# Jokes (and other things) that you didn't get until much, much later. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815 "2004-06-05T15:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/21 "2004-06-06T08:09:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Bullwinkle looking into a snake pit and saying, “Goobye, Olivia!” I’m afraid I still don’t get that one. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/22 "2004-06-06T11:03:13Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I’m afraid I still don’t get that one. Wait, wait…it’s because Olivia DeHavilland was in _The Snake Pit_ , right?!Oooohh…I got a reference :). Ok, in keeping with the OP, another on from MAD…I remember reading a parody of Star Trek…actually I think is was a thing about the untimely end of various favorite characters. In which the Star Trek crew mistakenly beams down to 20th century Harlem and Kirk is killed by a crazed black mugger. And Spock is reprting the incident and commenting that the assailent kept calling Kirk a “mother”…which confused him “as I was not aware that the captain had ever born children…”. Well, at ten or whatever I was, I was as clueless as Spock. And in keeping with Garfield…when I was even younger, about when I had just learned to read, my faimly went to Hackleberry State Park, were I spotted a sign partial obscured by mud (so one letter looked a bit different). Showing off my new reading skills, I said “oh look, that sign says 'No Kunting”. Wasn’t till much latter I figured out why my parents were trying not to laugh… ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/23 "2004-06-06T11:25:54Z")
I took me a full minute to get this one. It was a comic. Man stands in kitchen, wife beside him. He’s holding up a spaghetti strainer ad he says “I don’t know how people tell the date from this.” Wife: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/24 "2004-06-06T11:53:39Z")
Soon after the Charles-Diana wedding, Andy Warhol via film clip was on Saturday Night Live telling his favorite joke. “Where did Prince Charles spend his honeymoon? Indiana.” My reaction- “that’s stupid!” About five years later during a repeat… “OOOOOH!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/25 "2004-06-06T15:57:58Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Soon after the Charles-Diana wedding, Andy Warhol via film clip was on Saturday Night Live telling his favorite joke. “Where did Prince Charles spend his honeymoon? Indiana.” > > My reaction- “that’s stupid!” > > About five years later during a repeat… “OOOOOH!” :smack: Followed by a week in Izzit Conneticut at the “Izzit Inn”. ---
**Author:** ![Winterwren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Winterwren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winterwren)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/26 "2004-06-06T16:04:20Z")
In the 1960s, my parents had Redd Foxx albums, which they used to play at parties, after they’d put the kids to bed, but we used to sneak out and listen to them playing. (The house was split level, with a staircase leading down to the room with the stereo; we’d tiptoe to the balcony and listen from there.) In one of them, he talked about kids playing “Button, Button – here comes my father.” I was in my twenties before I realized what he meant. ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/27 "2004-06-06T19:45:29Z")
I am definitely Jewish and grew up in a mostly Jewish suburb back East. ;j I moved out to California in my mid-20s, but most of my friends were either non-religious or Jewish. Maybe in the late 1980s/early 1990s I used to see on mail threads/BBS the sig "When I find myself in trouble, I ask myself, “What would the Lone Ranger do?” I thought this was mildly funny, but a bit out in left field. Couldn’t figure out why someone would use that as a “funny” sig. Only about 6 years ago did I hear about the famous acronym WWJS. NOW I get it! :smack: Talk about being not in the mainstream! Fortunately, Google has helped me figure out such arcania as p//n4a3, pr0n, and cameltoes. Sturgeon was right! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/28 "2004-06-06T20:25:02Z")
From _Monty Python and the Holy Grail:_ “We apologize for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible have been sacked.” Not being familiary with the British idiom “sacked,” meaning “fired,” I envisioned something involving marauding barbarian hordes. Which, come to think of it, would actually be funnier. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/29 "2004-06-06T20:53:08Z")
I only recently learned that the song in the Family Guy episode where the Griffins inherit Lois’ aunt’s mansion is a parody of “I think I’m going to like it here” from _Annie_. The way I learned this was by actually seeing a grade school production _Annie_. Which is why I was laughing whenever the little girl who played Annie sang- I kept imagining her singing “my God this house is freakin’ sweet”! ---
**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:** [June 6, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/30 "2004-06-06T22:16:38Z")
Another MAD memory. I remember one of their early primers. One panel showed the 2 main kids with another funny-looking one between them who seemed to look a bit like Frankenstein. I bought a compilation a while ago and the same primer was included. Now I recognized the kid as a miniature version of Marlon Brando in “The Wild Ones”! I also now understood what the primer meant when it mentioned “reefers”! ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/31 "2004-06-06T22:48:46Z")
> [@Hugh Jass](#): > > There was no social underpining to it, but I heard this joke when I was 10, and didn’t get it until I was in my 20s: > > Q. Do you have a match? > A. Not since Superman died. > > For some stupid reason, I couldn’t figure out the double meaning of the word “match” in this context, even though I was familiar with both meanings. When I first read the joke, the only interpretation I could think of was that the one guy was so above Superman that he used him as a cigarette lighter. I don’t think I’d ever get the true meaning on my own. “Match” is never used in that context where I’m from. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/32 "2004-06-06T22:53:04Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > I only recently learned that the song in the Family Guy episode where the Griffins inherit Lois’ aunt’s mansion is a parody of “I think I’m going to like it here” from _Annie_. The way I learned this was by actually seeing a grade school production _Annie_. Which is why I was laughing whenever the little girl who played Annie sang- I kept imagining her singing “my God this house is freakin’ sweet”! Don’t forget _Rebecca_ and _The Shining_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/33 "2004-06-06T23:07:16Z")
When I was a kid, I used to love riddle and joke books. Even at that young age (up to about age 11), I got the majority of the jokes in the books. Here’s a couple I didn’t get for years: Sign on nuclear scientist’s door: GONE FISSION I knew nothing about nuclear science. Man: Say, buddy, how do I get to Carnegie Hall? Buddy: Practice man, practice. I was a kid growing up in the southeast, what did I know about Carnegie Hall (or New York, for that matter)? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/34 "2004-06-06T23:23:39Z")
Have you guys seen those green camo. shirts that say “Ha, now you can’t see me”? Well, there a version that goes, “Ah crap, it’s snowing.” This guy wore that to class one day, and I sat there, for almost an hour, trying to figure out what it was. About five minutes until the period was over, I finally got it. I stood up and yelled “I GET IT NOW.” I was so proud of myself. Kinda sad really. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/35 "2004-06-07T03:41:01Z")
When I was about ten, my _younger_ brother told me a joke I didn’t get for at least two years: Two Indian braves are walking along. One suddenly points to the ground and says, “Look. Big black bug.” The other one says, “Squash it.” The first replies, “No; big black bug.” He’s never let me forget it, the little twerp. DD ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/36 "2004-06-07T04:27:31Z")
Today I heard a joke that I took an embarassingly long time to figure out. **Q.** What’s brown, sticky, and falls from trees? **A.** A stick. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/37 "2004-06-07T04:43:44Z")
“If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?” For the longest time, I thought the humor was just in the stereotypical sleazy guy delivery. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/38 "2004-06-07T05:23:21Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > When I was about ten, my _younger_ brother told me a joke I didn’t get for at least two years: > > Two Indian braves are walking along. One suddenly points to the ground and says, “Look. Big black bug.” > > The other one says, “Squash it.” > > The first replies, “No; big black bug.” > > He’s never let me forget it, the little twerp. > > DD {sigh} I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/39 "2004-06-07T12:27:06Z")
> [@Rabid Child](#): > > Another Simpsons reference I didn’t get until later: > > It’s in the episode “Bart Simpsons vs. Australia”. Early on he’s calling all of these countries in the southern hemisphere to test the Coriolis Effect to prove Lisa wrong. One call he makes shows an old Adolf Hitler going to his carphone. A man rides by in a bike and says, “Buenos noches, mein feuher!” I didn’t get this on several levels (for instance–Germany isn’t in the southern hemisphere, why are they showing Hitler alive…I don’t get it) until I watched the movie “The Boys From Brazil” a couple of years ago. > > I don’t understand why I didn’t get the joke because I had known that “The Boys From Brazil” was about Hitler clones before I ever saw the movie and I had seen the Simpsons episode more than a few times! I still don’t think you get it. I thought the man WAS Hitler. There’s always been rumours that Hitler isn’t dead but is living in South America somewhere. IIRC the age of the man in that episode would be that of the ‘real’ Hitler not a clone. ---
**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815/40 "2004-06-07T12:44:03Z")
In college, I saw “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” in the theater, and was mildly amused by the scenes where the heroes play Clue, Battleship, and electric football against the Grim Reaper. Just a few weeks later, my film class showed Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal”, and I broke out in giggles at the chess game. (P.S. to RandMcnally: “Squash it” sounds like “squaw shit”.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-and-other-things-that-you-didnt-get-until-much-much-later/248815.md?page=3)