# Fling me a non-English pun, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730 "2005-12-15T15:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/41 "2005-12-16T00:30:45Z")
Two from Chinese: Cantonese: Q: Did you hear the one about the three shrimp? A: No, how does it go? Q: Ha ha ha! (“Ha” is the Cantonese word for shrimp) Mandarin: Q: What’s a pirate’s favorite city? A: Beijing (cf. 1) the [pirate joke](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_jokes) genre and 2) the fact that the Beijing accent of [Mandarin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Mandarin) uses the “ar” sound a lot–aka the [“rhotic suffix -r”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_dialect)) ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/42 "2005-12-16T01:36:47Z")
I used to know a joke that relied on a little knowledge of French and Spanish. My Spanish teacher told it when we were learning how to use pronouns that go before the verb (i.e. “me la dio,” instead of “dio ella a mí”). I don’t remember the details, but I think someone fell and hurt himself, the French guy said, “Ah, c’est la vie” (such is life) and the Spanish guy replied, “Ah, sí señor. Yo se la vi.” (Yeah, I saw it happen to him). Roughly… ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/43 "2005-12-16T01:47:06Z")
Two from the POV of a traveller in Montreal. All the stree signs are in Italian. Stop _Arrete_. At the hotel everyone was peeing in the pool. There was a sign that said _piscine_. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/44 "2005-12-16T03:00:45Z")
A Spanish lady is in the airport, waiting to board her flight. The announcement comes over the PA: “_Passenjaros abordar._” “Oh no,” the lady exclaims, “I don’t have my knitting needles!” (_Abordar_ = embark, _a bordar_ = knitting.) Not a great one, but I heard this 20 years ago from a friend’s Spanish father and this is the first time I’ve gotten to tell it. Sorry if there are spelling errors; this joke represents pretty much the sum total of my knowledge of Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/45 "2005-12-16T05:02:52Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > Two from the POV of a traveller in Montreal. > > All the stree signs are in Italian. Stop _Arrete_. > At the hotel everyone was peeing in the pool. There was a sign that said _piscine_. There’s a cartoon showing two tourists in Montreal under a big for rent (à louer) sign. “What a great city! All over the place, signs for “A LOVER,” with a phone number!” I’m also told a good way to dick with anglo tourists is to let them know that the province runs a chain of hotels in every town in Quebec, called Hôtel de Ville… (“hôtel de ville” means city hall!) Finally, I myself made up the following pun in Catalan: _Si una dona té cinc fills i cinc filles, que és la mare de deu?_ ("If a woman has five sons and five daughters, is she the ‘mother of ten’?) _Mare de Déu_ means the Virgin Mary (“mother of God”); _deu_ means “ten.” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/46 "2005-12-16T06:22:36Z")
Bennett Cerf told this one better than I will. A wealthy lady decided her three cats had shredded their last curtain. She told her French butler to take them out and drown them in the river. He lured them into a burlap bag with a piece of fish, but once he got them out of sight, he gave them away. He put a rock in the sack and heaved it into the river. Later, his boss demanded, “Maurice, did you drown those pussycats?” “Oui, Madame. Un, deux, trois cats sank.” What do you say to a Mexican steer that has fallen off a bridge? “Nada, buey!” (Swim, ox!) or (Nothing, fool!) Annamaria is a “parts model.” From the knees down, she is worth her weight in gold. She makes $5,000 an hour modeling in shoes, but she really hauls in the money when she is photographed rubbing lotion on her fabulous toes. They are her _pies de resistance._ Pies, in Spanish, are toes. Piece de resistance, in French, is (roughly) the best part. (I don’t speak French or Spanish worth a peso. I hope I haven’t mangled these too badly.) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/47 "2005-12-16T06:25:51Z")
I know very little about the Neti Pot. However, as a child, I was called “le petit Nott.” ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/48 "2005-12-16T06:30:15Z")
L.h.o.o.q ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/49 "2005-12-16T09:08:10Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Pies, in Spanish, are toes. Piece de resistance, in French, is (roughly) the best part. > > (I don’t speak French or Spanish worth a peso. I hope I haven’t mangled these too badly.) _Pies_ are feet, not toes (which are _dedos del pie_). ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/50 "2005-12-16T09:23:10Z")
Sienkiewicz wrote an important historical novel about 17th century Poland called \*Ogniem i Mieczem - (With Fire and Sword), but I like to call it _Ogniem i Mięsem_ (With Fire and Meat). Though I must admit the few Poles I told this too didn’t see to find it uproariously funny. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/51 "2005-12-16T10:06:51Z")
There is the story that after the British General [Charles Napier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_James_Napier) conquered the province of Sindh (in what is now Pakistan) he sent back a one word message in Latin: _“Peccavi”_, which means “I have sinned”. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/52 "2005-12-16T12:23:49Z")
oooo! Puns (dajare in Japanese) are the mainstay of 3rd and 4th grade humour so I am learning a lot via my son! When his same-grade friend from a totally different part of Japan came to stay, they found to their delight that they both knew different ones, and spent their holidays swapping them. When they went back to their respective schools they got uber cool points for all the new ones they knew. Here are a couple: Obachan ga ike ni ochita. O! Bachan! (My aunt fell into the pond. Oh! Splash!) Rabu retaa wo yabureta (I ripped up the love letter) Chiitaa ga ochiitaa! (The cheetah fell dowwwn!) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/53 "2005-12-16T13:28:05Z")
Itchy knee, son? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/54 "2005-12-16T13:32:08Z")
Cookbook author Peg Bracken has a recipe for “Boeuf and Oeufplant.” Not quite a pun, but still funny, considering the French call eggplant “aubergine.” ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/55 "2005-12-16T16:30:13Z")
The publicity campaigns of the [Berlin Municipial City Cleaning Service](http://www.bsr-online.de/) did not shrink from puns: [We kehr for you](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/We_kehr.jpg) (kehren = to sweep) [Bemannte Räumfahrt](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/bemannte_raeumfahrt.jpg) (manned sweeping mission) - _Bemannte Raumfahrt_ = manned spaceflight. [Herta BSR](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/hertha_bsr.jpg) - Herha BSC = the local football/soccer team [Saturday Night Feger](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/saturday_night_feger.jpg) - _Feger_ = sweeper [Die vorfahren und die nachkommen](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/Die_vorfahren_und_die_nachkommen.jpg) (those who drive in front (showing a bus driver) and those who come after - _Die Vorfahren und die Nachkommen_ (the difference is just in the capitals) = the ancestors and the descendants. [Fleiß am Stiel](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/fleissamstiel.jpg) (industriousness on a stick) - Eis am Stiel = ice on a stick. [Laubburschen](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/laubburschen.jpg) (leaves boys) - _Laufburschen_ = messenger boys [Feger und Sammler](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/fegersammler.jpg) (sweepers and gatherers) - Jäger und Sammler = hunter-gatherers [Er kam, sah und fegte](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/kamsahfegte.jpg) (He came, saw and swept) - _Er kam, sah und siegte_ = he came, saw and won. [Unser Fegen auf all Euren Wegen](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/fegenwegen.jpg) (Our sweeping on all your ways) - _Unser Segen auf all Euren Wegen_ = Our blessing on all your ways. [Dreckig wars](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/dreckigwars.jpg) ('Twas dirty) - the allusion is apparent from the picture [Laubbub](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/laubbuben.jpg) (leaves boy) - _Lausbub_ = boy up to mischief [Matschos](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/matschos.jpg) - _Matsch_ = mud [Old Streuhand](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/streuhand.jpg) - Old Shatterhand, Old Surehand etc. are heroes of [Karl May](http://www.books-by-isbn.com/authors/karl/may/)’s books. [Frühstücksflocken](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/fruestuecksflocken.jpg) (breakfast cereals/breakfast (snow)flakes) [Fest zubacken](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/zubacken.jpg) (intensely baking) - _Fest zupacken_ = heartily lend a hand [Oh Tonnenbaum](http://www.bsr-online.de/bsr/img_kampagnen/Tonnenbaum.jpg) (Oh garbage bin tree) - _Oh Tannenbaum_ = Oh christmast tree ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/56 "2005-12-17T08:52:13Z")
> [@Hokkaido Brit](#): > > oooo! Puns (dajare in Japanese) are the mainstay of 3rd and 4th grade humour… Oh yes. In the anime series _Ranma 1/2_, one of the characters keeps changing into a panda. At one point he’s standing outside a bakery munching on a bun; one of the other characters comments _Pan da_ (it’s bread). Puns are fairly commonplace in anime, since Japanese is rife with homophones. One of the most common is “koi,” which means both “love” and “carp.” ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/57 "2005-12-17T19:52:02Z")
I remember a non-English pun posted on this board a while back. I think the language was German. It was a pun on “To be or not to be,” and the pun resulted because one of the words could also mean “is the child of” or something like that. The source of the humor was somebody’s uncertain paternity. Anyone remember this? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/58 "2005-12-17T21:54:14Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I remember a non-English pun posted on this board a while back. I think the language was German. It was a pun on “To be or not to be,” and the pun resulted because one of the words could also mean “is the child of” or something like that. The source of the humor was somebody’s uncertain paternity. > > Anyone remember this? I didn’t see the post you refer to, but this does work in German. _Sein oder nicht sein_ can be read as “To be or not to be” or as “His or not his”. (in the latter case the implied noun that “his” refers to must be of male gender). ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/59 "2005-12-18T00:35:24Z")
I posted that. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5849136&highlight=sein#post5849136](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5849136&highlight=sein#post5849136) Of course, there’s Asimov’s mystery story, “The Key”, the solution of which involves a pun spanning English, German, and Latin.I’m keeping this short, so it’s a bit disjointed. A person had written a cryptic message which he said was “the key” to where an alien mind-expander was located. The person was soon found dead with his apparent attacker, also dead. Wendell Urth, knowing the message was “the key”, figured out it was the only clue. “Key” in Latin is “clavis”. “Clavis” sounds like “Clavius” is a crater on the Moon. Its name is the Latinized version of Klau, the astronomer it was named for. “Klau” sounds like “clue”. The alien object was located near the crater Clavius. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730/60 "2005-12-18T03:25:38Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > I posted that. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5849136&highlight=sein#post5849136](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5849136&highlight=sein#post5849136) Great! Thanks. That was a fun thread to revisit in general. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fling-me-a-non-english-pun-please/335730.md?page=4)