theblackcat102/joke_explaination huggingface dataset:
Q: What does a computer do when it is tired? A: It crashes!
Explanation: Did your computer ever stop working (freeze) or turn itself off when you wanted to use it? If it did, you can say your computer crashed. Computer crashes are frustrating because you cannot get your work done, and sometimes you lose the work you finished most recently, unless you saved it. Thankfully, they do not happen too often.
The word crash has other meanings. If someone is tired, a person might say, “I’m going to go crash.” This means that the person will go to bed and sleep. Or you could say, “I crashed lat night at 8:30 because I was so tired.”
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of the word crash: A computer not working, and someone going to bed.
Here are two songs about another meaning of the word crash:
Q: Where can you go to practice math on New Year’s Eve? A: Times Square!
Explanation: Happy New Year! It’s 2023 which means that Explain the Joke is celebrating 10 years of explaining jokes in English.
To get better at math, people often people often practice addition (+) or subtraction (-) problems; then they work on multiplication (x) and division (÷), and all the way through calculus and beyond. Practicing multiplication is also known as practicing your times tables. You can say what is seven times nine (7 x 9), or you can can say what is seven multiplied by nine. They mean the same thing, times or multiplied by.
Times Square is an area in New York City. One of the things Times Square is known for is its party on New Year’s Eve. During that party, many people gather in Times Square and watch on TV to see the ball drop; when the ball gets to the bottom, the new year starts. (By the way, to drop the ball is an idiom that means to make a mistake.)
This joke is funny because it plays with the ideas of times (multiplication) and Times Square.
If you would like to see the ball drop to mark the beginning of 2023, take a look here:
Q: When does it rain money? A: When there is change in the weather!
Explanation: “The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain,” according to the song from My Fair Lady. In Peru, they just wish it would rain! But nowhere does it rain money. Rain is water that falls from the sky as part of the evaporation/water cycle. When it is sunny outside, and then the weather changes to cloudy or rainy, we say that there is a change in the weather.
Change is also the word used for money in the form of coins. In the United States, change includes pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars. There are also dollar coins.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of the word change: coin money, or when one thing becomes different, like the weather changes. If there were change, coins, in the weather, well, there might be coins falling from the sky, but we all know that doesn’t happen.
John Fogerty sang about change in the weather-
Q: What happens when winter arrives? A: Autumn leaves!
Explanation: In the northern hemisphere winter officially starts on December 21 (winter solstice, astronomical winter), but for many places in the north, it is already cold. Did you know that there is more than one way to mark the start of winter? Meteorologists, people who study the weather, talk about meteorological winter which starts on December 1. When talking about seasons, winter comes after fall; fall is also known as autumn.
In the autumn, leaves change colors and fall to the ground as the trees get ready for the winter, and the following spring. Autumn leaves are beautiful!
Leaves, though, has another meaning. When something leaves, it goes away. For example, the teacher leaves home to go to work, and the student leaves school to go home.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of the word leaves: The tree has leaves that change colors in the autumn (autumn leaves), and autumn leaves, or goes away, so that winter can come.
Eric Clapton has a song called Autumn Leaves–
Q: Where do roses sleep? A: In a flower bed!
Explanation: According to many surveys, roses are one of the most popular flowers. Although they have thorns, some people say that they are not that hard to grow.
When you have a garden with flowers (as opposed to a garden with fruits and vegetables), we can call that area a flower bed. If you prepare the flower bed well, the flowers will grow well. I have never heard anyone call a vegetable garden a vegetable bed.
A bed, without flower, is a piece of furniture where people sleep, but you kew that.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word bed and flower bed. Yes, it makes sense that roses would sleep, if they sleep, in a flower bed. (Thank you, Trevor for the joke!)
Here is a motivational speech titled, Make Your Bed:
Q: Why did the turkey cross the road? A: So people would think he was a chicken!
Explanation: Happy Thanksgiving!
In many countries throughout the world people celebrate a day of thanks. In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday in November; that will be November 24 in 2022. One of the traditional foods for that celebration is turkey.
This joke is funny because it plays with another, well-known joke: Why did the chicken cross the road? (There are many cross the road jokes.) Of course, the turkey does not want to become someone’s dinner. So, if it pretends to be a chicken as it crosses the road, it will have a better chance of staying alive, and not ending up on someone’s plate.
There is a lot of research about the benefits of being thankful, of feeling and showing gratitude. Here is a TED talk about being grateful:
Thank you for reading this blog!
Q: Why was the Incredible Hulk so good at gardening? A: Because he had a green thumb!
Explanation: Dr. David/Robert Bruce Banner becomes the superhero known as the Hulk, or the Incredible Hulk, when he becomes angry. In that process of becoming the Hulk, his body transforms, becoming larger with lots of muscles, and his skin turns green. When his skin turns green, his whole body turns green, including his thumb.
To have a green thumb is an idiom that means to be really good at taking care of plants and gardens. My wife has a green thumb, which you can see when you admire the succulents, bonsai, orchid, and geraniums in the window garden. OK, you don’t really need a green thumb to grow geraniums, but you get the idea.
This joke is funny because it plays with the literal and the figurative meanings of green thumb.
Watch here to see a transformation of Dr. Banner into the Hulk. Better yet, watch this video to learn how to grow geraniums:
Q: What’s it like being kissed by a vampire? A: It’s a pain in the neck!
Explanation: Happy Halloween to those of you who celebrate! Many countries around the world celebrate Halloween, or another somewhat-related holiday around this time of year. A Mexican student of mine once commented that Halloween is a lot like Day of the Dead, but several others disagreed. I also disagreed, but can see some connections.
In the United States, Halloween for children is about dressing up in costumes and trick-or treating, asking for candy. One of the most popular costumes continues to be a vampire. Vampires are well known for biting the neck of their victims and drinking their blood. If someone were to bite your neck, it would really hurt; it would cause a pain in your neck.
A pain in the neck is an idiom that means something that is bothersome, difficult, or annoying to deal with. A neighbor’s dog that won’t stop barking might be a pain in the neck; someone who complains all the time might be a pain in the neck.
This joke is funny because it plays with different meanings of pain in the neck: A literal pain that hurts you, and the idiom that means something that is annoying.
Here is how National Geographic explains the history of Halloween:
Q: Why was the jelly so stressed out? A: Because it was spread too thin!
Explanation: Jelly is a food made by boiling fruit juice with sugar until it becomes thick and sort of transparent. Jelly is similar to jam, marmalade, and preserves. This link can explain more about the differences between those different spreads.
They are called spreads (noun) because you can use a knife and spread (verb) them on bread (or something else). Other spreads include hummus and chutney. If you want a lot of jelly on your bread you can spread it really thick, that is, put a lot of jelly on the bread. Or you can spread it really thin by just using a little bit.
Spread too thin is an idiom that means that you have too much to do and not enough time to do it all. If that is you, you might tell someone, “I’m sorry I can’t help you. I am spread too thin right now.” Having too much to do can be very stressful.
This joke is funny because it plays with the idea of spread too thin: Literally spread too thin like jelly, or figuratively spread too thin, like when you have too much to do.
If you are spread too thin, you might take a break from it all and learn how to make jelly-
Q: Why didn’t the girl trust the ocean? A: Because there was something fishy about it!
Explanation: While there are five named oceans, Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern, there is really only one world ocean. I would recommend having much respect for the ocean both because of its power to give life to the earth, and its dangerous power to take life through storms. As you already know the ocean has many fish in it. To trust someone means to have confidence that the person will treat you fairly, be kind, not hurt you.
If something is fishy, that means that there is something suspicious about it. To be fishy is an idiom. (That reminds me of the old saying, “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”) Someone offering you $1,000 sounds fishy. Someone offering to sell you something really cheap sounds fishy, it might be stolen or maybe it doesn’t work.
This joke is funny because it brings together the idea of an ocean full of fish and someone who is fishy.
Back in the 1970s John Denver wrote a song in tribute to Jacques Cousteau who studied the oceans. I hope you like it.
Q: When is an apple grouchy? A: When it is a crab apple!
Explanation: In the north it is apple-picking season, and time for pumpkin spice everything!
Apples are fruit, so of course they are never grouchy. A person who is grouchy thinks that everything is bad, nothing is right; they are irritable and complain a lot. The best example of a grouch is Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street. Grumpy is a synonym for grouchy, so you could watch at Grumpy Old Men for more examples.
Crab apples are small apples that are typically wild, that is, they have not been domesticated to be bought and sold. (You can eat them, though.). Crabby is another synonym for grouchy.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word grouchy and it synonyms, like crabby.
Oscar the Grouch is one of my favorite characters on Sesame Street. Here is a compilation of Oscar the Grouch.
Q: Why did the kids fire their squirt guns into the air on that windy day? A: They were just shooting the breeze!
Explanation: A squirt gun shoots a stream of water, much like a spray bottle, but in the form of a gun. Many people like to play by squirting water at their friends on a warm day outside. Some people train their pets by squirting water at them (others say that squirting animals does not work or is mean).
A breeze is wind that blows just a little bit. To shoot the breeze is an idiom that means to talk with your friends about nothing really important.
This joke is funny because it plays with the phrase shoot the breeze, both the literal meaning (shooting a gun into the air) and the idiom (talking with your friends). Please don’t shoot guns into the air; what comes up must come down.
Watch here for a detailed explanation of how spray bottle work:
Q: What lies on the bottom of the ocean and twitches? A: A nervous wreck!
Explanation: Did you hear that Shakleton’s ship, Endurance, was found back in March? It sank to the bottom of the Antarctic ocean in 1915, and has been lying there since then. Don’t worry, it was not twitching. To twitch means to make small, jerking movements. You may have experienced an eye twitch, or felt a leg twitch when you are falling asleep.
A nervous wreck is a person who is very nervous about something. It is an informal phrase that is quite common. A student might be a nervous wreck before a big test; a patient might be a nervous wreck while waiting for the results of a medical test, expecting the worst. Occasionally, people who are nervous may experience a muscle twitch.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word wreck, and the ideas of a shipwreck and a nervous wreck. If you are interested in shipwrecks, here is one list to check out. If you are interested in the discovery of Endurance, watch this video:
Q: Why are false teeth like stars? A: Because they come out at night!
Explanation: When I was a kid, my dad had this neat trick that would always make us laugh: While driving, he would loosen his lower front teeth (dentures) and wiggle them in front of his lips, below his nose. We of course would giggle. These teeth were false teeth that replaced his original teeth. Every night he removed those false teeth to clean them. Yes, his teeth had to come out at night so he could clean them.
Stars also come out at night. In reality, they do not come out, they are always there, but we cannot see them because our star, the sun, makes it too bright for us to see the starlight that comes from very far away. To us it seems that the stars come out of their daytime hiding place.
This joke is funny because it plays with different meanings of come out: remove, like the teeth, and appear, like the stars.
Thinking about stars had me thinking about space and space travel and the moon…
Q: Why did the farmer win the Nobel Prize? A: Because he was outstanding in his field!
Explanation: The Nobel Prize is awarded to people who “have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.” That is, they have done something really, really important because it is something that is good for a lot of people. Outstanding means exceptionally good. People who win the Nobel Prize are outstanding in their field. In this case, field means the special area that they know a lot about such as literature, science, math, …
Field also means an area of open land where farmers plant their crops. After they plant their crops they have a soybean field, or a corn field, or a wheat field… When farmers inspect their crops, they might walk out into their field and stand there. That is, they are out in their field, standing. I could also say that they are out standing in their field.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words outstanding and out standing, which sound the same. And I am sure there are outstanding farmers who are out standing in their field of corn right now.
Speaking of corn and other crops, check out the seed art from the Minnesota State Fair:
Q: Why are elevator jokes the best? A: Because they work on so many levels!
Explanation: What goes up, must come down, says the old adage. (Blood, Sweat and Tears sang about that, too.) The same is true for elevators: Elevators (called a lift in England) go up and down to bring people to different floors in a building. The floors in a building are sometimes called levels. Just like in a video game where you move to the next level, elevators can take you up or down one or more levels.
“Works on many levels” is an idiom that means something works in many different ways. For example, the story of Alice in Wonderland could be read, on one level, as a silly adventure. On a different level, it could be about children trying to understand the adult world. Others say it is about drugs, or eating disorders. If you do a search for different interpretations, you will find many. Many Disney movies that are made for children, have themes or dialogue that adults will better understand–They work on different levels. Has that ever happened to you? Have you seen a movie as an adult and you understand it differently than when you were a child?
This joke is funny because it plays with the phrase “it works on many levels.” By the way, things can be wrong on may levels too.
Take a look at the world’s tallest elevators–
Q: What kind of candy can you get an an airport? A: Plane M&Ms!
Explanation: Even though there are lots of studies that talk about sugar being bad for you, well, a little bit still tastes good. Every place in the world has candy, and candy can even make for a good joke too!
You know what candy is, so I won’t explain that. And you know all about airports, especially that airports have airplanes, also called planes. There are many different types of planes. Did you know that you can get a license to be a pilot at age 14 in some places? I have always wanted to get a pilot’s license but never did, at least not yet.
Plane, though, is not the same as plain. Plane refers to airplanes, while plain means ordinary, not decorated, not special. (Plane can also be a tool, and plain can also be a type of land, depending on the context.). M&Ms come in many flavors such as peanut M&Ms, and almond M&Ms. Plain M&Ms are the ones that only have chocolate in the middle, nothing else.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words plane and plain, which sound the same. Take a look at this video to see how M&Ms are made. (You could even try adding narration to make the video better.)
Q: How is a good baseball game like good pancakes? A: They both need a good batter!
Explanation: And…we’re back with a rerun!
The baseball season in the United States and Canada is half done, so a baseball joke seemed appropriate. In baseball, the person who has the bat and is ready to hit the baseball is called the batter (in the sport of cricket, too). A good batter is able to hit the ball that is pitched, usually at 80 miles per hour or more. That’s fast, and hard to hit! And remember, if a player is able to get a hit 3 out of every 10 pitches, that is considered good.
As for pancakes, well, a good pancake starts with good batter. Batter is the liquid mix that you put on the griddle or in the frying pan to make pancakes. There are lots of recipes for pancakes, like this one.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of the word batter: Someone who hits the ball in baseball, and the thick liquid that you mix together to make pancakes.
Pancakes and crepes are not the same, but they are similar. Here is and old video of Julia Child making crepes:
Q: Why did the composer only compose while lying in bed? A: Because he was composing sheet music!
Explanation: A composer is someone who writes music. Two of the most famous composers are Mozart and Beethoven.
Years ago, when composers wrote music, they would write the music on sheets of paper that the musicians could read and perform. This music written on sheets of paper is called sheet music. Lots of music is written now using computers programs such as Notion or Sibelius. (I do not write music and do not know anything about these programs.) For musicians to perform, the music is most often printed out in sheets, sheet music. There are probably musicians who use a computer or tablet to read their music.
Sheets, though, has another meaning. When you make your bed, you put sheets on your bed, along with pillows and blankets.
This joke is funny because of the different meanings of sheets–sheets for your bed and sheet music. I wouldn’t recommend, however, using bed sheets for writing music; it might be difficult for the performer to read the music!
If you would like to learn to read sheet music, you could start here:
Q: What did the angry lumberjack say to the tree? A: I have an axe to grind with you!
Explanation: Lumberjacks are people who work cutting down trees so that people can use wood to make things. Many years ago, lumberjacks would use a saw and/or an axe to cut down trees. (Hopefully they planted two new trees for each one cut down!) Before working with an axe, it is important to sharpen the axe. One way to sharpen the axe is to use a grinder.
“Have an axe to grind” with someone is an idiom. It means that you have a personal, maybe selfish reason for saying something, or that you have a complaint that you have to talk to someone about. Here are some examples from Linguee.com. (Linguee is one of my favorite sites for translating, by the way.)
This joke is funny because it plays with the idea of grinding an axe, both the literal idea of using an axe sharpened on a grinder to cut down a tree, and the figurative idea of the idiom have an axe to grind.
Here is one of the most famous fictional lumberjacks, Paul Bunyan, from 1958:
Q: What do you call a fossil that never does any work? A: A lazy bones!
Explanation: Fossils are parts of a living thing that has been preserved, or left an impression from a very long time ago, perhaps 10,000 years ago or more. The human skull that was recently found in Minnesota was not called a fossil, maybe because it was only 8,000 years old. Bones are a very common type of fossil because they last longer than the soft parts of living things. Because fossils come from living things that have been dead for a very long time, they do not do any work.
A lazy bones is a person who is lazy, who doesn’t help, who doesn’t do much of anything. Imagine someone doing the work alone and saying to the other person, “Don’t be such a lazy bones. Help me get this done!”
This joke is funny because it plays with the idea of bones and fossils, along with ancient bones being lazy.
Watch here to find out how dinosaur fossils are formed:
Q: What kind of flowers are great friends? A: Rose buds!
Explanation: Roses are one of the best known flowers. As a rose grows, in the spring you will notice buds. Rose buds are little bumps on the stem of a rose from which the flowers will appear. Yes, roses are beautiful! (Be careful of the thorns, though.)
Friends are, well, you know what friends are. There are many synonyms for the word friend. One of those synonyms is bud, short for buddy. Your bud is your pal, is your friend, is your bestie, is your bff. You get the idea.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word bud: a baby flower and a friend.
If you would like to see a rose bloom from a bud to a flower, watch this:
Q: Why did the two 4s decide to skip dinner? A: Because they already 8.
Explanation: Told to me by a 6th grader, this one made me laugh! It is rather absurd and it really makes no sense…so let me try to explain it.
If someone invites you to eat, you might say, “No, thank you,” if you have just eaten. Or you might say, “I’ll go with you, but I am not hungry. I already ate.” I already ate sounds just like I already eight.
Of course if there are two 4s together, you can add them up and they total eight (4 + 4 = 8).
This joke is funny because it plays with the words ate and eight, which sound the same…and because it really doesn’t make sense.
Here are some folks who did not skip dinner. They just had to use their imaginations! And some of them are probably eight (years old).
Q: What’s the best season for jumping on a trampoline? A: Spring time!
Explanation: The northern hemisphere is about a third of the way through the season of spring. Of course summer will come after spring, and then fall and winter. Spring is a beautiful time of year as the trees bud and bloom, the flowers are reborn, and the days get longer. (Actually, days do not really get longer than 24 hours, but the amount of sunlight during the day increases.)
A trampoline is a piece of equipment that has a strong fabric attached to a frame with springs; the springs make you bounce up and down. Springs are coils of wire that can get longer when stretched, and then pull back into its original form. You might find a spring used to close a screen door, to make the tip of a pen come out or go in, or to make a mattress more comfortable.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word spring: A season of the year and a coiled piece of metal. Springtime is different from spring time, too. If you play on a trampoline, you will enjoy your time bouncing because of the springs.
Here are some amazing trampoline athletes (thanks to the springs):
Q: Why are cats good at video games? A: Because they have nine lives!
Explanation: Many video games let you have another chance to keep going if you make a really bad mistake, maybe even getting your character killed. (Other games do not give you another life in the same game, and you have to start over.) I am reminded of the classic video game Pac-Man where you would get three lives. It also reminds me of the pre-video game era when people played pinball, and you had to score the maximum number of points with a limited number of balls.
Cats are known as curious explorers who get themselves into difficult situations. Because of their instincts, including the ability to land on their feet (usually), cats survive (usually). Therefore, in English speaking countries cats are said to have nine lives. (Here is an interesting article about the nine lives of cats.)
This joke is funny because it combines the the lives you get while playing video games with the saying, “cats have nine lives.”
Here is a cat who survived-
Q: Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher? A: He couldn’t control his pupils!
Explanation: Someone whose eyes do not line up with each other, whose eyes do not look in the same direction, suffers from a medical condition called strabismus. In that situation, people cannot make their eyes look in the same direction. In non-medical terms, people whose eyes look in different directions may be called cross-eyed. The term cross-eyed can be used disrespectfully or can be used as a description. If you look down your nose, you are crossing your eyes. In your eyes, pupils are the center part of the eye, the black circle in the middle of the eyes that lets the light in.
Pupil is also another word for student. You might say, “After the pupils sat down at their desks, the teacher began the class.” Pupils is not a common term in the United States; I do not know if other English speaking countries us it.
This joke is funny because the word pupil has more than one meaning: the center part of the eye, and a student in a class.
There is a band from the Philippines called Pupil and they have a song titled 20/20-
Q: What is the difference between a cat that got xeroxed and a cat that imitates its owner? A: One is a cat copy and the other is a copycat!
Explanation: Sometimes in English, brand names become verbs or nouns. For most people, all facial tissue is Kleenex, all internet searches are Googling, and all bandages are Band-Aids. (The term for this is anthimeria.) So, when you xerox something, you make a copy, a photocopy, because Xerox is a brand name of copiers.
A copycat is a person who copies what you do. The word is used most frequently by children. You may also hear the phrase copycat crime for a criminal who imitates another criminal.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words copy and cat. I love cats but I don’t think I want a copy of one. It would be fun, though, if a cat copied what I did!
Here are some cats acting like humans-
Q: Why did the computer get new glasses? A: To improve his web sight!
Explanation: Every few years, it seems, I need to get new reading glasses that are just a bit stronger. The 20-20 vision of my youth has become more like the impressionist works of Monet. When people want to improver their vision, their eyesight, they often get new glasses.
Computers, of course, do not use glasses. They do, however show us websites through the internet.
This joke is funny because website (lowercase, one word) sounds the same as web sight. I wonder if Spiderman has good web sight?
Watch and listen here to find out how lenses for glasses are made—
Q: How did the orange get into the crowded restaurant? A: He squeezed his way in!
Explanation: As COVID cases wane, more and more people are heading out to restaurants. In the case of this joke, even the orange goes into a restaurant.
If a restaurant is crowded, that means that there are many, many people and, most likely, no empty tables. To fit into a crowded space you may need to squeeze yourself into that space. Think of trying to squeeze one more person into a full elevator, or trying to squeeze a pillow into a full suitcase. Yes, to squeeze into is an idiom meaning that you add more to a crowded space. When planning, you can squeeze another appointment into a crowded calendar.
Squeezing something also means that you press it together, most often with your fingers or your hand. In order to make orange juice, you have to squeeze the orange until the juice comes out.
This joke is funny because it plays with the meanings of squeeze: adding something to a crowded space, or pressing something together. I hope that orange didn’t get too squeezed in that restaurant or all its juice would come out! By the way, being someone’s main squeeze means being their boyfriend or girlfriend.
Being pushy can be annoying to other people. Speaking of annoying, here is an annoying orange–
Explanation: While I truly believe that learning can always continue, I also believe that reflection is vital in the learning process. This week I am reflecting on ideas of war and peace, and praying for an end to all aggression, especially in Ukraine. And Ukraine is not the only place in the world experiencing war, violence, and attacks this week. People throughout the world are showing their support for the people of Ukraine, including many in Russia. Let us support efforts towards peace, and work for peace in our homes, cities, countries, and the world.
It didn’t seem like a good week to Explain the Joke.
Q: Can listening to the radio be an addiction? A: Depends on the frequency!
Explanation: Today is World Radio Day, so a radio joke seemed appropriate!
An addiction is an activity that you do over and over because something about it feels good to your brain. Most addictions are bad for your health, such as an addiction to smoking, or alcoholism. When you do something many times you do it frequently, often.
When you listen to the radio, you tune into a certain frequency, that is, a specific wavelength so you can hear the station. The radio frequency spectrum is very big and is distributed to a lot of different users including, TV, radio, aircraft, and amateurs.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word frequency, meaning how often you do something, or the wavelength of your radio station. By the way, AM and FM radio are only part of the spectrum but they are very important. “Radio continues one of the most trusted and accessible media in the world, according to different international reports,” UNESCO.
Watch here to learn more about the invention of radio-
And check out this map of world radio stations: https://worldradiomap.com/
Q: What is the smartest animal? A: A snake, because no one can pull its leg!
Explanation: There are a lot of smart animals! (My cat was not one of them, but I loved him anyway.) Snakes are not generally included in lists of the smartest animals. In this joke, though, they are the smartest.
To pull someone’s leg is an idiom that means to fool a person, usually in a fun or harmless way (in Spanish: tomar el pelo a alguien). If someone told you she just got tickets to go to the space station, you might say, “Stop pulling my leg; you did not.” Of course a snake would never say that because snakes do not have legs.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of pulling one’s leg: the literal meaning of actually tugging on someone’s leg and the idiom meaning to fool someone. Maybe someday with genetic engineering you will be able to pull a snake’s leg… nah, I’m just pulling your leg. That’ll never happen.
Here is a smarter than average snake:
Q: Why was the rope so stressed out? A: It was getting itself all tied up in knots!
Explanation: Last week an upset wire, this week a stressed out rope! Such is the pandemic life.
When you tie the ends of two strings together, or maybe both ends of the same string, you are tying a knot. There are lots of different types of knots that you can learn to tie. Here are 10 of them. Sailors have their own set of knots.
To tie yourself up in knots is an idiom that means to make life difficult for yourself unnecessarily. If you are trying to be too careful or trying too hard to do something you might tie yourself up in knots.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of tying (yourself up in) knots: the literal definition of tying strings together and the figurative meaning of making problems for yourself.
Here are a bunch of ways to tie your shoelaces that I had never heard of:
Q: Why was the metal wire so upset? A: It was getting bent out of shape over nothing!
Explanation: Metal wire comes in all sorts of sizes, measured by how thick it is. Electrical wire also comes in different thicknesses. Metal wire can be bent into many shapes so it is useful for art, for wiring a house, making motors, … When you bend a wire, you can make it into almost any shape
To get bent out of shape is an idiom meaning to get angry. If you get bent out of shape over nothing, you get mad for no reason.
This joke is funny because it plays with two meanings of getting bent out of shape: the literal meaning of bending a wire, and the idiom meaning to get angry.
Here is some wire getting bent into shape:
Q: What happened to the mouse when he fell into the bathtub? A: He came out squeaky clean!
Explanation: Just as a cow says “moo” and a pig says “oink,” mice squeak. If you are interested in hearing an hour of mice squeaking you can listen here (although I am not sure why you would want to).
Squeaky clean is an informal phrase meaning that something is really, really clean. A window that you just washed could be called squeaky clean. Squeaky clean can also refer to a person’s character–the senator was squeaky clean: he never lied, misled or cheated anyone.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word squeaky, meaning the sound of a mouse and completely clean.
Here is Tom and Jerry getting things squeaky clean–
Q: What did the orange say to the banana when they were looking for the apple? A: Keep your eyes peeled!
Explanation: It’s summer where I am (not -20º like the other place I call home) and it’s a great time to eat some ice cream. Have you ever tried a banana split? When I was younger, I liked to split a banana split with a friend because that dessert was (and is) too big for me to eat alone; I don’t eat them much anymore.
Whenever you eat a banana you have to peel it, that it, take off the yellow skin. There are many ways to peel a banana. To keep your eyes peeled means to keep your eyes open and watch carefully for something. I always keep my eyes peeled for new jokes that need explaining.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word peel and the idiom keep your eyes peeled. I also think it is funny to think about a banana with eyes. (Potatoes have eyes, but banana do not.)
If you would like to skip the banana split and go straight to the banana ice cream, try this:
Q: Why did the past year seem to go by in a blur? A: Your resolution must have been too low!
Explanation: Happy New Year! I wish you the very best in 2022!!
Do you make new year’s resolutions? A new year’s resolution is a decision to do something (or stop doing something) so that your life will be better in the new year. Many people make a resolution to exercise more or read more; many people do not keep their new year’s resolutions.
Another meaning of resolution has to do with how focused something is, that is, how sharp the picture looks. When images go to fast they may seem blurry, that is, you cannot see them clearly because the resolution is low. Digital images and pictures may also seem blurry if they taken from far away or with a camera with few pixels. If your camera has a higher resolution, your picture will be more clear.
This joke is funny because it plays with the meanings of the word resolution: a decision, or the sharpness of an image. If you make a resolution, be sure to tell people who will help you keep your resolution for the new year. We all need to help make this world better.
Here is something else that is resolute: The Resolute Desk–
Q: Why didn’t the aliens on the UFO land on Christmas morning? A: They were selfish, and did not want to share their presence!
Explanation: UFOs are unidentified flying objects, often seen as flying saucers. Flying saucers (if they exist) come from other galaxies and may have alien life on board. Wouldn’t it be fun to have proof of life from other parts of the universe! While there are many stories and pictures of UFOs, the existence of space aliens has never been proven… yet. They have never made their presence known to us.
Many people in the world celebrate Christmas on December 25. One of the most common Christmas traditions is to give gifts to friends and family members. Gifts are also called presents. Some people like to share their presents, while others do not want to share.
This joke is funny because presents (the gifts we give and receive) sounds just like the word presence (being in a place). The presence of life from other planets would be a present for people who hope for extraterrestrial life.
The James Webb Telescope that was launched yesterday may give us many presents as it helps discover more about the universe.
Q: What is the nosiest game you can play? A: Racket-ball!
Explanation: Some people like some noise in their lives while others prefer a quiet environment. Some of us are in between–sometimes I like a little music or background noise but mostly I prefer quiet conversation.
Racket is another word for noise. You might hear people ask, “What’s all that racket?” when they want to know where the noise is from.
Racket is also the name of the equipment that tennis players use to hit the ball. Rackets are also used to play badminton and racquetball. By the way, racketball and racquetball are different sports.
This joke is funny because it plays with the different meanings of the word racket.
If you would like to learn to play racketball, watch this…
Q: Why did the Christmas tree go to the barber? A: Because it needed to be trimmed!
Explanation: Now that it is December, ’tis the season when many people prepare to celebrate Christmas. For those who celebrate, buying and decorating a Christmas tree is often very important. Decorating the tree is also called trimming the tree.
When you go to the barber to get your hair cut, you might say to the barber, “Just a trim.” This means that you want the barber to only cut a little bit of your hair.
This joke is funny because of the double meanings of the word trim: a little bit of a haircut and decorating a Christmas tree.
To hear more about trimming the tree, listen to this song from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas:
Lyrics
Q: Why did the ice cream cone become a news reporter? A: Because he wanted to get the scoop!
Explanation: Do you watch the evening news? Listen to news on the radio or a podcast? Perhaps you read a newspaper? News reporters are always looking to provide their watchers, listeners, and readers with information about what is happening. Sometimes they are able to report on a big, important story, or one that no one has heard yet. That big, important story, unheard story is called a scoop. If a reporter gets the scoop, she or he gets an important story.
Ice cream cones have a scoop of ice cream on top of the cone. A portion of ice cream in the form of a ball is called a scoop.
This joke is funny because it plays with the word scoop: a ball of ice cream or an important news story.
Here is how to make the perfect scoop of ice cream-
“It’s time for recess,” Tom said playfully. “I can turn on the lights,” Tom said powerfully.
Tom Swifties are a type of humor from a series of old books. I have not read the books but I love the odd humor in Tom Swifties.
A Tom Swiftie has Tom saying something in a way that relates humorously to the words that he spoke. Typically the sentences end with Tom said [adverb]. For example… “This coffee needs more sugar,” Tom said bitterly. This is funny because coffee has a bitter taste, and Tom said this bitterly.
Here are a few more examples I found on Wikipedia with a short explanation I added in parentheses:
- “Pass me the shellfish,” said Tom crabbily. (Crabs have shells.)
- “We just struck oil!” Tom gushed. (Oil gushes from a well.)
- “Get to the back of the ship!” Tom said sternly. (The back of a boat is called the stern.)
- “I forgot what I needed at the store,” Tom said listlessly. (If you make a list, you won’t forget.)
If you create a Tom Swiftie you can send it to me and I will add them to an upcoming post. Or you can leave a comment with your Tom Swiftie.
Q: Why don’t scientists trust the atoms they work with? A: Because they make up everything!
Explanation: Everything is made of atoms. Yes, those atoms, the ones that are found on the periodic table of the elements. It is still hard for me to believe that those little atoms make up the air we breathe, the trees that grow, the metal in my fork and knife. In this case, to make up something means that it is a part that makes up the whole of something.
To make up also means to invent or to create. When authors write a new story they make up that story. To make something up can also mean to lie. If a student arrives late to class he or she might make up a story about the late arrival; a student might make up a story about the missing homework (“My dog ate it!!”).
This joke is funny because it plays with the words make up, meaning the parts of something or inventing a story. And you can’t trust someone who is always making things up!
Someone you can trust is Venus Flytrap from WKRP in Cincinnati. Here he is making up a story to explain how atoms make up everything-
Q: Why don’t mummies take vacations from their work? A: Because they are afraid to unwind!
Explanation: Most people enjoy taking a few days off from school or work to rest and relax, to unwind. In this sense, to unwind means to relax after work, after school, or after a stressful time.
To unwind also means to undo or open up something that has been wound up. Think of a ball of string– when you pull the loose end of the string you unwind it. You can also unwind an electrical extension cord, cassette tape, Christmas lights, ….
Mummies are wrapped up in cloth; if you start to take the cloth off the mummy in one long strip you are unwinding the cloth.
This joke is funny because it uses unwind in two different ways: to relax and to uncoil something.
With the following video you can learn to wind up and throw a traditional top.
Q: Why can’t you play hide and seek with mountains? A: Because they are always peaking!
Explanation: Hide and seek is a game that children play. In this game, one or more child finds a place to hide while another child closes his or her eyes and counts to 10. When the person counting gets to 10, that person goes to look for the ones who are hiding The person who is counting has to close his or her eyes in order not to see where the people are going to hide.
If the person who is counting secretly looks to see where the others are hiding, that is called peeking. To peek means to take a small, secret look. Peeking is not allowed while playing hide and seek.
Peek (to secretly look) sounds just like peak (the top of a mountain). When you get to the top of a mountain you get to the peak. (If you like grammar, peek and peak are homophones.)
This joke is funny because it plays with the word peek/peak that sound the same but have very different meanings. Clearly, mountains cannot peek, but they have a peak.
Here is some motivation from Sister Sledge for you to reach your peak:
Q: What is the best way to talk to a giant? A: Use big words!
Explanation: When I think of giants, I think of characters like those from Roald Dahl’s The BFG, Jack and the Beanstalk, and A Monster Calls. They are larger than life beings that can be good or evil, or a bit of both. Giants, though, are generally considered to be the antagonists in a story, the bad guys.
As for the idea of big words, well, sometimes children are told to use words to explain how they are feeling. Also, at times adults suggest that children use big words to explain an idea with more detail, this could be to talk about feelings or to explain something when they are writing. (That reminds me of a 1st grade student who once told me that his head hurt, that he had a headache. When I asked him to point to the part that hurt, he pointed to his loose tooth. Yes, a tooth is in your head but we understand toothache better in that situation.)
Big words could also refer to the size of the words. You usually see big words on a street sign or a billboard, whereas you typically see smaller words in a book or in the small print of a contract.
This joke is funny because it plays with the idea of big words meaning more detailed, or just using large sized words, large like a giant.
Here is They Might Be Giants singing Boss of Me-
Q: Why did the thief wash his clothes after the robbery? A: He wanted to make a clean getaway!
Explanation: A thief is a robber, someone who steals things. Washing your clothes, well, you already know, will make your clothes clean. A robbery is the moment when something was stolen. If you want to get technical, the law in the United States differentiates between burglary, robbery, and theft, but people do not usually make that difference when they speak.
A clean getaway is an idiom meaning that you escape without anyone noticing or without getting caught.
This joke is funny because it plays with the words clean getaway: escaping without getting caught and getting away while being clean.
Maybe if you want to make a clean getaway, it’s time for a cool change…
Q: Why didn’t the zombie go to work? A: Because he felt rotten!
Explanation: When you are sick, it is very important that you don’t go to work or school, especially now with COVID still making people sick. If you feel really sick you might say that you feel rotten; to feel rotten is an idiom meaning to feel sick.
A zombie is a dead body (corpse) that has come back to life. (By the way, zombies are fictional, mythological, not real.) Once a body stops living, the body begins to decompose, to rot. So, a zombie’s body is in the process of rotting.
This joke is funny because it plays with the idiom to feel rotten and the verb to rot.
Speaking of zombies, this seems like a good time to revisit Michael Jackson’s Thriller-
Q: Why do birds fly south for the winter? A: Because it is too far to walk!
Explanation: Where I grew up, in Minnesota, it was very common to see birds fly south for the winter. When all of the lakes freeze, the trees lose their leaves, and ground is covered with snow, most birds cannot find food. It’s also just too cold for them to survive. So, they migrate to an area where they will be able to survive.
While birds can walk a bit, their main way of traveling is by flying.
This joke is funny because it sets up an expectation for an explanation about why birds have to migrate to a different area. What you get, though, is a silly answer about birds not being able to walk so far.
Check out The Great Migration from KQED-
Q: What time is it when your clock strikes 13? A: Time to get a new clock!
Explanation: When a clock “strikes the hour” it means that it is exactly on the hour, 8:00 or 11:00 for example (not 8:17 or 11:36) and the bells will chime. Here is Big Ben striking the hour.
On a clock or a watch, the only numbers you see are the numbers 1-12; there is no 13. So if the clock strikes 13, there is a big problem! Yes, at 13 o’clock you will need a new clock.
(Some readers might argue that the military and some countries use the hours from 13 to 24 to talk about the hours after noon. Point taken. You will, however, not see the number 13 on the face of a clock, only on some digital clocks.)
Here is a brief history of how we keep time: