# Explain this math joke **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928 "2016-12-05T15:01:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/1 "2016-12-05T15:01:35Z")
[http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2010-01-08](http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2010-01-08) You have to click the red button to reveal the extra joke I am talking about. Q: What did the mathematician give to the man who ogled his wife? A: i^3 I know i^3 is equal to -i. So what is the author implying? That the mathematician gave the man 1 less eye? If so, it’s a pretty weak joke. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/2 "2016-12-05T15:28:38Z")
“A black eye” would be an understandable answer to me. Is there some way “i cubed” can be interpreted that way? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/3 "2016-12-05T15:34:26Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > “A black eye” would be an understandable answer to me. Is there some way “i cubed” can be interpreted that way? “Let’s start with the punch line we want to prove and work backward from that…” 😃 Next we’ll start introducing joke lemmas! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/4 "2016-12-05T15:46:15Z")
It’s a lot funnier if the answer is i^7. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/5 "2016-12-05T16:33:49Z")
I glasses? ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/6 "2016-12-05T16:37:44Z")
eye cubed…cold stare? ---
**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:** [December 5, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/7 "2016-12-05T17:07:03Z")
“The evil eye” was my first thought. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/8 "2016-12-05T17:09:13Z")
270°? is there some sort of “spin him around” joke in there? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/9 "2016-12-05T17:20:04Z")
Well, i is the square root of negative one, so the answer could be “-1 i” minus one eye, get it? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/10 "2016-12-05T17:47:32Z")
There’s also an “IQ” joke in there somewhere. I just can’t seem to put my finger on it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/11 "2016-12-05T17:50:34Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Well, i is the square root of negative one, so the answer could be “-1 i” minus one eye, get it? The OP already figured that out, but was asking if there was an answer that was actually funny. I’m afraid not. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/12 "2016-12-05T17:51:02Z")
The joke does not have the ^ sign. I assume the 3 represents the part of the wife’s anatomy being ogled. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/13 "2016-12-05T17:56:10Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The joke does not have the ^ sign. > > I assume the 3 represents the part of the wife’s anatomy being ogled. That was my first thought, but it doesn’t work as something the husband would _give_ the ogler. “minus one eye” is probably it. I’m not sure how high the bar for math humor can really be set. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/14 "2016-12-05T17:59:55Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > That was my first thought, but it doesn’t work as something the husband would _give_ the ogler. I thought maybe it was a paper with that number written on it. Either as “I see what you’re up to” or as “look at this instead”. Could be wrong. > [@](#): > > I’m not sure how high the bar for math humor can really be set. Agree with that. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/15 "2016-12-05T18:08:08Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The joke does not have the ^ sign. > > I assume the 3 represents the part of the wife’s anatomy being ogled. You don’t need the carat if you’re writing it down, you only use it if you’re typing and can’t express a superscript properly. i[sup]3[/sup] is the same as i^3. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/16 "2016-12-05T18:10:45Z")
I’m familiar with math notation. But I was suggesting that what was intended was not the mathematical meaning of the term but rather the visual. In that context the omission of the ^ was relevant, in that its inclusion would have changed the visual. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/17 "2016-12-05T19:26:50Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The joke does not have the ^ sign. > > I assume the 3 represents the part of the wife’s anatomy being ogled. Yes. If you look at “i3” sideways, like an emoticon, the “3” is the wife’s breasts, and the “i” represents the guy’s eyes, with one swollen shut. I didn’t say it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/18 "2016-12-05T20:06:45Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Yes. If you look at “i3” sideways, like an emoticon, the “3” is the wife’s breasts, and the “i” represents the guy’s eyes, with one swollen shut. I didn’t say it was funny. But if you go the web site and see the original way it was written, you’ll see that it’s not like that. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/19 "2016-12-05T22:15:03Z")
I thought the I was a face and the 3 was a lump on his head over his ear. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928/20 "2016-12-05T22:47:40Z")
A poke in the eye [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-math-joke/773928.md?page=2)