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What is a joke you've heard a million times, but never understood why it's funny?

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Malvolio

Member
I see, but a fat person taking all the space in a house plus some more would essentially destroy the house thus taking it out of the equation completely. And therefore the fat person would no longer be sitting around a house because they have disintegrated it with their corpulence.

So it's my fault for not getting it. I can accept that.

The person in question is so large that a house is but a mere butt plug. The house survives. You are allowed to laugh now.
 
The other side is heaven.
Realization_zpsea2394e9.gif
 

Zubz

Banned
'Lisa needs braces, Dental plan' wasn't funny to me and I've always been perplexed as to why that joke and Last Exit to Springfield are seen as the golden child of The Simpsons

I never thought that Last Exit to Springfield was seen as the series' best episode. I always thought that honor went to the Monorail episode (Which has almost the exact same bit, honestly).

As for the "Lisa needs braces, Dental plan," Homer's making the connection between Marge saying that Lisa needs braces, and Lenny wanting to get rid of their Union's dental plan as part of a deal to get free beer (Meaning that Homer would have to pay an exorbitant sum to get Lisa those braces).

The first time it happens, the joke is that it's taking Homer awhile to make the connection. Whereas a smarter person would've realized that no dental plan would mean putting his family in debt or endangering his daughter's health in a couple of seconds, it takes Homer a good minute to correlate the two statements, and his co-workers mess with him in the meantime (Implying that more time is passing than shown). The second time, he's experiencing anxiety over choosing between his co-worker's happiness or his daughter's health. Both times, there's an overarching punchline that the phrase "Lisa needs braces, Dental plan" is going on for an uncomfortably long amount of time. The humor comes from how those lines are repeated for far longer than expected by the viewer.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
The bees and beads joke in arrested development.

Is the whole joke that they're misunderstanding each other?
 

Cuburt

Member
Wow, that's it. Here I thought I was missing some clever sexual innuendo.

There is also some line in the movie about how Mufasa's kingdom is everything the light touches (I think it's in a scene where he tells Simba what he'll rule when he becomes king) so there is also the literal interpretation of Mufasa saying Simba is not his responsibility before sunrise.
 

Osahi

Member
Somebody please explain this joke to me. Heard it forever and I have no idea what they mean.

Mufasa doesn't want to get up. So he declares Simba is her son and hers alone before sunrise.

Only got this when I saw it as an adult years after seeing it hundreds of times as a kid
 

NastyBook

Member
I don't understand why this is so funny.

eWGuOmr.gif


For context, it's from Fast & Furious 6. Other guy says "you'd better hide the baby oil," and then the Rock improvised this line, and the actors' reactions to it are genuine (dude spits his drink).

But I don't get why it's so funny. Yeah, he's got a big forehead, I guess? So what? Is the Rock going to hit him in the forehead or something?
IT DOESN'T MATTER if you think it's funny or not!
 

injurai

Banned
Not once in 15 years. Not once in 15 years, Adam. I haven't laughed at any joke you've done in FIFTEEN YEARS.

It's pretty hilarious how us productive citizens make pennies compared to him. That's some highbrow meta situational irony. Truly the finest comedic form.
 
The 'Cows' scene from Father Ted

Often referenced and I've heard people repeatedly say it's one of their funniest moments of the show if not all shows... but I don't think I get it, or at least don't get why others find it so funny.

Oh man that one got me and I have never seen the show hahaha.


Dude doesn't understand the dif between cows off in the distance and the cows right there. He's comparing by size if I get the gag right.
 

Blobbers

Member
Often, in movies, a guy will approach a group of people just in time to hear one guy deliver the punchline "that's not X, that's my wife". Then everyone erupts into laughter. Is there an actual that's not my wife joke, or is the entire joke just his wife being so butt-ugly that she could easily be mistaken for something huge, or disgusting, like a bear or a garbage monster?
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
only thing that's wrong with that bit is what he's starting to play sounds nothing like stairway to heaven.

should've been the first note of sweet child of mine. can't mistake that.
 

notworksafe

Member
only thing that's wrong with that bit is what he's starting to play sounds nothing like stairway to heaven.

should've been the first note of sweet child of mine. can't mistake that.

Stairway was edited out in later releases cause the license for the song was too expensive.
 

jstripes

Banned
Because it's the go-to song to play for people picking up a guitar in a guitar shop. People working in these stores probably hear it multiple times a day.

Back to the "No Stairway" sign, and a bit further into detail.

Wayne's World takes place in Aurora, Illinois, but in reality, it's inspired by Scarborough, Ontario. A suburb of Toronto where Mike Myers grew up. A lot of the movie was inspired by the city.

Here's Mike Myers as "Wayne" on Canadian TV, before SNL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqyPqmy4IAE

Anyways, in Downtown Toronto, there's a famed music store called Steve's Music Store which actually had a "No Stairway To Heaven" sign.

So ya, the song was overplayed and annoying to music store employees everywhere, but that store was so sick of it that they went so far as to print a sign. That's where the joke came from.

(As someone else said, the best analog for today would be "No Wonderwall".)
 
It's because he's such an idiot that he doesn't understand how perspective works. Thank you for linking that clip, I haven't seen it in ages and needed a laugh haha.

It's just a gag about how simple Dougal is.

Oh man that one got me and I have never seen the show hahaha.

Dude doesn't understand the dif between cows off in the distance and the cows right there. He's comparing by size if I get the gag right.

Haha see I get that! Honestly... *shiftyeyes* but like other jokes in the thread I just thought there was more to it, something underlying, which is what people found so funny because the surface joke is just so deceptively simple.

Genuinely one of the most hilarious things i've ever seen.

I hear this a lot!
Father Ted is my favourite comedy and if it ever comes up with people I meet they always mention this scene.
Makes me a little sad that it doesn't resonate with me as deeply.
 

Pillville

Member
Often, in movies, a guy will approach a group of people just in time to hear one guy deliver the punchline "that's not X, that's my wife". Then everyone erupts into laughter. Is there an actual that's not my wife joke, or is the entire joke just his wife being so butt-ugly that she could easily be mistaken for something huge, or disgusting, like a bear or a garbage monster?

Original goes like this:
Joe: "Who was that lady I saw you with last night?"
Bob:"That was no lady, that was my wife"

The joke comes from Bob meaning that it was not a random person, but it sounds like he's saying his wife isn't a lady.
 

jstripes

Banned
Original goes like this:
Joe: "Who was that lady I saw you with last night?"
Bob:"That was no lady, that was my wife"

The joke comes from Bob meaning that it was not a random person, but it sounds like he's saying his wife isn't a lady.

No, that's exactly what Bob is saying, in the sense of a "lady" being well-mannered.

It's called a double entendre.

So, it's has an intentional double meaning. "That was no random woman" and "my wife isn't well-mannered".
 
Often, in movies, a guy will approach a group of people just in time to hear one guy deliver the punchline "that's not X, that's my wife". Then everyone erupts into laughter. Is there an actual that's not my wife joke, or is the entire joke just his wife being so butt-ugly that she could easily be mistaken for something huge, or disgusting, like a bear or a garbage monster?

And the penguin says, "He's not an eggplant, he's retarded!"
 

jstripes

Banned
"Take my wife please"

Never got it.

"Take my wife... please."

It usually comes after a premise. That's what makes it work. "Take my wife..." (with a pause) can be interpreted as "Consider, for example, my wife..."

But then it gets derailed by the "...please", implying his wife is unpleasant and he wants you to take her away.


So, for the full context, you'd have a joke like this:

"Some people are shopaholics. Take my wife... please."
 

Zubz

Banned
Dude...literally blew my mind. My whole life is a lie

... Wait, why are people thinking that this is the punchline? It's an anti-joke. The set-up is that you expect the answer to be a pun, or something clever. The punchline is that the answer is straightforward, yet explains nothing. You could gather that the chicken wanted to get to the other side simply by the fact that it wanted to cross the road. The punchline answers the set-up's question while still leaving the bigger question of "what's on the other side that the chicken wanted" hanging.

Now I'm confused why people think the joke is about the chicken getting run over and going to Heaven.
 
Yea, that was after Wayne's World was released. Led Zeppelin refused any resemblance of the song to be played on future releases. There are 2 versions of this scene. Original actually had like 4 notes correctly played. Alternate version has it completely fucked up intentionally. Regardless, the intended joke was what everyone has already mentioned (overplayed).

Ain't that Spirit's place to do that? :p
 

robochimp

Member
You can call me ____, just don't call me late for dinner.

I took it as don't say that I would be late for dinner.

It was recently pointed out to me that call refers to actually calling someone in for dinner.
 

Switch Back 9

a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
Good lord, I just got this after 20 something years.

No, that's not the joke. The joke is funny because of its obvious and deadpan answer. It's not about heaven.

... Wait, why are people thinking that this is the punchline? It's an anti-joke. The set-up is that you expect the answer to be a pun, or something clever. The punchline is that the answer is straightforward, yet explains nothing. You could gather that the chicken wanted to get to the other side simply by the fact that it wanted to cross the road. The punchline answers the set-up's question while still leaving the bigger question of "what's on the other side that the chicken wanted" hanging.

Now I'm confused why people think the joke is about the chicken getting run over and going to Heaven.

Exactly.
 

Switch Back 9

a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
The 'Cows' scene from Father Ted

Often referenced and I've heard people repeatedly say it's one of their funniest moments of the show if not all shows... but I don't think I get it, or at least don't get why others find it so funny.

I just watched that clip and I'm dying here. It helps if you've watched the show and realize Dougal is a real dumb dumb.
 
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