# Couldn't get this 80s or 90s Reader's Digest joke **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192 "2020-08-15T17:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/41 "2020-08-18T09:15:29Z")
I’m confused - what was the kid supposed to write on the eggs? I have never heard of writing on eggs as a ‘thing’ - painting a decoration or drawing a face on them yes, but why write on them? ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/42 "2020-08-18T09:31:43Z")
There must be another meaning of “writing” in this context - probably “decorating.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/43 "2020-08-18T09:50:37Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > I’m confused - what was the kid supposed to write on the eggs? Dates. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/44 "2020-08-18T11:42:16Z")
Thanks, that makes sense. But I actually don’t think writing “hardboiled” on the eggs was a silly idea at all - if they were to go back in the fridge, and fresh eggs were also stored in the fridge, it would make it easy to identify which eggs were required. It would be annoying to start peeling a supposedly hardboiled egg only to discover it was fresh. Just another example of an adult assuming a kid will know something ‘obvious’ - why would they if it had never been explained to them? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/45 "2020-08-18T13:59:08Z")
When I was a kid we used to use a pencil to write “HB” on them. Hint: don’t use a ballpoint; the ink will penetrate the shell well into the edible part. Of course once we were tall/coordinated enough to be taught to spin the eggs without them ending up on the floor, writing on them was no longer needed. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/46 "2020-08-18T15:07:59Z")
I thought the joke was his writing out the whole word on each egg when any mark would have sufficed. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/47 "2020-08-18T15:19:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When I was a kid we used to use a pencil to write “HB” on them. I don’t see why noting the type of pencil used was helpful. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/48 "2020-08-18T17:56:19Z")
I said HB, not #2. Sheesh, some people! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/49 "2020-08-18T19:36:03Z")
If you have to label the Number Two in your fridge, you’ve got bigger problems. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/50 "2020-08-30T07:44:09Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Dates. You don’t refrigerate dates. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/51 "2020-08-30T12:42:38Z")
You write dates on freshly-laid eggs. You write an H, or sometimes maybe an X, on hard-boiled eggs. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192/52 "2020-08-30T12:48:53Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > My real-life anecdote published there was something that actually happened to me. > > What was the anecdote? Is it re-tellable or readable online? By the way, very cool that you got it published. I was at my dentist and they were doing some construction in the next room, including drilling holes. I said to the hygienist, “That must really freak out your patients” She said, “That’s nothing. You should see what happens when the use the sledgehammer.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/couldnt-get-this-80s-or-90s-readers-digest-joke/918192.md?page=2)