmatians, this will hit the spot:
Q: Why did the child cross the playground? A: To get to the other slide!
Explanation: Back in 2013, the first joke that I explained was, perhaps, the most famous of all jokes–Why did the chicken cross the road? This joke is funny because it plays with that joke.
The answer to the chicken-crossing-the-road joke is “to get to the other side.” This joke plays with that joke by using a different, rhyming word for the last word of the answer, slide. And it also makes sense that a child would cross the playground to get to a slide. People cross all sorts of things to get somewhere: they cross the ocean, they cross the mountains, they cross the desert.
Now here is a slide I might cross the playground for:
Q: Why do you always find something in the last place you look? A: Because when you find it, you stop looking!
Explanation: Perhaps this is more of a logic puzzle than a joke–but it is true! Often times we search long and hard for a missing thing and then find it in the last place we look. Is there a psychological reason it took us so long to find something? I do not know the answer to that. I do know that this joke makes me laugh.
This joke is funny because it creates an expectation for an answer that relates to the way we think. The joke does not fulfill the expectation but gives us a bit of logic. Who would keep searching for something after you have found it? Not me.
Do you know the books Where’s Waldo? If you want to try looking for Waldo, you can click on the this link, or watch this video:
Q: What music frightens balloons? A: Pop music!
Explanation: When balloons explode, we say they pop. If you stick a pin in a balloon, it pops. If balloons had feelings, I am pretty sure that they would be scared of things that make the pop.
‘Pop’ is also a type of music, originally from the term ‘popular music.’ Pop music now refers to music that is commercial (sells a lot), usually upbeat, and uses a verse/chorus format. Yea, that’s probably too much information. (By the way, pop can also mean father, and soda.)
This joke is funny because it plays with the word pop–both a type of music and an action that end the life of a balloon. There is a lot of famous pop music. Here is one of the pop music examples from the list (#26) in the previous links:
Q: What race is never run? A: A swimming race!
Explanation: Thank you to a swimming friend who sent me this joke.
This explanation will be short, maybe abut 50 meters, the length of an olympic swimming pool. Yes, I know, the Olympics did not start this past week because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope you are staying healthy!
If you race someone in a pool, a swimming race, you are not running. You are swimming. Of course this joke could have other answers such as a car race, a spelling race, … you get the idea.
This joke is funny because the idea of a race that is never run makes people think of running.
Here are the top ten swimming races from the 2016 Rio Olympics (according to the author of this video):
Q: What do you call a mean cow? A: Moo-dy!
Explanation: Wow, there are a lot of jokes about cows!
As you may know, cows say “moo.” If you don’t believe me you can listen to Old McDonald, “with a moo-moo here and a moo- moo there….”
Moody is a word that means a person who changes his or her mood a lot. If someone were happy and then gets mad really fast, you might say that the person is moody. You could use moody for someone who changes from nice to mean and back to nice again.
This joke is funny because it plays with the “moo” in moody and the voice of a cow.
Here is something else that is moody: The Moody Blues singing Knights in White Satin
Q: What did one toilet say to the other toilet? A: You look flushed.
Explanation: After using a toilet, you need to move the lever that sends swirling water down into the sewer. Moving that lever is called flushing. To flush a toilet is to move the lever that starts the water moving.
To look flushed is an idiom that means your face changed its look because of exercise, cold weather or embarrassment.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word flushed: what you do to a toilet after using it, or how you look after exercise.
Speaking of flushing, did you know that water really does swirl in different directions on opposite sides of the equator? Here is the proof:
Q: Why does the Statue of Liberty stand in New York Harbor? A: Because she can’t sit down!
Explanation: Happy 4th of July to readers in the United States! Wishing you a healthy and safe Independence Day.
This joke sets up an expectation–you hope to hear why New York Harbor was chosen for the location of the Statue of Liberty. It is funny because it doesn’t answer that question. The joke tells us that the statue stands because it can’t sit down. Of course the statue can’t sit down–it’s made of metal!
Here is some information about the Statue of Liberty:
Q: How do snails fight? A: They slug it out.
Explanation: “Slug it out” is an expression that means to fight. Slug also means hit; if you slug someone, you hit someone. In baseball, a slugger is someone who good at hitting the ball.
A slug is a living thing, similar to to a snail without a shell, that is often found in nature or perhaps in your garden.
This joke is funny because it plays with “slug” and “slug it out.” The slug slugs!
Here are some slugs slugging it out:
Knock, knock. Who’s there?
Cargo.
Cargo, who?
Car go, “Beep beep, vroom, vroom!”
Explanation: A knock knock joke to get you moving.
Cargo is the word for goods (things) carried by a ship, train, or truck from one place to another. A ship is loaded with cargo such as boxes, containers, cars, grain, … to move it from one place to another.
“Beep, beep, vroom, vroom!” are the sounds a small child might make while playing with toy cars. As the child makes those sounds, she or he might say in little-kid English, “Car go” meaning that the car makes noises like beep (the horn) and vroom (the engine) as it moves.
The joke is funny because in knock knock jokes you never know how it will end up. This one joins cargo with “car go.”
This is how ships are loaded with cargo:
Q: What stays in the corner but travels all around the world? A: A stamp!
Explanation: What fun it would be to travel around the world!
A stamp is that little sticker that you put in the corner of an envelope, showing that you paid, so you can mail an envelope to another location, perhaps to another part of your country or the world. That’s right–you put the stamp in the corner of the envelope.
Normally, when you hear “stay in the corner,” you think of someone in a room, staying where the two walls come together: That is the corner of the room.
This joke is funny because it plays with the expectation of staying in the corner of a room, when the stamp is staying in the corner of the envelope and traveling all around the world.
Watch here to see Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego…
Q: Why do cats make terrible storytellers? A: They only have one tail!
Explanation: A tale is a story. If you are a teller of tales you are a storyteller.
A tail is the part of of an animal that located at its rear end. Most animals, such as cats and dogs, have tails.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words tale and tail which sound the same. Tale and tail are homophones because they sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings.
Watch here to understand cats better:
Q: What did one hat say to the other? A: You stay here. I’m going on ahead!
Explanation: “To go on ahead” or “to go ahead” means to move forward to do something while leaving the other person behind.
That is different from a hat going on a head, which is when a person puts a hat on his or her head. Hats, of course, go on your head.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word ahead which sounds like a head. I like this one because it is easy to remember. (A hat trick, by the way, is when a player scores three goals in one game, such as hockey.)
If you want to learn to do a magic trick with a hat, try this:
Q: What do you call a flower that runs on electricity? A: A power plant!
Explanation: A power plant is a place where electricity is made. There are many different types of power plants.
A flower is the part of a plant that makes the seeds. Flowers and plants get their energy from the sun using photosynthesis. (Does not make them solar powered? I am not sure.) Plants are important to life on earth because we get oxygen and food from them.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word plant: electric plant and a living plant with flowers.
Here are four projects you can make with a mini solar panel:
Q: Why would you want a chicken-proof umbrella? A: To use when the weather is fowl!
Explanation: Spring started back on March 19 in the northern hemisphere, while fall began for me here in the southern hemisphere. As the seasons change, I hope all of you are safe and healthy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The word ‘proof‘ has many meanings. In this joke, chicken-proof means that the chickens cannot get in. This is just like the word waterproof or bulletproof where the water or the bullet cannot enter. Umbrellas, of course, are waterproof so that the water can not go through the umbrella and get you wet. (Normally we do not think about umbrellas as being chicken-proof.)
‘Fowl‘ means a type of bird that includes chickens, turkeys and ducks. ‘Foul,’ which sounds the same as ‘fowl,’ means something that is really unpleasant, like really bad weather.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words foul (really unpleasant) and fowl (birds like chickens, turkeys and ducks). And you would never expect chickens to fall during bad weather, foul weather!
If you want to raise your own chickens (and you have more space than I do) you could watch this
Q: What is the difference between a well-dressed bicyclist and a poorly dressed unicyclist? A: Attire!
Explanation: Let’s start with some vocabulary:
- Well-dressed means to wear nice clothing (it is the opposite of poorly dressed);
- A bicyclist is a person who rides a bike;
- A unicyclist is a person who rides a unicycle;
- A unicycle is like a bicycle (bike) but it only has one wheel.
If you are well-dressed it means you are wearing nice clothing. Clothing and attire can be used as synonyms, but attire is typically used to mean nice clothing, formal clothing.
Attire also sounds the same as a tire. A bike has two wheels, that is, two tires; a unicycle has only one wheel, one tire. Wheel and tire are synonyms. (Well, people use them as synonyms. The tire is really the rubber part of the wheel, the part that touches the street.)
This joke is funny because it plays with the the word attire: well dressed or a tire, a wheel. So if you are well dressed on a bicycle you have both good attire, and a tire (one tire) more than the unicyclist.
If you want to learn to ride a unicycle, take a look at Finnovation:
Q: What kind of tree fits in your hand? A: A palm tree!
Explanation: The palm of your hand is the part that faces things you grab. It is easier to see in the picture. The palm of your hand is rather small and, ordinarily, would not hold a tree.
A palm tree is a tree that is found in tropical climates like the one in the picture.
This joke is funny because it plays with the two meanings of the word palm: part of your hand and a type of tree.
Speaking of palms, do you know how to do any magic tricks with your palm?